Tim McGovern, an Oscar winner for the VFX in 1990’s Total Recall and a Visual Effects Society founding member, will receive the VES Founders Award during an October ceremony. Also during the event, lifetime VES membership will be bestowed on McGovern, archivist and curator Sandra Joy Aguilar, producer and AMPAS Governor Brooke Breton and VFX artist agent and exec Bob Coleman.
Digital effects pioneer McGovern is a founding member of Sony Pictures ImageWorks and now works at DNEG Mumbai, while also serving as chief creative officer at Whisper Pictures, a development and production company focused on animated family films. He’s been a VES board member for nearly two decades, which included serving as the board’s vice chair and founding co-chair of the VES Awards committee.
Aguilar currently oversees metadata and indexing at University of Southern California’s Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual History and Education. She’s also a consultant on the forthcoming VES Roth Museum of Visual Effects and a member of the tech history subcommittee of the Motion Picture Academy’s Science and Technology Council.
During her career, Breton helped launch VFX company Digital Domain, where she served as senior vp of production. Recently she was a producer for the Academy Museum, where she focused on modern filmmaking techniques and acquisitions. She also chairs the Academy’s Education and Outreach Committee.
Coleman founded Digital Artists Agency to give VFX artists representation; and held senior leadership roles at companies including Lucas Arts, Skywalker Sound, and Virgin Digital Studios entities 525 and Virgin Television de Mexico. He’s a longtime member of the VES board and awards committee, and chaired the awards for nine years.
“Our VES honorees represent a group of exceptional artists, innovators and professionals who have had a profound impact on the field of visual effects, our industry and the Society,” said VES board chair Lisa Cooke.
