The VES Lifetime Achievement Award, awarded by the VES Board of Directors, recognizes outstanding body of work that has significantly contributed to the art and/or science of the visual effects industry.
VES will honor Cameron for his vision and dedication to the craft of storytelling while being at the creative forefront of ground breaking visual effects. Cameron’s work is so cutting edge he had to wait years for new visual effects technologies to be created in order to move forward with his most recent film, Avatar (to be released in December 2009).
“James Cameron has set the gold standard for storytelling by combining true creative artistry along with the latest advances in technology to bring incredible stories to the screen,” says Eric Roth, executive director of the VES. “Over the past few decades he has been the pre-eminent director of big vision, big story extravaganzas and has redefined the movie going experience for filmgoers worldwide."
“Jim’s sense of how to effectively utilize what the visual Effects Community has to bring to the story telling experience has changed the face of storytelling – not just in the past and the present, but in a significant way in the future. The Board of Directors and the Society feel this honor is long overdue for Mr. Cameron,” says Jeffrey A. Okun, chair of the VES.
Cameron comments: “I've loved visual effects my whole life, and it's been an ongoing thrill to be able to practice that art and to work with the best artists and technical people in the business to realize my dream images as a director. It is an incredible honor to be receiving this award."
Cameron’s films have received multiple Academy Award nominations, including Titanic, which garnered 11 Oscars including Best Picture, Best Visual Effects, Best Director, and Best Editing for Cameron. Cameron’s other ground-breaking works include Terminator, Aliens, True Lies, Terminator 2, and The Abyss,” among many others.
Previous winners of the VES Lifetime Achievement Award include Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Robert Zemeckis, and Frank Marshall, and Kathleen Kennedy.