Oscar nominees named this morning for Best Visual Effects share their reactions.
Following this morning’s announcement of the nominations for the 97th Academy Awards (set for March 2), filmmakers involved with four of the five films nominated for Best Visual Effects have contacted AWN with their reactions.
Let’s have a look at how some of the industry’s leading artists are taking the great news…
Nominees for Best Visual Effects
Alien: Romulus - Eric Barba, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser, Daniel Macarin and Shane Mahan
We are incredibly proud to have our team’s work on the third act of Alien: Romulus recognized by the Academy. We worked closely with director Fede Álvarez to build on the franchise’s history and bring audiences closer to the rings of a planet than ever before. We hope this nomination inspires the next generation of VFX artists and sci-fi space film fans.
-- Daniel Macarin, Wētā FX VFX Supervisor
Better Man - Luke Millar, David Clayton, Keith Herft and Peter Stubbs
We are extremely honoured that Better Man is nominated for Best Visual Effects at the 2025 Academy Awards. The film represents an insane amount of work and talent from the artists, production and support staff here at Wētā FX and we are humbled that these efforts have been recognised by our peers. It was truly such a fantastic project to be a part of and the work is something that I will always be incredibly proud of.”
-- Luke Millar, VFX Supervisor
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes - Erik Winquist, Stephen Unterfranz, Paul Story and Rodney Burke
We were thrilled to wake up to the good news this morning. It is an honour getting to represent the more than a thousand artists, developers, production, and support crew who worked their magic for over a year on Kingdom. Collaborating with Wes Ball and 20th Century on this was a delight and it's so satisfying to see our work recognised by the Academy. We're looking forward to celebrating this past year of cinema on March 2nd.
-- Erik Winquist, VFX Supervisor
Wicked - Pablo Helman, Jonathan Fawkner, David Shirk and Paul Corbould
Having our filmmaking peers and partners recognizing the craft, creativity and innovation of our team like this is an amazing way to start the year. Jonathan [Fawkner] and his team really pulled out all the stops when it came to conjuring the magic of Shiz University, so a huge congratulations to every single artist, producer and technologist who helped breathe life into Wicked and craft the film's gravity-defying VFX.
-- Fiona Walkinshaw, Framestore’s Chief Executive Officer, Film & Episodic
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
