The Visual Effects Society will honor director and special effects artist Douglas Trumbull with its 2012 Georges Méliès Award. Trumbull’s credits include “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Blade Runner,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” and “Silent Running.” The Encino-based VES presents the Méliès award to an entertainment industry professional making lasting contributions to visual effects through artistry, invention or groundbreaking work. Trumbull operates Trumbull Ventures LLC based in Massachusetts. VES Chair Jeffrey A. Okun called Trumbull a leader in the field of visual effects and technology. “He is an innovator in all things entertainment, and equally important is his genius for re-imagining the impossible into a compelling visual that not only has never been seen before but also goes to the heart of the storytelling,” Okun said in a prepared statement. The philosophy that Trumbull said he has followed throughout his career is that everything in a movie is an illusion of some kind. “I am very excited that the industry today is now embracing 3D, higher frame rates and other opportunities that can expand the movie-going experience and deliver to audiences the kind of immersive and other-worldly images that we in the VES can provide,” Trumbull said in a statement. The society’s membership recently selected Trumbull as a VES Fellow, only the third member to receive the distinction. He receives the Méliès Award at the 10th Annual VES Awards in February 2012. — Mark R. Madler
Director, Artist Wins Award
