The Visual Effects Society (VES), the
entertainment industry's only official organization representing the
extended community of visual effects professionals, has named producers
Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall of The Kennedy/Marshall Company, as the
recipients of the VES Lifetime Achievement Award at the 7th Annual VES
Awards which will be held at the Century Plaza Hotel in Beverly Hills on
Saturday, February 21, 2009.

The VES Lifetime Achievement Award, awarded by the VES Board of Directors,
recognizes outstanding contributions to the art and/ or science of the
visual effects industry. The Lifetime Achievement Award, given last year to
Steven Spielberg, honors Marshall’s and Kennedy’s impressive individual and
collective body of work as Hollywood’s leading producers who have produced
many iconic films over the past 30 years while also creating extraordinary
advances in the field of visual effects in order to make their stories come
alive.

“Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall have set the gold standard for
storytelling by combining true creative artistry along with the latest
advances in technology to bring their stories to the screen,” said Eric
Roth, Executive Director of the VES. “Over the past few decades they’ve
proven to be great collaborators with both above and below the line talent
which has shone a bright light on the incredible uses of visual effects to
not only tell a story more creatively, but also, to have a more positive
impact on the all important bottom line,” Roth added.

Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy each hold leading reputations within the
film industry and each has earned multiple nominations for Academy Awards.
Marshall is credited with over fifty films as a visionary producer, while
Kennedy includes in her credits E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park,
and The Sixth Sense, three of the highest-grossing films in motion picture
history.

Marshall commented, “It is an honor to accept this award from an
organization so well respected in the visual effects field”. Kennedy added,
“We have always valued the work of visual effects artists, and those whose
creativity continually develops new ways to push the boundaries of
possibility. We are grateful to be recognized as contributors to this
process”.

Marshall and Kennedy began their professional collaboration with Raiders of
the Lost Ark in 1981. In 1992, the pair formed their own production
company, The Kennedy/Marshall Company. Under their company banner they
credit successful films such as, The Sixth Sense, Seabiscuit, and the Bourne
Trilogy. Their films have garnered dozens of Academy Award nominations,
including The Sixth Sense’s six Academy Award nominations and Seabiscuit’s
seven.

Whether it was utilizing green screens in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), or
computer-generated scenery and character animation in Indiana Jones and the
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), Marshall and Kennedy films have
consistently employed cutting edge visual effects techniques. On their
upcoming film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the pair worked closely
with director David Fincher to use visual technology to age star Brad Pitt
to depict the character’s story over the course of a lifetime. As
filmmakers, Marshall and Kennedy have ensured full viewer immersion though
their efforts to transform their creative visions into reality. It is with
appreciation of these creative productions that the Visual Effects Society
presents Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy with the VES Lifetime
Achievement Award.