After honoring such household names as James Cameron, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg in past years, the Visual Effects Society (VES) will bestow its 2009 lifetime achievement award upon producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall of The Kennedy/Marshall Co. The two began their professional collaboration in 1981 with Raiders of the Lost Ark and produced the three Indian Jones sequels. Marshall is credited with producing more than fifty films, and Kennedy’s credits include the blockbusters E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park and The Sixth Sense.
‘Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall have set the gold standard for storytelling by combining true creative artistry along with the latest advances in technology to bring their stories to the screen,’ says VES exec director Eric Roth. ‘Over the past few decades they’ve proven to be great collaborators with both above- and below-the-line talent which has shone a bright light on the incredible uses of visual effects to not only tell a story more creatively, but also to have a more positive impact on the all important bottom line.’
‘We have always valued the work of visual effects artists, and those whose creativity continually develops new ways to push the boundaries of possibility,’ Kennedy remarks. ‘We are grateful to be recognized as contributors to this process’.
Founded in 1992, The Kennedy/Marshall Co. has produced such successful films such as Seabiscuit and the Bourne Trilogy. Their films have garnered dozens of Academy Award nominations, including six nods for The Sixth Sense and seven for Seabiscuit. David Fincher’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is their latest project. The film employs vfx technology to age star Brad Pitt to depict the character’s story over the course of a lifetime.
Kennedy and Marshall are in good company as VES honorees. In addition to Cameron, Lucas and Spielberg, past recipients have included vfx guru Dennis Muren and Oscar-wining filmmaker Robert Zemeckis (Beowulf, The Polar Express, Forrest Gump).
The seventh annual VES Awards will be presented at the Century Plaza Hotel in Beverly Hills on Saturday, Feb. 21. The annual event honors the most outstanding visual effects in film, television, commercials and video games. This year’s edition is expected to attract more than 800 celebrities, visual effects and animation artists and other members of the film, television and games industries.
