Both Kiwi costume designer Kate Hawley and the team from Wellington’s Wētā FX have won in their respective categories – Costuming and Visual Effects. Hawley has snagged one of the early wins at the 98th Academy Awards for her work on monster movie Frankenstein. Hawley previously won the Bafta weeks earlier, and this was her first nomination and win for an Academy Award. Wētā FX’s Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett have also accepted the award on behalf of the Wētā FX team. This brings the total number of Awards won by Wētā FX to eight, with the group long considered to be at the forefront of visual effects in the industry.

Source: New Zealand Herald March 16, 2026 08:32 UTC