The 2017 Animation Effects Awards Festival (AEAF) was held August 16 in Sydney, Australia, with a full day of top visual effects and animation industry speakers — hailing from Animal Logic, MPC, Weta Digital, ILM, Iloura, The Sequence Group, Buck and Rotor Studios — capped by the evening’s Awards Night networking event, screening and ceremony.
Now in its 18th year, the AEAF received more Feature Films VFX category entries than ever before, ultimately granting the Gold Award to Weta for War for the Planet of the Apes, Silver to MPC and Weta for The Jungle Book, and Bronze to ILM for Kong: Skull Island.
In another section of the animation/VFX artistic spectrum, the TV Series – Children category was dominated by toon contenders this year, with Sticky Pictures scoring the Gold Award for 2D comedy Winston Steinburger and Sir Dudley Ding Dong (co-produced by eOne) — the adventure series about a thrill-seeking space kid and his loyal cat is also nominated for two Australian Writers Guild (AWGIE) Awards this year, to be announced Aug. 25. Silver went to Cheeky Little Media’s Kazoops, and SLR Productions won the Bronze prize for The Skinner Boys – Guardians of the Lost Secrets “Claw of the Werewolf.”
Winners listed below. For the full list of contenders and more information on AEAF, click here.
FEATURE FILM VFX
GOLD War for the Planet of the Apes – Weta Digital
SILVER The Jungle Book – MPC / Weta Digital
BRONZE Kong: Skull Island – ILM
SPECIAL MERIT Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – Framestore
SPECIAL MERIT Ghost in the Shell – MPC
SPECIAL MERIT Valerian and The City of a Thousand Planets – Weta Digital
TV SERIES – CHILDREN
GOLD Winston Steinburger & Sir Dudley Ding Dong – Sticky Pictures
SILVER Kazoops – Cheeky Little Media
BRONZE The Skinner Boys – Guardians of the Lost Secrets ‘Claw of the Werewolf’- SLR Productions
TV SERIES
GOLD Game of Thrones Season 6 – Rodeo FX
SILVER Taboo – BlueBolt
BRONZE Ripper Street Season 5 – Screen Scene
SHORT FILM
GOLD Agent 327: Operation Barbershop – Blender Animation Studio
SILVER Otherhalf – Framestore
BRONZE The Heart of Sky – Mirari&Co.
SPECIAL MERIT Martha the Monster – Goodman Brothers
STUDENT SHORT
GOLD Hippocampe – Sauce Curie
SILVER Future Primitive Titles – Julz Lane
BRONZE The Fox Lantern – Elizabeth Poole
COMMERCIALS – ANIMATION
GOLD John Lewis “Buster the Boxer” – MPC
SILVER James Wellbeloved “Mega City” – Passion Pictures
BRONZE Woolmark “The Innovator” – BUCK Design
SPECIAL MERIT Samsung “Ostrich” – MPC
SPECIAL MERIT Domestos “Grime Minister” – Outpost VFX
SPECIAL MERIT Dairy Farmers of Canada “Mia & Morton” – Gentleman Scholar
SPECIAL MERIT Standard Chartered Unlimited “Cashback Credit Card” – Cirkus
SPECIAL MERIT Sainsbury’s “The Greatest Gift” – Passion Pictures
SPECIAL MERIT Estee Lauder “La Mer: Part II” – Psyop
COMMERCIALS – VFX
GOLD FDA “Straw City” – Alt.vfx
SILVER Heineken “Cities of the World: The Trailblazers” – MPC
BRONZE Jose Cuervo “Tomorrow Is Overrated” – Electric Theatre Collective
SPECIAL MERIT Nespresso “Comin’ Home” – Framestore
SPECIAL MERIT Nissan Rogue “Return of the Snowman” – The Embassy
SPECIAL MERIT Hyundai “Fall” – Fin Design + Effects
SPECIAL MERIT Ferrero Rocher “Rolling” – Rising Sun Pictures
MUSIC VIDEO
GOLD Kool Keith X MF Doom “Super Hero” – Aardman Nathan Love
SILVER Aesop Rock “Shrunk” – Bent Image Lab
BRONZE Hayden James “Just a Lover” – SPLINTR
VR EXPERIENCE
GOLD INFINITI IQ Virtual Reality Experience – Experience The Pulse
SILVER Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – Framestore
BRONZE Shell V-Power Virtual Pitstop – Traffik
360 VR
GOLD Battle Test: A Nissan Rogue 360° Experience – ILM
SILVER The Bombing of Darwin – Method Studios
BRONZE SkyRider Motocoaster Dreamworld Australia – Rotor Studios
GAME TRAILERS
GOLD Evil Within 2 Trailer – Plastic Wax
SILVER Civilization 6 Launch Trailer – Plastic Wax
BRONZE Forza NASCAR – Jumbla
EDUCATION & INFOGRAPHIC
GOLD Sydney Opera House “The Lounge” – Latchkey
SILVER TEDx “Tetris” – Vandal
BRONZE BHP Billiton “Maths Is Life” – Nick Did This
TITLES/OPENERS – FEATURE FILM
GOLD Doctor Strange main-on-end title sequence – Sarofsky
SILVER Max Steel – The Sequence Group
BRONZE Captain America: Civil War – Sarofsky
TITLES/OPENERS – TV
GOLD Guiltology Titles – Jellyfish Pictures
SILVER Cardinal Season 1 – The Sequence Group
BRONZE Clique – Jumbla
EVENT OPENERS
GOLD Semi Permanent Festival 2017 – Framestore
SILVER Macquarie Telecom – Cutting Edge
BRONZE TEDx Sydney 2017 “Unconventional” – Substance
IDENTS & STINGS BROADCAST
GOLD MTV “On The Go” – Engine
SILVER Disney XD – Hackett Films
BRONZE SBS Lunar New Year “Fire Rooster” – SBS Television
LIVE EVENTS
GOLD Organic Vibrations – Danny Rose Collective
SILVER Light for the Wild: Vivid at Taronga 2017 – Ample Projects
BRONZE Audio Creatures: Vivid Festival 2017 – Spinifex Group
WEB VIRAL
GOLD Camry Global Launch – Rotor Studios
SILVER LaTrobe “CyberGames” – Visual Playground
BRONZE “Festival of Dangerous Ideas 2016″ Sydney Opera House – Paper Moose
 was held August 16 in Sydney, Australia, with a full day of top visual effects and animation industry speakers -- hailing from Animal Logic, MPC, Weta Digital, ILM, Iloura, The Sequence Group, Buck and Rotor Studios -- capped by the evening's Awards Night networking event, screening and ceremony.){kind=link}