The Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode is one of the annual awards given by the Visual Effects Society starting in 2002. While the award's title has changed several time within this period, the recipient has always been a visual effects-heavy television episode. Episodes with more background effects work have their own category, the Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode. Until 2012, miniseries and television movies had their own category.
Winners and nominees 2000s Best Visual Effects in a Television Series Year Program Episode(s) Nominees Network 2002 Firefly "Serenity" Emile Smith, Rocco Passionino, Loni Peristere, Kristen Branan Fox Dinotopia "Marooned/Making Good" Guy Hudson, Sharon Fitzgerald, Frazer Churchill, David Hulin ABC Star Trek: Enterprise "Shockwave, Part I" Dan Curry, Ronald B. Moore, Liz Castro UPN 2003 Buffy the Vampire Slayer "Chosen" Loni Peristere, Patti Gannon, Ronald Thornton, Chris Zapara UPN Carnivàle "Milfay" David T. Altenau, Ariel V. Shaw, Thomas L. Bellissimo, Barbara J. Marshall HBO ER "Freefall" Sam Nicholson, Kyle J. Healey, Eric Grenaudier, Anthony Ocampo NBC Sea Monsters Max Tyrie, Timothy Greenwood, Darren Byford, Mike Milne BBC/Discovery Channel
Best Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series Year Program Episode(s) Nominees Network 2004 Star Trek: Enterprise "Storm Front, Part 2" Dan Curry, Ronald B. Moore, David Takemura, Fred Pienkos UPN Stargate Atlantis "Rising" John Gajdecki, Bruce Woloshyn, Jinnie Pak, Tara Conley Sci Fi Stargate SG-1 "Lost City, Part 2" James Tichenor, Shannon Gurney, Craig Van Den Biggelaar, Bruce Woloshyn 2005 Rome "The Stolen Eagle" Barrie Hemsley, James Madigan, Duncan Kinnaird, Joe Pavlo HBO Invasion "Origin of Species" Armen V. Kevorkian, John Karner, Neal Sopata ABC Smallville "Commencement" Mat Beck, John H. Han, Trent Smith, John C. Wash The WB 2006 Battlestar Galactica "Exodus" Gary Hutzel, Michael Gibson, Alec McClymont, Brenda Campbell Sci Fi Prehistoric Park "Episode 4" George Roper, Matt Fox, Laurent Hugueniot, Kevin Spruce Animal Planet/National Geographic Smallville "Zod" Mat Beck, Brian Ali Harding, Trent Smith, John C. Wash The WB 2007 Fight for Life "Episode 4" Philip Dobree, Nicola Instone, Marco Iozzi, Matt Chandler BBC One Battlestar Galactica "Maelstrom" Michael Gibson, Gary Hutzel, Michael Davidson, Kyle Toucher Sci Fi Doctor Who "Last of the Time Lords" Dave Houghton, Will Cohen, Jean-Claude Deguara, Nicolas Hernandez BBC One Heroes "Four Months Ago..." Eric Grenaudier, Mark Spatny, Diego Galtieri, Michael Enriquez NBC Stargate Atlantis "Adrift" Mark Savela, Shannon Gurney, Erica Henderson, James Kawano Sci Fi 2008 Battlestar Galactica "Revelations" Gary Hutzel, Michael Gibson, Doug Drexler, Kyle Toucher Sci Fi Ghost Whisperer "Ghost in the Machine" Armen V. Kevorkian, Arthur J. Codron, Matt Scharf, Stefan Bredereck CBS Heroes "The Second Coming" Eric Grenaudier, Mark Spatny, Diego Galtieri, Michael Cook NBC Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles "Vick's Chip" James Lima, Raoul Bolognini, Andrew Orloff, Steven Meyer Fox 2009 Battlestar Galactica "Daybreak" Gary Hutzel, Michael Gibson, David R. Morton, Jess Tove Syfy Defying Gravity "Pilot" Dale Fay, Jared Jones, Sam Nicholson, Mike Yip ABC Fringe "Earthling" Robert Habros, Eric Hance, Andrew Orloff, Jay Worth Fox Stargate Universe "Air" Shannon Gurney, Andrew Karr, Mark Savela, Craig Van Den Biggelaar Syfy V "Pilot" Johnathan R. Banta, Karen Czukerberg, Andrew Orloff, Chris Zapara ABC Best Visual Effects in a Television Miniseries, Movie, or Special Year Program Nominees Network 2002 Dinotopia Mike McGee, Tim Webber, Alec Knox, Ben Morris ABC Expedition: Bismarck Dean Lewis Discovery Channel Rose Red Robin Griffin, Stuart Robertson, Dion Hatch, Nelson Sepulveda ABC 2003 Battlestar Galactica Gary Hutzel, Kristen L. Branan, Emile E. Smith, Lee Stringer Sci Fi Dinosaur Planet Sebastien Dostie, Claude Precourt, Isabelle Riva Discovery Channel Frank Herbert's Children of Dune ("Night 1") Ernest Farino, Tim McHugh, Chris Q. Zapara, Glenn A. Campbell Sci Fi Helen of Troy Sam Nicholson, Adam Ealovega, Joshua Hatton, Tim Donahue USA Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries, Movie, or Special Year Program Nominees Network 2004 Virtual History: The Secret Plot to Kill Hitler Jim Radford, Tom Beckwith Phillips, Simon Thomas, Loraine Cooper BBC Two Earthsea Peter V. Ware, Eric Grenaudier, Jared Jones, Earl Paraszczynec Sci Fi The Last Dragon Sirio Quintavalle, Alex Knox, Neil Glaseby Animal Planet 2005 Walking with Monsters Timothy Greenwood, Joanna Nodwell, Neil Glasbey, Darren Byford BBC One Comet Collision! John Gross, Nick Black, Christian Bloch, Casey Benn Discovery Channel Super Bowl XXXIX ("Opening") Benoit Girard, Jason Crosby, Jerome Morin, Chris Del Conte Fox 2006 Nightmares & Dreamscapes ("Battleground") || style="background:#B0C4DE;"| Eric Grenaudier, Sam Nicholson, Mark Spatny, Adalberto Lopez || style="background:#B0C4DE;"| TNT|- | Fight Science || Mat Beck, Kymber Lim, Manny Wong, Jack Matsumoto || National Geographic |- | Hogfather ("Episode 1") || Oliver Money, Simon Thomas, Kim Stevenson, Stephen Jolley || Sky One |- | rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;"| 2007 || style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Battlestar Galactica: Razor Michael Gibson, Gary Hutzel, Sean M. Jackson, Pierre Drolet Sci Fi Ben 10: Race Against Time (VFX Compilation) Dina Benadon, Evan Jacobs, Brent Young, Chris Christman Cartoon Network Doctor Who: Voyage of the Damned Dave Houghton, Will Cohen, Nicolas Hernandez, Sara Bennett BBC One Race to Mars ("Getting to Mars") Manon Barriault, Jacques Levesque, Olivier Goulet, Benoit Girard Discovery Channel Canada Tin Man ("Night One") Lee Wilson, Lisa K. Sepp, Sébastien Bergeron Sci Fi Year Program Episode(s) Nominees Network 2008 John Adams "Join or Die" Steve Kullback, Eric Henry, Robert Stromberg, Jeff Goldman HBO Doctor Who: The Next Doctor (Cyber King) Dave Houghton, Marie Jones, Matt McKinney, Murray Barber BBC One Generation Kill "The Cradle of Civilization" Adam McInnes, Anthony Bluff, Stephane Paris, David Sewell HBO Knight Rider (Prometheus) Sam Nicholson, Scott Ramsey, Chris Martin, Mike Enriquez NBC 2009 Prep & Landing (Gadgets, Gloves and other Garish Gizmos) Dorothy McKim, Scott Kersavage, David Hutchins, Kee Suong ABC Alice "Night 2" Lee Wilson, Lisa Sepp-Wilson, Sebastien Bergeron, Les Quinn Syfy Ben 10: Alien Swarm (Montage) Evan Jacobs, Sean McPherson, Andrew Orloff Cartoon Network Infestation PJ Foley, Efram Potelle, James May, Dan DeEnremont Syfy Skellig Sara Bennett, Jenna Powell, David Houghton, Jean-Claude Deguara Sky One
