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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.