HPA Honors Robert Legato with Lifetime Achievement Award
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) has announced that Robert Legato, the legendary visual effects supervisor and renowned creative, will receive the organization's Lifetime Achievement Award at the HPA Awards during a gala evening at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles on November 21st.
Now in its 14th year, the HPA Awards recognize creative artistry, innovation and engineering excellence in the media content industry. The Lifetime Achievement Award honors the recipients' dedication to the betterment of the industry.
Legato is an iconic figure in the visual effects industry with multiple Oscar , British Academy of Film & Television Arts (BAFTA), Visual Effects Society (VES) nominations and awards to his credit. He is a multi-hyphenate on many of his projects, serving as Visual Effects Supervisor, VFX Director of Photography, and 2nd Unit Director. From his work with studios, directors, and in his roles at Sony Imageworks and Digital Domain, he is a groundbreaking thinker in the development of nimble digital workflows.
Legato's extensive film credits include some of the most creatively honored and important visual effects driven projects of the past 20 years. He has enjoyed long collaborations with leading directors including James Cameron, Jon Favreau, Martin Scorsese, and Robert Zemeckis.
Legato's career in VFX began in television at Paramount Pictures, where he supervised visual effects on two Star Trek series, which earned him two Emmy awards. He left Paramount to join the newly formed Digital Domain where he worked with founders James Cameron, Stan Winston and Scott Ross, to forge Digital Domain into a visual effects powerhouse. He remained at Digital Domain until he segued to Sony Imageworks.
Legato began his feature VFX career on Neil Jordan's Interview with the Vampire. He then served as Visual Effects Supervisor and Director of Photography for the VFX unit on Ron Howard's Apollo 13 , which earned him his first Academy Award nomination, and a win at the BAFTAs. He worked with James Cameron on Titanic, earning him his first Academy Award. Legato continued to work with Cameron, conceiving and creating the Virtual Cinematography Pipeline for Cameron's visionary Avatar.
Legato has enjoyed a long collaboration with Martin Scorsese that began with his consultation on Kundun and continued with the multi-award winning film The Aviator, on which he served as Co-2nd Unit Director/Cameraman and Visual Effects Supervisor. Legato's work on The Aviator brought him three VES awards and the International Press Academy's Satellite Award for Best Visual Effects. He returned to work with the director on the Oscar Best Picture winner The Departed as the 2nd Unit Director/Cameraman and VFX Supervisor. Legato and Scorsese collaborated on Shutter Island, where he was both Visual Effects Supervisor and 2nd Unit Director/Cameraman. He continued on to Scorsese's epic 3D film Hugo, which was nominated for 11 Oscars and 11 BAFTAS, including Best Picture and Best Visual Effects. Legato won his second Oscar for Hugo as well as three VES Society Awards and an International Satellite Award. His collaboration with Scorsese continued with The Wolf of Wall Street as well as with non-theatrical and advertising projects such as the Clio award winning Freixenet: The Key to Reserva, a 10-minute commercial project, and the Rolling Stones feature documentary, Shine a Light.
Legato worked with director Jon Favreau on Disney's The Jungle Book (2nd Unit Director/Cinematographer and Visual Effects Supervisor) for which he received his third Academy Award, a British Academy Award, five VES Awards, an HPA Award and the Critics' Choice Award for Best Visual Effects for 2016. His latest film with Favreau is Disney's The Lion King, which surpassed $1 billion in box office after fewer than three weeks in theaters.
His extensive credits include serving as Visual Effects Supervisor on Chris Columbus' global phenomenon Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, as well as two Robert Zemeckis films, What Lies Beneath and Cast Away. He was senior Visual Effects Supervisor on Michael Bay's Bad Boys II, which was nominated for a VES Award for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects, and for Digital Domain he worked on Bay's Armageddon.
He is a member of ASC, BAFTA, DGA, AMPAS, VES, and the Local 600 and Local 700 unions.
Seth Hallen, president of the HPA, said, It is an absolute honor to present the HPA Award for Lifetime Achievement to the inimitable Rob Legato. His credits and accomplishments have played an undeniable role in the advancement of visual storytelling and expanded the way that audiences experience entertainment. His brilliant work has informed our viewpoint of what is real, what is an illusion, and how stories come to life. Rob has also joined us as a presenter at the HPA Awards, and to have him with us this year to accept the Lifetime Achievement Award is a wonderful cycle of events.
The HPA Awards honor creative categories, Engineering Excellence and Creativity and Innovation. Nominations for the creative categories will be announced in the coming weeks, and winners of the HPA Engineering Excellence Awards were announced earlier. The HPA Awards are made possible through the generous sponsorship of Diamond Title Sponsor Blackmagic Design, Platinum Sponsor IMAX, and foundation members Avid, Dolby, EFilm, Encore, Deluxe Toronto, and Level 3 Post. For sponsorship or program advertising opportunities, please contact Joyce Cataldo at jcataldo@hpaonline.com. Tickets for the HPA Awards are now available at www.hpaonline.com.
Share this:
LinkedIn
Facebook
Twitter
Comments Comments are closed.
AMIA's Digital Asset Symposium Unveils Insightf
Europe Stories
23/12/2025
The year is winding down, the weather outside is frightful, and it's the perfect time to escape into a story that warms the heart. For listeners looking for...
23/12/2025
23 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan and Rakuten Symphony Collaborate to A...
22/12/2025
For a decade, popular German podcast Fest & Flauschig has hosted an annual Chris...
22/12/2025
Monday 22 December 2025
Sky extends PGA TOUR partnership until 2029, as Sky Spo...
22/12/2025
Siobh n McSweeney, Rory McIlroy, Elon Musk, Catherine Connolly, Jim Gavin, Ivan Yates and Traitor Paudie Moloney lead new characters for Callan Kicks the Year 2...
