Visual Effects Instructor Pam Hogarth and Pete Docter of Pixar were among the honorees at this year’s Visual Effects Society Honors Celebration.
The in-person ceremony took place on October 14 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, California, where VES members celebrated the accomplishments of their colleagues and the organization’s 25th anniversary.
Docter, chief creative officer of Pixar, known for directing the “Monsters, Inc.” films. and “Up”, “Inside Out” and “Soul”, this year’s honorary membership.
“It was my dream to join VES without having to pay,” Dokter joked in his acceptance speech. “I had one obsession: selling insurance. But instead, I got a job in animation… for everyone at Pixar, who dreamed that I would one day be lucky to work alongside hundreds of amazingly talented people using the latest technology – All to avoid dealing with real life.”
Docter also honored Pixar President Jim Morris, who presented him with the honorary award.
“Jim taught me a lot about storytelling and studio management,” Docter said of the founding president of VES. “He’s an incredible leader, a great producer and always ready to join in to do whatever it takes.”
At the ceremony, Hogarth was awarded lifetime membership as well as this year’s Founders Award.
“The reason we’re here is for the community. That’s all about it, and I think it always comes down to that,” Hogarth said. “We do this because we love the people around us in the community. Only the community is so much bigger now, and it’s still growing – which is great to see.”
While Hogarth praised the association’s first all-women executive board, she added that the organization must still strive to increase diversity and inclusion.
“Looking around the room, it seems better. Not much better, but better,” she said. “As a society–this is a capitalist community and a small community–we can do better and we must diversify; Not just with sex, but across the board. “
In addition to Hogarth, lifetime membership recipients for 2022 included Jeff Barnes, Patricia “Rose Doynan”, Tony Pace Carstensen, Eric Roth and David Tanaka.
Tanaka also became a new VES teammate, along with Tony Clarke, Jeff Kleiser, Gene Kozeki, and Rick Sayer. Visual effects veterans Mary Ellen Butt, Alice Jay-Blush, Grace Hopper, George Pal and Bill Kovacs have been inducted into the VES Hall of Fame.
In honor of Roth, the CEO of VES who retired after 19 years in the job, Chairman Lisa Cook announced the Roth Virtual Museum of Visual Effects, which will preserve the legacy of our industry for generations to come.
“Under Eric’s guidance, the association has grown from an organization of about 750 people—most of whom are located in California—to a thriving global community of nearly 4,500 members in 25 countries and 14 departments around the world,” Cook said.
“Eric is leaving an indelible mark on our society,” she added.
[ad_2]
