VFX Pioneer Ken Ralston To Receive 2017 VES Lifetime Achievement Award

Ken Ralston will receive the Visual Effects Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his enormous contributions to filmed entertainment.  The multi-Academy Award nominated visual effects pioneer will receive this award during the 15^th Annual VES Awards on February 7, 2017 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

The VES Lifetime Achievement Award, bestowed by the VES Board of Directors, recognizes an outstanding body of work that has significantly contributed to the art and/or science of the visual effects industry.  Ralston’s creative vision and suberb technical expertise have resulted in seven Academy Award nominations and four wins - "Cocoon" (1985), "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" (1989), "Death Becomes Her" (1993) and "Forrest Gump (1994).  He also received a Special Achievement Academy Award, shared with team members Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren and Phil Tippett, for "Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi" in 1983.

"Ken Ralston is an amazing force and a defining voice of the visual effects community,” said Mike Chambers, VES Board Chair.  “His creativity, leadership, and ability to use technologies to enhance the art of storytelling have brought us some of the most memorable films of all time.  His pioneering work has truly raised the bar and helped redefine entertainment and our industry on a global level.  For this, and more, we are honored to award him with the prestigious Visual Effects Society Lifetime Achievement Award.”

Ralston is Senior Visual Effect Supervisor and Creative Head at the Academy Award® winning visual effects studio, Sony Pictures Imageworks. Many groundbreaking projects at Sony Pictures Imageworks have benefited from Ralston's artistic acumen including his many collaborations with Academy Award® winning director Robert Zemeckis on the epic Beowulf (3D), The Polar Express (3D) and Cast Away. Prior to joining Imageworks, Ralston placed his artistic and technical stamp on the films at Industrial Light & Magic. Breaking technological ground, Ralston played a pivotal role in advancing the company's renown.

Ralston's other notable film credits include visual effects supervisor on The Rocketeer, Jumanji, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Dragonslayer, for which he was also nominated for an Oscar, and all three films from the Back to the Future trilogy, earning an Academy Award® nomination for best visual effects on Back to the Future II.

Ralston's career began at the seminal commercial animation and visual effects company, Cascade Pictures in Hollywood, where he worked on more than 150 memorable advertising campaigns in the early 1970s. He built sets, sculpted models, animated puppets, created optical effects and stop motion animation for such iconic commercial characters as Poppin' Fresh, the Pillsbury Dough Boy, and The Jolly Green Giant.

To learn more about the Visual Effects Society and the VES Awards, please visit: https://www.visualeffectssociety.com/