HPA Awards unveil 2024 creative category winners
November 7, 2024

HPA Awards unveil 2024 creative category winners

Annual celebration recognizes exceptional achievements in post production, engineering excellence, and creativity & innovation.

The HPA Awards honored trailblazing talent in the post production industry, celebrating standout achievements in color grading, sound, editing, restoration, and visual effects across theatrical features, commercials, and episodics. Held at the Television Academy’s Wolf Theatre, the night was a vibrant tribute to the exceptional skill and innovation driving the industry forward.

The HPA’s Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation honored Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour. This prestigious recognition celebrates the profound impact on both live and filmed entertainment that defined The Eras Tour, underscoring its exceptional impact on audiences and the industry. The jury issued a statement outlining their choice, “Celebrated as the cultural phenomenon of 2023, Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour set new records in box office sales, tour revenues, and attendance. The tour showcased exceptional artistry and innovation, making a profound impact on both live and filmed entertainment.”

This year, FotoKem was awarded the prestigious Charles S. Swartz Award for their role in supporting filmmakers, studios, cinematographers, and artists across diverse film and media landscapes. Also celebrated were the previously announced recipients of the esteemed Engineering Excellence awards, recognizing the cutting-edge technology that fuels creative breakthroughs in post production.

The winners of the 2024 HPA Awards Creative Categories are:


Outstanding Color Grading – Live Action Theatrical Feature
Sponsored by Blackmagic Design
“Dune: Part Two”
David Cole // FotoKem

Outstanding Color Grading – Animated Theatrical Feature
Sponsored by Blackmagic Design
“Inside Out 2”
Mark Dinicola // Pixar Animation Studios
 
Outstanding Color Grading – Live Action Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature
Sponsored by Blackmagic Design
“Time Bandits – Kevin Haddock”
Damian McDonnell // The Rebel Fleet

Outstanding Color Grading – Animated Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature
Sponsored by Blackmagic Design
“Trilogy: New Wave”
Alastor Pan Arnold // FotoKem

Outstanding Color Grading – Commercial
Sponsored by Blackmagic Design
Air Canada – “Ticket to Dream”
Wade Odlum // Alter Ego

Outstanding Editing – Theatrical Feature
“The Holdovers”
Kevin Tent, ACE

Outstanding Editing – Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature (30 Minutes and Under)
“Hacks – Better Late”
Rob Paglia

Outstanding Editing – Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature (Over 30 Minutes)
“Ahsoka – Part Six: Far, Far Away”
James D. Wilcox, ACE 

“House of the Dragon – The Red Dragon and the Gold”
Katie Weiland, ACE

Outstanding Editing – Documentary
“Ren Faire – Daddy’s Dyin’, Who’s Got The Will?”
Max Allman, Nicholas Nazmi

Outstanding Sound – Theatrical Feature
“Dune: Part Two”
Richard King, Dave Whitehead, Martin Kwok, Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill, Andrew Bock // Warner Bros. Post Production Creative Services

Outstanding Sound – Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature
“No One Will Save You”
Will Files, Chris Terhune, Ailene Roberts, James Miller, Matt “Smokey” Cloud // Pacific Standard Sound

Outstanding Sound – Documentary
“Porcelain War”
Robert Mackenzie, Sam Hayward, Jared Dwyer, Andrew Miller, Alex Francis, Karina Rezhevska // RMS

Outstanding Visual Effects – Live Action Feature
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”
Erik Winquist, Danielle Immerman, Stephen Unterfranz, Phillip Leonhardt, Sean Noel Walker // Wētā FX

Outstanding Visual Effects – Animated Feature
“Ultraman: Rising”
Hayden Jones, Stefan Drury, Sean M. Murphy, Mathieu Vig, Kyle Winkelman // Industrial Light & Magic

Outstanding Visual Effects – Live Action Episode or Series Season
“House of the Dragon – The Red Dragon and the Gold”
Sven Martin, Fausto Tejeda, Mark Spindler, Matt Perrin, James Thompson // Pixomondo

Outstanding Visual Effects – Animated Episode or Series Season
“X-Men ’97 – Season 1”
Chris Graf, Dan McNaughton, Husain Untoro, Quentin Cordonnier, Andrew Stadler // Marvel Animation Studios

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects – Episode or Series Season
“All The Light We Cannot See – Season 1”
Laurens Ehrmann, Harry Bardak, Elisa Perez, Julien Martins // The Yard VFX

Outstanding Achievement in Restoration
“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”
1937, Disney

As previously announced, winners of the coveted Engineering Excellence Award include Adobe (Enhance Speech in Premiere Pro), Disguise and Cuebric (AI-Driven 2.5D Workflow), and Evercast (Evercast for Apple Vision Pro).

The HPA Awards are made possible through the generous support of Blackmagic Design, Warner Bros. Post Production Creative Services Worldwide, Deluxe, Fotokem, Kodak, Pixelogic, Avid, Colorist Society, Compton and Company, Sohonet, Tech Align Group, Veritone and Dolby.

HPA extends gratitude to its industry partners, including the American Society of Cinematographers, American Cinema Editors, and Cinema Audio Society for their collaboration on craft categories, as well as its judging facility hosts FotoKem, Pixelogic, and Deluxe Digital Cinema. More information about the HPA Awards and the Hollywood Professional Association can be found at hpaonline.com.