HPA Awards unveil 2021 creative category nominations

The HPA Awards Committee announced nominees for the 2021 HPA Awards creative categories. The HPA Awards, long seen as a standard bearer for creative accomplishment and technical innovation, honour outstanding achievement and artistic excellence by both individuals and teams. Returning to an in–person event this year, the winners of the creative category honours will be presented in a live gala on November 18, 2021 at the historic Hollywood Legion Theatre.

In keeping with health and safety protocols, the HPA Awards gala will require proof of vaccination to attend.

Launched in 2006, the HPA Awards creative categories recognise outstanding achievement in colour grading, editing, sound, and visual effects for work in episodic, spots, and feature films.

The 2021 HPA Awards Creative Category nominees are:

Outstanding Colour Grading – Theatrical Feature
Sponsored by Picture Shop

“Candyman”
Natasha Leonnet // Company 3

“The Green Knight”
Alastor Pan Arnold // FotoKem

“Judas and the Black Messiah”
Tom Poole // Company 3

“Jungle Cruise”
Mitch Paulson // Company 3

“Minari”
David Cole // FotoKem

Outstanding Colour Grading – Episodic or Non-theatrical Feature
Sponsored by Picture Shop

“Lovecraft Country – Meet Me in Daegu”
Rory Gordon // ArsenalFX Color

“The Queen’s Gambit – End Game”
Steven Bodnar // Light Iron

“Sweet Tooth – Big Man”
Walter Volpatto // Company 3

“The Underground Railroad – Chapter 8: Indiana Autumn”
Alex Bickel // Color Collective

“WandaVision – Previously On”
Matt Watson // Marvel Studios Finishing

Outstanding Colour Grading – Commercial  
Sponsored by Picture Shop

Dior – “Spring-Summer 2021 Collection”
Tim Masick // Company 3

Hyundai – “I’m In Charge”
Sofie Borup // Company 3

Lexus – “A New Era”
Matt Osborne // Company 3

Toyota – “Jessica Long’s Story: Upstream”
Jill Bogdanowicz // Company 3

Zara – “Spring Summer 2021 Campaign”
Tim Masick // Company 3

Outstanding Editing – Theatrical Feature
Sponsored by Blackmagic Design

“The Father”
Yorgos Lamprinos

“Minari”
Harry Yoon, ACE

“Soul”
Kevin Nolting, ACE

“Sound of Metal”
Mikkel E. G. Nielsen, ACE

“The Trial of the Chicago 7”
Alan Baumgarten

Outstanding Editing – Episodic or Non-theatrical Feature (30 Minutes and Under)
Sponsored by Blackmagic Design

“A Black Lady Sketch Show – Sister, May I Call You Oshun?”
Daysha Broadway, ACE, Stephanie Filo, Jessica Hernández, ACE

“Conan – DIY Conan”
Rob Ashe, Chris Heller, Matt Shaw

“Hacks – Falling”
Susan Vaill, ACE

“Hacks – Interview”
Jessica Brunetto, Marissa Mueller

“Hacks – There Is No Line”
Jessica Brunetto

“Hacks – Tunnel of Love”
Ali Greer

Outstanding Editing – Episodic or Non-theatrical Feature (Over 30 Minutes)
Sponsored by Blackmagic Design

“Allen v. Farrow – Episode 101”
Mikaela Shwer, Parker Laramie, Sara Newens

“His Dark Materials – The Scholar”
Sara Jones

“Lovecraft Country – Meet Me in Daegu”
Sean Albertson, ACE

“A Perfect Planet: The Sun”
Nigel Buck

“The Underground Railroad – Chapter 9: Indiana Winter”
Joi McMillon

Outstanding Sound – Theatrical Feature
Sponsored by DTS

“Cherry”
Mark Binder, Elliot Hartley, Donald Flick, Trevor Cress, Matt Coby // IMN Creative

“Godzilla vs. Kong”
Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van der Ryn // E Squared
Tom Ozanich, Dean A. Zupancic, Jason W. Jennings // Warner Bros Post Production Creative Services

“In the Heights”
Lewis Goldstein, John Marquis, Paul Urmson, Gina Alfano, Brian Bowles, Thomas Ryan,
Alex Soto // Parabolic

“Reminiscence”
Jeremy Peirson, Thomas Jones, Michael Babcock, Sarah Bourgeois, Jessie Pariseau // Warner Bros Post Production Creative Services

“Space Jam: A New Legacy”
Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van der Ryn // E Squared
Tim LeBlanc, Michael Keller, Malte Bieler // Warner Bros Post Production Creative Services

“Sound of Metal”
Nicolas Becker, Carolina Santana // Sound Park
Carlos Cortés // SplendorOmnia
Michellee Couttolenc, Jaime Baksht // AstroLX

Outstanding Sound – Episodic or Non-theatrical Feature
Sponsored by DTS

“Lovecraft Country – Sundown”
Tim Kimmel, Marc Fishman, Mathew Waters, Paula Fairfield, Bradley Katona // The Formosa Group

