HPA Awards unveil creative category winners

The HPA Awards turned the spotlight on the exemplary contributions of the post production industry, honouring work in colour grading, sound, editing, restoration, and visual effects for theatrical features, commercials, and episodics. Held at the Television Academy’s Wolf Theatre, additional honours included the HPA Judges’ Award for Creativity and Innovation presented to Sphere, the Las Vegas venue being heralded as the future of entertainment. In addition, the previously announced winners of the coveted Engineering Excellence awards were honoured.

To acknowledge the heart, spirit and difficulties of the past year the evening included an HPA-produced short film, “Tribute to Post;” a heartfelt salute to the resilient members of the post production community. Directed by Clyde Bessey of Origin Point, the short features commentary from industry luminaries Wendy Aylsworth; Jill Bogdanowicz; Mike Brodersen; Larry Chernoff; Michael Cioni; Carolyn Giardina; Seth Hallen; Nikki Jee; Rob Legato, ASC; Loren Nielsen; Sabrina Plisco, ACE; Leon Silverman and Mandy Walker, ASC-ACS.

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The winners of the 2023 HPA Awards Creative Categories are:

OUTSTANDING COLOR GRADING – LIVE ACTION THEATRICAL FEATURE

– “Barbie” // Yvan Lucas // Company 3

– “The Fabelmans” // Michael Hatzer // Picture Shop

– “Asteroid City”// Gareth Spensley // Company 3

– “Oppenheimer” // Kostas Theodosiou, Kristen Zimmerman // FotoKem (WINNER)

– “Tár” // Tim Masick // Company 3

OUTSTANDING COLOR GRADING – ANIMATED THEATRICAL FEATURE

– “Elemental” // Susan Brunig // Pixar Animation Studios

– “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” // Jason Hanel // Company 3

– “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” // Natasha Leonnet // Picture Shop (WINNER)

– “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem”// Mitch Paulson // Company 3

 OUTSTANDING COLOR GRADING – LIVE ACTION EPISODE OR NON-THEATRICAL FEATURE

– “Swarm – Stung”// Alastor Pan Arnold // Keep Me Posted

– “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty – One Ring Don’t Make a Dynasty” // Walter Volpatto // Company 3 (WINNER)

– “American Gigolo – Pilot”// Shane Harris // Picture Shop

– “Great Expectations – Episode 2”// Toby Tomkins // Harbor

– “Wednesday – Wednesday’s Child Is Full of Woe”// Siggy Ferstl// Company 3

OUTSTANDING COLOR GRADING – DOCUMENTARY

– “Descendant” // Sam Daley // Light Iron

– “Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming with Dave Letterman”//Taylor Black // Apache

– “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie”// Stefan Sonnenfeld, Adam Nazarenko // Company 3

– “Chimp Empire – Paradise” // Blair Wallace // Evolutions Post Production (WINNER)

– “Shaq – From Shaquille to Shaq” // Taylor Black // Apache

OUTSTANDING COLOR GRADING – COMMERCIAL

– Zara – “Man SS23 Studio Collection” // Tim Masick // Company 3

– Levi’s – “One Fair Exchange in the Greatest Story Ever Worn” // Sofie Borup // Company 3

– Expedia – “Wisdom & Obi” // Mark Gethin // Trafik (WINNER)

– Duracell x Williams Racing – “Scream” // Tyler Roth // Company 3

– Belvedere – “Daniel Craig” // Matthieu Toullet // Company 3

OUTSTANDING EDITING – THEATRICAL FEATURE –Sponsored by Blackmagic Design

– “Barbie” // Nick Houy, ACE

– “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” // Eddie Hamilton, ACE

– “Oppenheimer” // Jennifer Lame, ACE (WINNER)

– “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” // Michael Andrews, ACE

– “Tár” // Monika Willi

OUTSTANDING EDITING – EPISODE OR NON-THEATRICAL FEATURE (30 MINUTES AND UNDER)
Sponsored by Blackmagic Design

– “The Righteous Gemstones – Burn for Burn, Wound for Wound, Stripe for Stripe” // Justin Bourret, ACE

– “Barry – it takes a psycho” // Franky Guttman, ACE

– “What We Do in the Shadows – Local News” // A.J. Dickerson, ACE, Thomas Calderón

– “Barry – a nice meal” // Ali Greer, ACE (WINNER)

– “How To With John Wilson – How To Watch Birds” // Cori Wapnowska

OUTSTANDING EDITING – EPISODE OR NON-THEATRICAL FEATURE (OVER 30 MINUTES)
Sponsored by Blackmagic Design

– “The Last of Us – Endure and Survive”// Timothy A. Good, ACE, Emily Mendez

– “White House Plumbers – The Beverly Hills Burglary” // Erick Fefferman, Roger Nygard

– “Succession – With Open Eyes” // Ken Eluto, ACE

– “The White Lotus – Arrivederci” // John M. Valerio, ACE (WINNER)

– “White House Plumbers – True Believers” // Grady Cooper, Jon Merchen

OUTSTANDING EDITING – DOCUMENTARY Sponsored by Blackmagic Design

– “100 Foot Wave –Lost at Sea” // Alex Keipper, Alex Bayer

– “A Tree of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting” // Eric Schuma

– “Being Mary Tyler Moore” // Mariah Rehmet

– “Branson – Episode 2, Atlantic” // Paul Trewartha

– “Moonage Daydream” // Brett Morgen (WINNER)

OUTSTANDING SOUND – THEATRICAL FEATURE

 – “Barbie” // Ai-Ling Lee, Kevin O’Connell, Dan Kenyon // Warner Bros. Post Production Services

