In the awards season leading up to Hollywood's crown achievement - the Academy Awards - the filmmaking industry celebrates those who toil tirelessly behind the scenes. At last night's Visual Effects Society Awards at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel, one of the presenters quoted Arthur C. Clarke, summarizing the entire evening: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

"Avatar" was seemingly the unbeatable juggernaut. James Cameron picked up a Lifetime Achievement Award, while his "Avatar" team won for six categories, including Outstanding VFX in a VFX-Driven Motion Picture.  Raz PR client Digital Domain fared well too, picking up an award for Visual Effects in a Commercial for its Audi "Intelligently Combined" spot. Another Raz PR client, Autodesk, presented the Visual Effects in a Student Project distinction to a chillingly effective global warming PSA titled "They Will Come to Town" created by Thilo Ewers.

In an evening lacking in any major surprises, presenter Tom Arnold was the most gloriously unpredictable element of the night. In a expletive-laden toast to James Cameron, he beseeched Hollywood's visual effects community to use its copious talents to make magic, like "turning Arnold Schwarzenegger's hair a believable shade of orange."

You can check out a great batch of VES Award photos on Autodesk's Facebook page.

(Update!) More superb VES Award photos were just posted to Wiredrive's Facebook page.

From left to right: Raz PR's Julie Miller, Karen Raz and Natasha Wang, with Renee Dunlop. And check out James Cameron and his wife to our left!