Godzilla Creators, Jon Landau, Framestore Co-Founder Among 2026 Visual Effects Society Honorees

The Visual Effects Society (VES) has announced the recipients of its 2026 honors, recognizing filmmakers, VFX artists, executives, and industry leaders whose work has advanced the craft and technology of visual effects. The honorees will be recognized at the VES Honors Celebration on September 4 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

Susan Zwerman will receive the VES Founders Award for her regular contributions to the art form and distinguished service to the Society. Zwerman will also receive a Lifetime VES Membership, while pioneering computer graphics artist, visual effects supervisor, and Synthespian Studios co-founder Jeff Kleiser will be honored with a Lifetime VES Membership for his contributions to the field.

This year’s Honorary VES Members are Framestore co-founder and chairman Sir William Sargent and Academy Award-winning effects supervisor Scott Stokdyk. Sargent is recognized for helping build Framestore into one of the world’s leading visual effects studios, while Stokdyk’s career includes Oscar-winning work on Spider-Man 2 as well as credits spanning effects-heavy fare like the Spider-Man trilogy, Fantastic Four: First Steps, Finch, and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.

The society also announced four new VES Fellows, an honor recognizing sustained contributions to visual effects and dedicated service to the organization. The 2026 Fellows are SpinVFX founder and CEO Neishaw Ali, international VFX marketing executive Rita Cahill, creative technology executive Barbara Ford Grant, and longtime VES leader Susan Thurmond O’Neal.

Joining the VES Hall of Fame this year are producer Jon Landau, whose collaborations with James Cameron included Titanic and the Avatar films; British television pioneer Gerry Anderson, creator of the Supermarionation technique used in series including Thunderbirds; and Japanese filmmakers Ishirō Honda and Tomoyuki Tanaka, whose work on the original Godzilla helped establish one of cinema’s most enduring franchises.

In a release, VES Board Chair, Kim Davidson said:

The VES Honors Celebration is a highlight for us every year, as our community gathers to recognize these incredible pioneers and the range of impacts they’ve had on the visual effects industry. It makes it all the more special that these honorees were submitted for consideration by VES members themselves. We look forward to honoring them in person in September.

The VES will also recognize five Section leaders for their service to local chapters around the world: Aditya Talwar (Australia), Michael Conte (Bay Area), Jose Marin (New York), Rico Dober (Germany), and Mark Spatny (Los Angeles).