– “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” // Scott Gershin, Chris Richardson, Masanobu ‘Tomi’ Tomita, Andrew Vernon, Dan Gamache // Sound Lab a Keywords Studio

– “Creed III” // Aaron Glascock, Tom Ozanich, Walter Spencer, Curt Schulkey // Warner Bros. Post Production Services

– “John Wick: Chapter 4” // Mark Stoeckinger, Andy Koyama, Casey Genton, Alan Rankin, Manfred Banach // Formosa Group (WINNER)

– “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” // Jason W. Jennings, Julian Slater, Greg P. Russell, Paul Pirola, Ken McGill, Mia Stewart // Warner Bros. Post Production Services

OUTSTANDING SOUND – EPISODE OR NON-THEATRICAL FEATURE

– “Star Trek: Picard – The Last Generation” // Matthew E. Taylor, Michael Schapiro, Todd Grace, Ed Carr III, Ian Shedd // Warner Bros. Post Production Services

 – “The Last of Us – Infected” // Michael Benavente, Marc Fishman, Kevin Roache, Chris Terhune, Chris Battaglia // Formosa Group (WINNER)

– “Barry – it takes a psycho” // Sean Heissinger, Matthew E. Taylor, John Creed, Rickley Dumm: Warner Bros. Post Production Services // Elmo Ponsdomenech, Teddy Salas: Sony Pictures Entertainment

– “Wednesday – A Murder of Woes” // Mike Baskerville, Jamie Sulek, John Loranger, Alastair Gray, Dan Sexton // Company 3

– “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Hegemony” // Matthew E. Taylor, Michael Schapiro, Todd Grace, Ed Carr III, Sean Heissinger // Warner Bros. Post Production Services

OUTSTANDING SOUND – DOCUMENTARY

– “32 Sounds” // Mark Mangini, Robert Kellough, Eliza Paley, Joanna Fang, Blake Collins // Formosa Group

– “A Tree of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting” // Daniel Timmons // Harbor Sound

– “Good Night Oppy” // Mark Mangini, Dave Whitehead, Tim Walston, Dave Bach, Angela Claverie // Formosa Group

– “If These Walls Could Sing” // George Foulgham, Philip Moroz, Alex Gibson, Tom Verstappen, Miles Sullivan // George Foulgham Soundscapes Ltd. (WINNER)

– “Moonage Daydream”// Nina Hartstone, David Giammarco, John Warhurst, Paul Massey // Public Road Productions

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS – LIVE ACTION FEATURE

– “Avatar: The Way of Water” // Christopher Egden, Nick Epstein, Wayne Stables, Pavani Rao Boddapati, Sergei Nevshupov // Wē¯tā¯ FX (WINNER)

– “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” // Aaron Weintraub, Jeffrey Schaper, Cameron Carson, Emma Gorbey, Warren Lawtey // MPC

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”// Guy Williams, Daniel Macarin, Mike Cozens, Mark Smith, Marvyn Young // Wē¯tā¯ FX

– “Avatar: The Way of Water” // David Vickery, Lee Briggs, Jan Maroske, Steve Ellis, Miguel Perez-Senent // Industrial Light & Magic

-“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” // Matt Aitken, Mike Perry, Aaron Cowan, Kevin Estey, Jong Jin Choi // Wē¯tā¯ FX

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS – LIVE ACTION EPISODE OR SERIES SEASON

– “Andor – Season One” // Mohen Leo, Scott Pritchard: Industrial Light & Magic// TJ Falls: Lucasfilm // Joseph Kasparian: Hybride // Jelmer Boskma: Scanline

– “House of the Dragon – The Heirs of the Dragon” // Angus Bickerton, Nikeah Forde, Mike Bell: MPC // Sven Martin, Mark Spindler: Pixomondo (WINNER)

– “The Last of Us – Season One” // Simon Jung, Aaron Cowan, David Hampton, Dennis Yoo, Ben Roberts // Wē¯tā¯ FX

– “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power – Season One” Ron Ames, Jason Smith, Jesse Kobayashi, Ryan Tudhope, Sam Scott // Amazon Studios

– “The Mandalorian – Season Three” Grady Cofer, Abbigail Keller, Paul Kavanagh, Delio Tramontozzi: Industrial Light & Magic // Bobo Skipper: Important Looking Pirates

 OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS – EPISODE OR SERIES SEASON

– “Barry – Season Four” Justin Ball, Laura Hill, Andrew Kalicki, David Lopez, Manuel Guizar // Crafty Apes

– “Citadel – Secrets in Night Need Early Rains” // Aladino Debert, Greg Teegarden, James Reid, Mathew Rotman, Viv Jim // Digital Domain (WINNER)

– “Interview with the Vampire – Is My Very Nature That of a Devil” // Ted Rae, Tavis Larkham, Matthew Harris, Hugo Leveille, J.V. Pike // FuseFX

– “The Night Agent – Season One” // Grant Miller, Hallana Barbosa, Pierceon Bellemare, Mariia Osanova, Ben Stommes  // Ingenuity Studios

– “The Righteous Gemstones – Season Three” // Bruce Branit, Valeri Pfahning: Rough House // Fred Ruff: Refuge VFX //        Ed Bruce: Screen Scene Studios // David Lebensfeld: Ingenuity Studios

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN RESTORATION

– “Casablanca” (1942) // Warner Bros.

– “Cinderella” (1950) // Disney

– “Cimarron” (1931) // Warner Bros

– “The Godfather” (1972) // Paramount Pictures (WINNER)

– “Winds of Chance” (1925) // First National Pictures and Christopher Gray Post Production