22/12/2025
Winner announced in the picturesque surroundings of Wicklow's Avondale Tower and Treetop Walk
Andrew Trimble wins the show in his first series as coach
Th...
22/12/2025
The 2025 winners have been announced today, Sunday 21 December, for Ireland's largest choral competition Choirs for Christmas hosted by RT lyric fm.
Ove...
21/12/2025
John Shortt named Young Sportsperson of the Year Kerry are the Team of the Year
...
19/12/2025
With Playout Release 2025.4, ToolsOnAir continues to push professional playout w...
19/12/2025
19 Dec 2025
VEON's Mobilink Microfinance Bank Launches Islamic Banking Oper...
19/12/2025
The six-part drama, set in a close-knit Welsh town fractured by an unspeakable c...
19/12/2025
Rohde & Schwarz drives the future of mobility at CES 2026 At the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Rohde & Schwarz will present a powerful lineup o...
19/12/2025
RT is proud to return to the RDS to support the 2026 Stripe Young Scientist & T...
18/12/2025
Canada's largest indoor arena has transformed its live production capabilities with a full ST 2110 infrastructure and Calrec's compact Argo S console. S...
18/12/2025
Long-term agreement includes the SES SCORE platform and hybrid distribution worldwide to deliver more than 5,000 hours of golf tournaments annually featuring th...
18/12/2025
18 Dec 2025
VEON Upgraded to Nasdaq Global Select Market, Enhancing Investor Visibility Dubai, December 18, 2025 - VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq: VEON), a global digital o...
18/12/2025
Thursday 18 December 2025
Sky Sports remains the exclusive home of the Masters ...
18/12/2025
Using the additive process of 3D printing, layer after layer gets printed until an object is as close to the final shape needed as possible. Historically, machi...
18/12/2025
In 2025, RT proudly supported 185 arts and cultural events across the island of Ireland, reflecting significant growth since the scheme was re-launched in 2014...
18/12/2025
RT Sports Awards 2025 live on RT One and RT Player at 8:05pm on Saturday 20 December
On Saturday 20 December live on RT One and RT Player at the earlier t...
18/12/2025
RT lyric fm presents a very special Winter Solstice edition of Ambient Orbit, l...
18/12/2025
At 7.45pm on 1st January 1926, the precursor to RT , then 2RN, delivered the fledgling new Irish state's first public radio transmission. From those first c...
18/12/2025
December 18 2025, 05:30 (PST) The Movie Experience SLO Becomes First U.S. Exhib...
17/12/2025
Investigative journalists across the Western Balkans and T rkiye continue to con...
17/12/2025
The right playlist is essential on New Year's Eve, building the energy as you get ready and keeping it high as you count down to midnight. This year, Spotif...
17/12/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
17/12/2025
Wuppertal December 17, 2025
Riedel Builds Global Communication and Commentary ...
17/12/2025
December 17 2025, 17:00 (PST) Dolby and LG Unveil a New Era of Home Audio With ...
17/12/2025
Wednesday 17 December 2025
Heated Rivalry will be coming to Sky and streaming service NOW on 10 JanuaryTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy opti...
17/12/2025
RT has announced that Kathy Fox has been appointed Commissioning Editor with re...
17/12/2025
With the new season of Dancing with the Stars shimmering in the not-too-distant future this New Year, the celebrity and dancer pairings of the twelve couples ha...
16/12/2025
Hawkins has landed on Spotify, just in time for Stranger Things Season 5, Volume...
16/12/2025
Wherever you are, your favorite music and audio content should go seamlessly with you. That's why Spotify has partnered with NAVER Corp, Korea's leading...
16/12/2025
2025 Wrapped arrived bigger and bolder than ever. This year's experience is designed to be ultra personal and shareable, with new features like Wrapped Part...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON Announces Release Date for Full Year and Fourth Quarter 2025 R...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON's Kyivstar Invests in Renewable Energy in Ukraine with Acq...
16/12/2025
Harmonic's XOS Advanced Media Processor Improves Streaming Video Quality and Boosts Viewer Engagement SAN JOSE, Calif. - Dec. 16, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: ...
16/12/2025
RT Sport Awards 2025 live on RT One and RT Player at 8:05pm on Saturday 20 December.
On Saturday 20 December live on RT One and RT Player at the earlier t...
16/12/2025
Singer -songwriter Brian Kennedy has been announced as the final celebrity dance...
15/12/2025
Cape Town, November 13, 2025 - SES and International artist and humanitarian, Fo...
15/12/2025
Luxembourg, December 15, 2025 - SES, a leading space solutions company, and Abra Group launched fast and reliable multi-orbit inflight connectivity service on t...
15/12/2025
15 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan Delivers First Starlink Direct to Cel...
15/12/2025
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor finds himself the topic of year's cracker jokes
Oasis, David Harbour, Celebrity Traitors and Angela Rayner all feature in this y...
15/12/2025
Comscore Expands Cross-Platform Campaign Measurement to Include Audio and Social New capabilities strengthen cross-platform campaign reporting suite; CCR rebran...
15/12/2025
RT .ie has reached one billion page views this year and is on track to finish 2025 2% ahead of last year. Average time spent on the site is up 3% on 2024, with ...
12/12/2025
Last month, Spotify announced a new collaboration with the ATP Tour, the global governing body of men's professional tennis, aimed at bringing the next gene...
12/12/2025
Friday 12 December 2025
Ted is back! Seth MacFarlane's live-action comedic ...
12/12/2025
Uachtar n na h ireann, Catherine Connolly visited RT Raidi na Gaeltachta's...
12/12/2025
Ireland AM host Eric Roberts has been revealed as the sixth contestant taking to...
HPA Honors Robert Legato with Lifetime Achievement Award 
