Transcript as presented on Feburary 9th, 2019:

[David Simons]

Thank you, Academy, for honoring us, and for honoring After Effects.

After Effects is the fruit of over 600 person-years of labor. So a huge thank-you to the approximately 100 team members who have worked on it over the years, and with whom we share this award. We wish we had time to mention you all by name.

Thank you to the folks who contributed to the very first version in 1992, at our tiny startup, The Company of Science and Art. Especially David Herbstman who, in addition to coding, led feature decisions for the formative first four years, over many late nights eating Chicken Bei-bong. And thanks to Sarah Allen and Russell Belfer for contributing to the early design and coding.

I want to give special recognition to the talented, dedicated folks who have worked on After Effects for over 20 years, including:

And thanks to everyone on the team today, who are continuing to innovate for After Effects artists.

It’s those artists who inspire us with their beautiful work and guide our development through spirited feedback. Special thanks to the early beta-testers, like Chris & Trish Meyer, who believed in us even when it was far from clear that they should have.

More personally, I’d like to thank my wife Becca and daughters Rayna & Harriet, who made it all possible — and worthwhile.

And I’ll finish by thanking my mother, who is still sharp at 81. Soon after I told her about this award, I turned off the motion-interpolation setting on her TV so she could enjoy her favorite movies. In response, she said, “I guess you really do deserve that Nobel prize.” Thanks Mum!

[Michael Natkin]

Thank you. First of all I want to thank Dave Simons, because none of this would’ve ever happened without him. His vision over an incredible period of time made After Effects possible. And I’d also like to thank my father Jerry Natkin, my mom Lois, my step-mom Judith, my wife Sarina, and my daughters Zoey and Olivia. They believed in me every step of the way. Also I’d like to thank professor Andy van Dam because he took a chance on me when I was a very raggedy-looking freshman and gave me my first intro to computer graphics that made all this possible. Thank you.

[Daniel Wilk]

I’ll be quick because I know how these things go. I’d just like to thank my family, mom & dad, and also DaveS and DaveH for taking a chance on me in the early days, also my friends John Nelson and Paul Uusitalo for being friends and being there the whole time. Alright, thanks guys.

[David M. Cotter]

I want to thank my beautiful wife Karen, for putting up with me working so much, and I want to thank my mom for believing in me, and I want to thank Dave Simons, my personal angel, for mentoring me through the very beginning years, and thank you so much I’m really humbled and honored by this award, thank you.

[James Acquavella]

Hello, I’d like to thank my lovely wife and beautiful wife Miwa, my two children, my mom & dad, and my band members who are probably watching this on YouTube: Dust Moth. And Dave Simons of course for taking a chance on me. Thank you all, thanks.

 

David Simons’ original acceptance speech (before being shortened to try to meet the Academy’s limits), different paragraphs in bold:

Thank you, Academy, for honoring us, and for honoring After Effects.

Five months ago, I was cycling through an intersection in Seattle when a car turned left directly into me and sent me spinning through the air. The landing broke my back. But it could have been much, much worse. So I’m grateful to be alive and able-bodied enough to walk up these steps and, along with my four colleagues here, to thank everyone in person.

We are merely representatives of the entire fantastic team that has worked on After Effects for over 26 years. During that time, the team has invested over 600 person-years into making After Effects what it is today.

Apologies in advance to everyone we don’t have time to name.

Thanks to Greg Deocampo, David Foster, and David Herbstman for co-founding CoSA in 1990, where we created the nutrient-rich environment in which After Effects took root.

Thanks to the CoSA folks who contributed to the very first version in 1992: especially David Herbstman who, in addition to coding, guided After Effects development for the first four years. Also contributing were Sarah Allen, Bob Barnshaw, Russell Belfer, Sara Daley, Charlie Donaldson, Karen Driscoll, Sari Gilman, Josh Hendrix, Bill O’Farrell, Sari Rosen, Beth Roy, and David Tecson. After Effects was our last chance to keep the company afloat.

Thanks to all of the team members who have ever worked on After Effects. Especially those who have dedicated more than twenty years of their professional lives:

And thanks to those who dedicated more than ten years: Will Lockwood, John Carscadden, Meredith Yeary, Jessica Papkoff, Jenny Neireiter (may she rest in peace), Tim Kurkoski, Dan O’Donnell, David Simonton (not to be confused with me), Amir Stone, Steve Kilisky, Eric Anderson, Chris Prosser, Pankaj Nathani, Seth Monger, Todd Kopriva, Erica Schisler, Troy Church, Teri Carilli, and Jeff Almasol.

Thanks to Adobe’s inspiring & supportive upper management, including John Warnock, Chuck Geschke, Shantanu Narayen, and Steve Warner. And thanks to everyone on the After Effects team today, who are continuing to innovate for our users.

It’s those users who not only guide our development through direct feedback, but also who inspire us with their beautiful work. We don’t have the ability to create such beauty ourselves, so we get great joy from enabling others to do so. You, our users, are the reason we built, and continue to build, After Effects. Thank you for teaching us about motion graphics, and special thanks to the 1.0 beta-testers, like Chris & Trish Meyer, who helped us even when it was far from clear that the end result would work at all.

More personally, I’d like to thank my wife Becca and daughters Rayna & Harriet, who made it all possible — and worthwhile.

And I’ll finish by thanking my mother, who is still sharp at 81. Soon after I told her about this award, I turned off the motion-interpolation setting on her TV so she could enjoy her favorite movies. In response, she said, “I guess you really do deserve that Nobel prize.” Thanks Mum!