‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Slays At CAA Awards, Marvel Studios Also Scores Big

KPop Demon Hunters, the blockbuster animated feature that dominated Netflix rankings, proved to be as big a hit with fellow professionals as it was with fans worldwide. The animators, character designers and production artists responsible for the film’s visual appeal racked up a shelf of trophies at the Concept Art Association awards handed out on Saturday at the LightBox Expo in Pasadena, California.

The CAA awards honor excellent artistic work in live action, animation and videogames, putting the spotlight on creators behind the scenes who design the characters and settings, props, vehicles, creatures and story beats. They do not get as much public recognition as other entertainment awards, but they crown the achievements of some of the most talented and hard-working people in the industry.

This year K-Pop Demon Hunter garnered some of the top awards for feature film animation. Scott Watanabe won best key concept art for the K-Pop Concert finale scene, Celine Kim took home the trophy for environment concept art, and Nacho Molina won in the best color keys category. Directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans were on hand to receive the LBX Concept Art Luminaries award from the LightBox organizers, to the delight of the crowd.

Marvel Studios was another big winner on the night. Fantastic Four: First Steps was recognized for best vehicle design (Benjamin Last’s Fantasticar), best prop (Mark Button’s art-deco baby carrier), and best keyframe art (Thomas de Crest’s dramatic reveal of Galactus). Jana Schirmer won for her keyframe art in Agatha: All Along, and Uzoma Dunkwo got the award for his distinctive Afro-futurist character designs for the animated series Eyes of Wakanda.

In addition to recognizing the best work of the year, the CAA awards looked to both the past and the future. Makeup maestro Stan Winston and director Tim Burton were both honored with lifetime achievement awards for their decades of innovation. Students Mirel Shalari and Jiun Qui Tan took home awards in categories full of promising work, suggesting the future of entertainment art is in good hands, as long as studios still value the talents of human artists. A complete list of the evening’s winners is listed below.

The CAA Awards ceremony is the keystone event of LightBox Expo, an annual event celebrating commercial visual arts. The awards gala was held in the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in front of an audience of professionals, art students, hobbyists and fans. At a moment when the future of creative work is under threat from technology, economics and industry consolidation, the atmosphere at the awards, and at the entire LightBox Expo, was upbeat and inspiring.

It was clear from the consensus of attendees that we may have machines that can produces images, but only humans can make art.

Winners of the 2025 CAA Awards:

• Video Games: Environment Concept Art: Hyeon Kim, “Lobby of the Rose Estate”. Lies of P: Overture
• Key Art for Tabletop: Campbell White, “Silver Dragon,” Dungeons and Dragons
• Concept Illustration for Tabletop: Allie Irwin – “Arch Hag,” Dungeons and Dragons
• Video Games: Creature Concept Art: Hamid Shah, “Chimera,” Killing Floor 3
• Video Games: Character Concept Art: David Aguado Aparicio – “Iris”, Cataclismo
• Live-Action Storyboard Art: Mario Alberti – “Temple Sequence”, Jurassic World: Rebirth
• Animation Storyboard Art: – Maxime Delalande, “Kitty and Diane Fight.” The Bad Guys 2
• Live-Action Feature Film: Environment Concept Art: Oliver Beck, “Munchkin Land,” Wicked
• Vehicle Concept Art: Benjamin Last, “Fantasticar,” The Fantastic Four: First Steps
• Prop Concept Art: Mark Button, “Baby Carrier,” The Fantastic Four: First Steps
• Live-Action Creature Art: Aaron McBride, “Blind Bats,” Rings of Power
• Live-Action Feature Film Character Concept Art: Darrell Warner, “Elphaba,” Wicked
• Live-Action Feature Film: Keyframe Art: Thomas du Crest, “Galactus Introduction,” Fantastic Four: First Steps
• Live-Action Series: Character Art: Tommy Arnold , “Murderbot,” Murderbot
• Live-Action Series: Environment Art: Chester Carr, “Coruscant Seedy Commercial Strip,” Andor
• Live-Action Series: Keyframe Art: Jana Schirmer, “Kiss,” Agatha All Along
• Beacon: Creature Concept Art: Sina Hayati, “Warden of the mount Bärangûn”
• Beacon: Environment Concept Art: Jonathan del Rosario, “L.O.E”
• Student: Environment Concept Art: Mirel Shalari, “The Blessed Highlands- New3dge Concept Art School”
• Student: Character Concept Art: – Jiun Qi Tan, “Nocshire – Lady Monochrome- The One Academy”
• Beacon: Character Concept Art: Robbie Trevino, “Gravitas”
• Animation Feature Film: Visual Development Art: Scott Watanabe, “Kpop Climax,” KPop Demon Hunters
• Animation Feature Film: Environment Concept Art: Celine Kim, “First Concert Stage,” KPop Demon Hunters
• Animation Series: Character Concept Art: Uzoma Dunkwu, “Noni,” Eyes of Wakanda
• Animation Series: Environment Art: Aurelien Predal, “Caesar’s Palace,” Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight
• Animation Feature Film: Character Concept Art : Julien Le Rolland, “The Billionaire,” The Bad Guys 2
• Animation Feature Film: Color Keys: Nacho Molina, “How it’s Done,” KPop Demon Hunters
• Wacom Rising Star: Ant Qui
• Lifetime Achievement: Tim Burton and Stan Winston
• LBX Concept Art Luminary: Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans