Andy Serkis honoured with IBC’s highest accolade

The IBC2019 International Honour for Excellence will be awarded to director, producer and actor Andy Serkis, renowned for his work as Gollum in Lord of the Rings, Supreme Leader Snoke in Star Wars and Caesar in Planet of the Apes. 

Serkis will be awarded “for bringing together the highest performance standards with the latest in image recognition and CGI technology.” 

Serkis will accept the award during the IBC2019 Awards Ceremony, on Sunday 15 September. 

IBC recognises some of Serkis’s greatest achievements which include making the shift from motion capture for CGI towards a combination of technology and the interpretive skill of the actor to create the fidelity of the performance in every detail.

This is what gives the performance genuine humanity: his performance as Caesar in the three Planet of the Apes films won him an acting nomination from the Broadcast Film Critics Association.

On winning the award, Serkis said: “I feel incredibly honoured to have been chosen as the recipient of this year’s prestigious IBC award.

“In turn, I must share this appreciation with the phenomenal legions of creative artists, visionaries and pioneers with whom I’ve been lucky enough to dance with on this journey of next-generation storytelling.”

Serkis will feature in the Convention Keynote, in conversation with journalist Carolyn Giardina to review his career, the state of the art in motion capture, and discuss where he sees the future of technology in film and television. The Keynote is at 12.30 on Sunday 15 September in the Forum and is free to attend.

IBC chief executive Michael Crimp said: “The International Honour for Excellence has a long history of rewarding those who have transformed our creative vision. Andy Serkis has achieved this by bringing extraordinary humanity to computer-generated characters.”

The IBC2019 Awards Ceremony is free to all IBC visitors.

It takes place on Sunday evening 15 September at 18.30 in the RAI Auditorium, and will also see the presentation of two new awards this year, honouring achievements in social responsibility and a Young Pioneer, alongside the IBC Innovation Awards.

• Read more IBC honours young industry talent
• Read more IBC announces Social Impact Awards shortlist