BU animation graduate wins BAFTA for Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The force is certainly with BU graduate Paul Kavanagh, who has picked up the Best Special Visual Effects BAFTA for his work on Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Paul, who completed a Master’s degree in Computer Animation and Visualisation at BU in 1991, collected the award last night for his work as a visual effects supervisor on the latest Star Wars blockbuster.
Paul was joined on stage by colleagues from Industrial Light and Magic, who created the visual effects for the most recent live action movie in the Star Wars franchise. The film was a global success, breaking box office records and grossing over £100 million in the UK alone.
Around 20 fellow graduates from the National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA) at BU worked on the Star Wars film, with many others contributing to the visual effects for BAFTA-nominated films including Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, and Ex Machina.
Sofronis Efstathiou, Principal Lecturer in the NCCA, said: “We are incredibly proud of all of our graduates who go on to successful careers in the animation and visual effects industry, working on blockbuster films around the globe.
“It’s always great to see BU graduates up on stage collecting awards – and we’d like to congratulate Paul and all the graduates who’ve worked on the BAFTA-nominated films this year.
He added: “It’s a really exciting time to be part of the UK visual effects industry, and there is lots to look forward to – not least the upcoming Oscars, where BU graduates have again directly contributed to many of the nominated films.”
