Sara Bennett is a British visual effects artist who won a 2016

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

for the best visual effects in the film ''Ex-Machina''. She is a co-founder of

Milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

, a visual effects studio headquartered in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Early life

Bennett was born in

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

in the West of England.

Career

From a young age, Sara has been fascinated by the visual effects industry and was particularly inspired by Horror Movies. In a recent Women in VFX interview, she reflects on her journey; from Runner, progressing up the ranks via the compositing route to leadership roles and is now Chief Creative Officer/VFX Supervisor at Milk, a VFX studio she co-founded in 2013 based in London. Bennett's first film credit was on the 1998 film '' Babe: Pig in the City'' where she worked in digital preparation at Mill Film. Sara is best known for her work on ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'' (2002), ''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' (2004), ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'' (2005), ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' (2005), ''Merlin'' (2008), ''Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell'' (2009), ''Skellig'' (2009), ''The Martian'' (2015) and ''Ex Machina'' (2015). She became the second ever female VFX Oscar winner when she received a 2016

for the best visual effects in Alex Garland’s feature ''Ex-Machina'', along with Andrew Whitehurst, Paul Norris, Mark Ardington. Sara also received a 2016

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

Film Award nomination for ''Ex-Machina''. Sara has also collaborated with Bythewood on her previous project for

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

’s The Old Guard, delivering the entire project during lockdown in 2020. Sara’s TV credits include supervising ''

Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...

'' (BBC), which won the 2011

Television Craft Award for visual effects amongst other awards, and she also was involved in award-winning ''

'' (BBC), Primeval (ITV). Sara is a member of The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences,

and the

Visual Effects Society The Visual Effects Society (VES) is an entertainment industry organization representing visual effects practitioners including artists, animators, technologists, model makers, educators, studio leaders, supervisors, PR/marketing specialists and p ...

Filmography

* ''

Hannibal Hannibal (; ; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Punic people, Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Ancient Carthage, Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War. Hannibal's fat ...

(2001)'' * '' Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' (2001) * '' Band of Brothers: season 1, episode 1'' (2001) * '' Black Hawk Down'' (2002) * ''

The Count of Monte Cristo ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' () is an adventure novel by the French writer Alexandre Dumas. It was serialised from 1844 to 1846, and published in book form in 1846. It is one of his most popular works, along with ''The Three Musketeers'' (184 ...

'' (2002) * ''

Veronica Guerin Veronica Guerin Turley (5 July 1959 – 26 June 1996) was an Irish investigative journalist focusing on organised crime in Ireland, who was murdered in a contract killing believed to have been ordered by a South Dublin-based drug cartel. Bor ...

'' (2003) * '' 28 Week Later (2007)'' * ''

Torchwood ''Torchwood'' is a British-American science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. A spin-off of the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'', it aired from 2006 to 2011. The show shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect i ...

season 1 episode 1-13, season 2 episode 1-13 (2008)'' * ''

season 1 episode 12-13 (2008)'' * ''

Demons A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in media including fiction, comics, film, t ...

season 1 episode 1-6 (2009)'' * ''

Skellig ''Skellig'' is a children's novel by the British author David Almond, published by Hodder in 1998. It was the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year and it won the Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's outstanding ...

(2009)'' * '' Cracks'' ''(2009)'' * ''Alice season 1 episode 1-2'', ''The flying scientists,'' (2010) * ''

The Chronicles of Narnia ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven portal fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, the series is set in the fictional realm of Narnia (wor ...

: the Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)'' * ''Magic Piano'' ''(2011)'' * ''

Snow White and the Huntsman ''Snow White & the Huntsman'' is a 2012 American fantasy film, fantasy action film, action-adventure film, adventure film based on the German fairy tale "Snow White" compiled by the Brothers Grimm. Produced by Roth/Kirschenbaum Films, Roth Films ...

(2012)'' * ''

Dredd ''Dredd'' is a 2012 science fiction film, science fiction action film directed by Pete Travis and written and produced by Alex Garland. It is based on the ''2000 AD (comics), 2000 AD'' comic strip ''Judge Dredd'' and its eponymous character ...

(2012),'' * ''

The Odd Life of Timothy Green ''The Odd Life of Timothy Green'' is a 2012 American fantasy comedy-drama film written and directed by Peter Hedges from a story by Ahmet Zappa. Starring Jennifer Garner, Joel Edgerton, Dianne Wiest, CJ Adams, Rosemarie DeWitt, Ron Livin ...

(2012)'' * '' Les Misérable (2012)'' * '' Redemption (2013)'' * ''

47 Ronin 47, 47 or forty-seven may refer to: *47 (number) * 47 BC * AD 47 *1947 *2047 * '47 (brand), an American clothing brand * ''47'' (magazine), an American publication * 47 (song), a song by Sidhu Moose Wala *47, a song by New Found Glory from the a ...

(2013)'' * '' Sherlock season 3 episode 0-3'' (2013-2014), * '' Black Sails season 1 episode 8 (2014)'' * ''

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

(2014)'' * ''

Dracula Untold ''Dracula Untold'' is a 2014 American action horror film directed by Gary Shore in his feature film debut and written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless. The plot creates an origin story for the title character, rather than using the storylin ...

(2014)'' * ''

Get Santa ''Get Santa'' is a 2014 Christmas comedy film directed and written by Christopher Smith, and produced by Liza Marshall. The film stars Jim Broadbent, Rafe Spall, Warwick Davis, Stephen Graham, Jodie Whittaker, and Kit Connor in his first t ...

(2014)'' * ''

Poltergeist In German folklore and ghostlore, a poltergeist ( or ; ; or ) is a type of ghost or spirit that is responsible for physical disturbances, such as loud noises and objects being moved or destroyed. Most claims or fictional descriptions of polter ...

'' (2015) * ''

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell ''Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell'' is the debut novel by British writer Susanna Clarke. Published in 2004, it is an alternate history, alternative history set in 19th-century England around the time of the Napoleonic Wars. Its premise is that m ...

season 1 episode 5 (2015)'' * '' The Martian (2015)'' * '' High-Rise (''2015) * '' Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands'' season 1 episode 1-12 (2016) * '' Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them (2016)'' * ''

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

'' season 1 episode 1,3 (2016) * ''

Assassin’s Creed ''Assassin's Creed'' is a historical fiction, historical action-adventure video game series and media franchise published by Ubisoft and developed mainly by its studio Ubisoft Montreal using the game engine Anvil (game engine), Anvil and its m ...

'' (2016), * '' Kingsman: The Golden Circle'' (2017) * ''

Annihilation In particle physics, annihilation is the process that occurs when a subatomic particle collides with its respective antiparticle to produce other particles, such as an electron colliding with a positron to produce two photons. The total energy a ...

(2018)'' * ''

Alienist Alienism is an obsolete term for psychiatry, the study and treatment of mental illnesses. In the early 20th century this term was replaced by that of psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are ...

'' season 1 episode 1-5, 7, 8 (2018) * '' Adrift (2018)'' * '' The Old Guard (2020)'' * ''

The Woman King ''The Woman King'' is a 2022 American historical action-adventure film about the Agojie, the all-female warrior regiment that protected the West African Kingdom of Dahomey during the 17th to 19th centuries. Set in the 1820s, the film stars Vi ...

'' (2022)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Sara Living people British visual effects artists Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Best Visual Effects Academy Award winners WFTV Award winners