2010s Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series Year Program Nominees Network 2010 Caprica Michael Gibson, Gary Hutzel, Davey Morton, Jesse Mesa Toves Syfy The Event Victor Scalise, Jason Spratt, Diego Galtieri, Mike Enriquez NBC No Ordinary Family Andrew Orloff, Curt Miller, Paul Linden, Scott Tinter ABC Stargate Universe Mark Savela, James Rorick, Craig Vanden Biggelaar, Adam de Bosch Kemper Syfy V Andrew Orloff, Nathan Overstrom, Karen Czukerberg, Roberto Biagi ABC 2011 Terra Nova Kevin Blank, Colin Brady, Adica Manis, Jason Zimmerman Fox Falling Skies Roberto Biagi, Curt Miller, Andrew Orloff, Sean Tompkins TNT Fringe Robert Habros, Andrew Orloff, Jay Worth, Chris Wright Fox Once Upon a Time Nathan Overstrom, Laura Jones Turner, Andrew Orloff, Doug Ludwig ABC Planet Dinosaur Phil Dobree, Luke Dodd, Hasraf Dulull, Mark Sherwood BBC One Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries, Movie or Special Year Program Nominees Network 2010 The Pacific John Sullivan, David Taritero, William Mesa, Marco Requay HBO America: The Story of Us Philip Dobree, Sophie Orde, Eloi Brunelle, Hasraf Dulull History Inside the Perfect Predator Philip Dobree, Richard Costin, Sam Meisels BBC Last Day of the Dinosaurs Arnaud Brisebois, Louis Desrochers, Alain Lachance, Marc A. Rousseau Discovery Channel Prep & Landing: Operation: Secret Santa Dorothy McKim, Kyle Odermatt, Andy Harkness, Adolph Lusinsky ABC 2011 Inside the Human Body Philip Dobree, Sophie Orde, Dan Upton BBC The Bomber Igor Gotsulyak, Dmitriy Kolesnik, Egor Olesov, Dmitry Ovcharenko Finding Life Beyond Earth: Are We Alone? Simon Clarke, Hasraf Dulull, Vikas Gandhi, Francisco Lima PBS Gettysburg J. David Everhart, Kent Johnson, Jon Rhinehardt, Jon Rosenthal History Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice Kevin Deters, Dorothy McKim, John Murrah, Stevie Wermers-Skelton ABC Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program Year Program Episode(s) Nominees Network 2012 Game of Thrones "Valar Morghulis" Rainer Gombos, Steve Kullback, Sven Martin, Juri Stanossek HBO Curiosity "Battlefield Cell" Nathan Larouche, Lon Molnar, Geoff Scott, Bojan Zoric Discovery Falling Skies "Worlds Apart (Falling Skies)" James Hattin, Suzanne MacLennan, Curt Miller, Andrew Orloff TNT Mockingbird Lane Leslie Ekker, Jonah Hall, Livia Hanich, Jason Zimmerman NBC Once Upon a Time "The Stranger" Dale Fay, Laura Jones Turner, Nathan Matsuda, Andrew Orloff ABC 2013 Game of Thrones "Valar Dohaeris" Steve Kullback, Joe Bauer, Jörn Großhans, Sven Martin HBO Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. "Pilot" Mark Kolpack, Sabrina Arnold, David Altenau, H Haden Hammond ABC Almost Human Jay Worth, Robert Habros, Michael Cliett, David Beedon Fox Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome Gary Hutzel, Michael Gibson, Derek Ledbetter, Heather McAuliff Syfy Inseparable "Chernobyl" Egor Olesov, Egor Borschevsky, Dmitry Ovcharenko, Mykhailo Datsyk Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Photoreal/Live Action Broadcast Program Year Program Episode(s) Nominees Network 2014 Game of Thrones "The Children" Joe Bauer, Steve Kullback, Stuart Brisdon, Thomas Schelesny, Sven Martin HBO Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Mark Kolpack, Sabrina Arnold, Gary D'Amico, Kevin Lingenfelser, David Beedon ABC Constantine "A Feast of Friends" Kevin Blank, Elizabeth Castro, Yafei Wu, Chris LeDoux NBC The Flash Armen V. Kevorkian, James Baldanzi, Jeremy Jozwik, Andranik Taranyan The CW Hemlock Grove Matt Whelan, Chris Brown, Todd Masters, Jonathan Banta, Eric McAvoy Netflix Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode