South Australia’s visual effects talent is headed for Hollywood’s biggest night, with Rising Sun Pictures’ Guido Wolter part of the team nominated for Best Visual Effects at the Academy Awards for the film Sinners.
Speaking about the nomination, Wolter described the moment as deeply humbling, saying it still feels surreal to see years of meticulous, often invisible work recognised on the world’s biggest stage. “Our job was to never pull the audience out of the story,” he said. “The goal was for viewers to completely accept what they’re seeing as real, especially when you’re dealing with human faces and performances. That’s an incredibly high bar, and that’s why this recognition means so much.”
Guido represented Rising Sun Pictures throughout the Academy Awards nomination process, including participation in the highly regarded Visual Effects Bake-Off screenings in Los Angeles. The Bake-Off is a critical stage in the Academy’s voting process, giving members a detailed look at the craft, creativity and technical innovation behind each shortlisted film.
Wolter explained that simply making it to the Bake-Off was a major win for the team, particularly given Sinners was never positioned as a traditional visual effects showcase. “It’s not a VFX movie. It’s a period vampire horror film,” he said. “The effects are there to serve the story, not draw attention to themselves. That actually made the awards campaign harder, because people didn’t realise there were more than a thousand visual effects shots across the film, accounting for roughly half its runtime.”
Sinners received a record 16 Academy Award nominations, including for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and of course, Best Visual Effects. Some people have pointed out that it perhaps deserves two nominations for Best Actor, with Michael B. Jordan playing both Smoke, and his twin brother Stack.
Wolter acknowledged the nomination as something of an underdog story. “Going into awards season, our prospects were considered quite low,” he said. “But through collaboration, openness, and support from people like director Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan, we were able to show just how much work went into this film.”
The film is a wild ride, bringing vampires to 1930s Mississippi in an edge-of-your-seat thriller packed with twists and turns.
Much of Rising Sun Pictures’ work focused on seamlessly bringing Jordan’s dual performances to life, a task Wolter described as one of the most technically and creatively demanding challenges in visual effects. “You’re dealing with subtlety, emotion, and human performance.”
Rising Sun Pictures also congratulated Michael Ralla, James Alexander, Espen Nordahl and Donnie Dean, alongside the wider team at Warner Bros. Discovery, whose creative vision helped bring the film to life.
Winners will be announced at the 98th Academy Awards ceremony, taking place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The ceremony will air live on ABC beginning at 11:30am Adelaide time on Monday, March 16.
As Wolter prepares to travel from Adelaide to Los Angeles, he reflected on the contrast between the two worlds. “I’ll be bouncing around between Adelaide and and LA a few times I’ll probably get whiplash from jumping into the world of suits and black limousines back to our beautiful life in Adelaide. That contrast is awesome and that’s what I live for.”
For Rising Sun Pictures, which has been creating award-winning visual effects for over three decades, the nomination is another huge moment of global recognition for South Australian creative excellence. The company is also known for its work on major features including A Complete Unknown, Mickey 17, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Thor: Love & Thunder, and so many more.
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