MILK’S SARA BENNETT IS SECOND FEMALE EVER TO WIN VFX OSCAR FOR EX-MACHINA

London, 29^th February 2016: Independent VFX studio Milk Visual Effects’ Co-Founder Sara Bennett has won an Academy Award® for Alex Garland’s Ex-Machina, alongside the VFX team from Double Negative – Andrew Whitehurst, Paul Norris and Mark Ardington.

The four received the Oscar for Best Visual Effects at the 88th Academy Awards® ceremony held last night at the Dolby Theatre® Hollywood, Los Angeles.

Sara is the second female ever to win an Oscar® in the Best VFX category.

Sara Bennett, VFX Supervisor and Co-Founder of Milk Visual Effects said: “I am beyond excited!! We are thrilled and honoured to be recognised by The Academy for our work on Ex-Machina. It was a privilege to work with Alex Garland, to bring his incredible vision to life, alongside Andrew Whitehurst and the Dneg team. I would love to see more women in prominent creative roles in our Industry – I was a little shocked to find out I was the third ever female VFX Oscar nominee.”

Milk is an independent visual effects company with studios in London and Cardiff, focused on creating innovative sequences for high-end television and feature films. Milk’s credits include Ben Wheatley’s forthcoming High Rise, Everest (Universal), The Martian (20^th Century Fox), The Divergent Series: Insurgent, Poltergeist (Fox/MGM), Alex Garland/DNA Film’s Ex-Machina, Brett Ratner’s Hercules (Paramount/MGM), Dredd 3D (Entertainment Films), 47 Ronin (Universal), Dracula Untold (Universal) and Sherlock (Hartswood Films), Doctor Who (BBC), Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (BBC), Thunderbirds are Go (ITV), Beowulf (ITV Studios) and 24: Live Another Day (Fox) for television.

Milk is currently in production on Ben Wheatley’s new feature Free-Fire and Warner Bros’ Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Sara Bennett and the Double Negative team were also nominated for a 2016 BAFTA Film Award for their work on Ex-Machina