“Oslo”
Lewis Goldstein, Gina Alfano, Thomas Ryan, Alex Soto // Parabolic

“The Right Stuff – Flight”
Walt Newman, Darleen Stoker, Kenneth Young, Brad Sherman, Alex Gruzdev, Sanaa Kelley, Adam DeCoster, Chris McGreary // Warner Bros Post Production Creative Services

“Snowpiercer – Many Miles from Snowpiercer”
Sandra Portman, Kelly Cole, Bill Mellow, James Fonnyadt, Eric Mouawad, Gregorio Gomez // Sharpe Sound Studios

“Sweet Tooth – Out of the Deep Woods”
George Haddad, Chad Hughes, Alex Gruzdev, Brad Sherman, Julie Altus // Warner Bros Post Production Creative Services

Outstanding Visual Effects – Theatrical Feature
Sponsored by ZEISS

“Black Widow”
David Hodgins, Hanzhi Tang, Ryan Duhaime, James Reid, Edmond Smith III // Digital Domain

“Black Widow”
Sean Walker, Marvyn Young, Karl Rapley, Lily Lawrence, Timothy Walker // Weta Digital

“Godzilla vs. Kong”
Pier Lefebvre, Michael Langford, Timucin Ozger, Sarang Deshpande, Joshua Toonen // MPC Film

“Jungle Cruise”
Luke Millar // Weta Digital
Chad Wiebe // Industrial Light & Magic
Jim Berney, JD Schwalm, Marla Henshaw

“The Suicide Squad”
Mark Gee, Danielle Immerman, Mike Cozens, Jason Galeon, Makoto Hatanaka // Weta Digita

Outstanding Visual Effects – Episodic (Under 13 Episodes) or Non-theatrical Feature
Sponsored by ZEISS

“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier – New World Order”
Johannes Bresser, Mark Smith, Alexia Cui, Paul Jenness, Sebastian Bommersheim // Weta Digital

“Loki – Journey Into Mystery”
Dan DeLeeuw, David Seager, Alexandra Greene, George Kuruvilla, Dan Mayer // Industrial Light & Magic

“Lovecraft Country – Jig-a-Bobo”
Kevin Blank, Robin Griffin // HBO
Pietro Ponti // Important Looking Pirates
Grant Walker // Framestore
Francois Dumoulin // RodeoFX

“The Mandalorian – Chapter 9: The Marshal”
Joe Bauer, Richard Bluff, Abbigail Keller, Hal Hickel, Jeff Capogreco // Industrial Light & Magic

“Star Trek: Discovery – Su’Kal”
Jason Michael Zimmerman, Ante Dekovic, Aleksandra Kochoska, Charles Collyer, Alexander Wood // CBS Television Studios

“WandaVision – The Series Finale”
Marion Spates, Suzanne Foster, R. Matt Smith, Simon Twine, Frankie Stellato // Digital Domain

Outstanding Visual Effects – Episodic (Over 13 Episodes)
Sponsored by ZEISS

“Grey’s Anatomy – Breathe”
Tim Carras, Andie Eikenberg, Bill Parker, Kenneth Armstrong, Chris Myers // Barnstorm VFX

“NCIS: Los Angeles – The Bear”
Carlo Vega, Manmeet Singh, Michael Carter, Dylan Chudzynski  // DigitalFilm Tree

“9-1-1: Lone Star – Hold the Line”
Brigitte Bourque, Tyler Deck, Jason Gottlieb, Josephine Noh, James Yates // FuseFX

“9-1-1 – The New Abnormal”
Jon Massey, Tony Pirzadeh, Timothy Cairns, Bryant Reif, Josephine Noh // FuseFX

“Supergirl – Welcome Back, Kara!”
Armen V. Kevorkian, Jennifer Mochinski, Alex Schade, Carlos Aldrey, Fabian Jimenez, Denys Shchukin // Encore VFX

Winners of the coveted Engineering Excellence Award which were previously announced include the ArchPlatform by ArchPlatform Technologies, OpenColorIO v2 by AutoDesk, Nuke by Foundry, and NearTime by Mo-Sys Engineering. The Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation, a juried honor, will be awarded to Welcome to Chechnya and its director, David France, and Visual Effects Supervisor, Ryan Laney.

The HPA Awards are made possible through the generous support of diamond title sponsor Blackmagic Design; registration sponsor Picture Shop; awards category sponsors Blackmagic Design, DTS, Picture Shop, and ZEISS; event sponsors Company 3 Method Studios, Deluxe, Fotokem, Pixelogic, and Unreal Engine; and supporting sponsor Warner Bros. Post Production Creative Services Worldwide. HPA thanks judging hosts Fotokem, Pixelogic, and Deluxe Technicolor Digital Cinema for use of their facilities. For sponsorship or program advertising opportunities, contact Joyce Cataldo at jcataldo@hpaonline.com. More information about the HPA Awards and the Hollywood Professional Association can be found at www.hpaonline.com.