Rising Sun Pictures’ visual effects supervisor Julian Hutchens and visual effects producers Ian Cope, Andrew Whitehurst, Kathy Siegel and Alistair Williams, won the 2024 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award for Best Visual Effects or Animation for their work on Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
Hutchens and Cope accepted the award at the AACTA gala event held on the Gold Coast.
“It is truly an honour that the AACTA membership has chosen to recognise the outstanding work of our team for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Congratulations to our entire team for this is well- deserved recognition," said Hutchens.
RSP president Jennie Zeiher said, "our very talented team of artists, production, technical specialists, and support staff all played a significant role in contributing to this project, resulting in the incredible outcome we've achieved. It's a great privilege to see their creativity and efforts recognized by their peers in the Australian film community. We extend our gratitude to Lucasfilm, director James Mangold, VFX supervisor Andrew Whitehurst, and VFX producer Kathy Siegel for entrusting RSP with their extraordinary vision.”.
Rising Sun Pictures delivered more than 300 visual effects shots for the film. For an iconic chase scene featuring Indiana Jones riding a horse through the Apollo 11 tickertape parade and down into the subway system, RSP digitally recreated midtown Manhattan as it was in 1969 with thousands of cheering spectators and tickertape raining down from windows and rooftops. Other work included creating a computer-generated Replica train and horse and recreated the historic Pan American terminal at JFK Airport.
“As a company we take pride in the work we do,” said Hutchens. “Our work on Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is a testament to the talent of the Rising Sun Pictures team, and their ability to deliver an exceptional experience for clients and moviegoers worldwide.”
Rising Sun Pictures was also nominated for an AACTA Award for its work on Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, from Marvel Studios and directed by Peyton Reed. The team, led by VFX supervisor Jamie Macdougall and VFX producer Rachel Copp, produced more than 270 visual effects shots for the film, including augmenting—and later destroying—the Celestium, a massive, time and space traveling fortress belonging to the film’s supervillain, Kang the Conqueror.
RSP was also tasked with visualzsing The Mandala, a luminous, three-dimensional map that allows Kang to observe different layers of the multiverse, and with crafting an interdimensional portal that acts as a gateway between points in space-time.
This is Hutchen's third AACTA award; he was the recipient of this award in 2020 for The Eight Hundred and in 2022 for Elvis.
He was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy for his work on the Boys.
Rising Sun Pictures rsp.com.au