22nd Annual VES Awards Gets an Assist from Backlight

Prestigious Visual Effects Society Awards Leverages ftrack Studio to Collectively Review Award Submissions

BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#VESAwards—Backlight, the global media and technology company that produces some of the most ubiquitous and innovative software solutions in the media entertainment business, has supported the virtual judging process for the 22nd Annual VES (Visual Effects Society) Awards. Nearly 500 judges used Backlight’s robust and flexible ftrack Studio platform to evaluate more than 500 submissions for this year’s awards. This year’s judging effort was a testament to ftrack’s ability to enable remote collaboration at scale.

“We are deeply appreciative of our partnership with Backlight,” said Nancy Ward, VES executive director. “The generous use of ftrack Studio enabled our judges to access and review award submissions in the precise sequence required—from any location worldwide. ftrack Studio’s flexibility was hugely helpful, ensuring that our program could proceed efficiently without compromise.”

The VES is the entertainment industry’s premier global professional honorary society. With nearly 5,000 members spanning 49 countries, the VES represents the full spectrum of visual effects practitioners working across film, television, commercials, animation, special venues, games, and new media. Each year, the VES Awards sets the stage for honoring the pinnacle of visual effects artistry and innovation worldwide.

The judging process for the VES Awards is thoughtful and comprehensive. This year’s submission protocol required the VES to manage multiple judging events around the world, including 24 in-person panels and 15 virtual panels—with up to 10 panels that operated simultaneously. Given the logistical challenges presented by the geographically dispersed judges, the VES Awards required a robust, flexible platform to share submissions with its international judging panels within a tight 30-hour window.

Backlight met the assignment with its ftrack Studio’s interactive media review functionality, offering a powerful solution for content management and virtual panel hosting.

“We are so thrilled to help VES celebrate the work of industry colleagues,” said Rory McGregor, vice president of review products at Backlight. “The ftrack team has deep roots in the visual effects community, so we understand the unique demands of remote collaboration and content review. This partnership has ensured that the VES could conduct its awards judging process smoothly, underlining the society’s reputation for excellence.”

Read more about how Backlight helped VES facilitate global collaboration with remote review with ftrack Studio in this case study.

About Backlight

Backlight is a global media technology company that is dramatically improving every stage of the video and entertainment content lifecycle—from creation through monetization—with its award-winning, cloud-native SaaS products. Video-forward organizations partner with Backlight to solve their mission-critical business and operational challenges. Backlight’s product lines—iconik, cineSync, ftrack, celtx, Gem, Wildmoka and Zype—provide secure and efficient media management, narrative design, production tracking, creative collaboration, OTT, monetization and hyper-distribution. Backlight launched in 2021 and is backed by $200M in funding from growth-equity partner PSG. For more information visit backlight.co.

About the Visual Effects Society

The Visual Effects Society is a professional global honorary society dedicated to advancing the arts, sciences and applications of visual effects and to upholding the highest standards and procedures for the visual effects profession. It is the entertainment industry’s only official organization representing the extended global community of visual effects practitioners, including supervisors, artists, producers, technology developers, educators and studio executives. VES’ nearly 5,000 members in more than 45 countries worldwide contribute to all areas of entertainment – film, television, commercials, animation, music videos, games and new media. To learn more about the VES, visit www.vesglobal.org and follow us on X @VFX Society. Read our award-winning signature publication VFX Voice at www.vfxvoice.com.

Contacts

Backlight

Kiní Schoop

media@backlight.co
P. 917.415.6508

Visual Effects Society

Naomi Goldman

naomi@nlgcommunications.com
P. 310.770.2765