| Year | Recipient | Reason |
| 2002 | George Lucas | For a lifetime of visionary filmmaking achievement and his privately held company, Lucasfilm, continues to expand frontiers in the cinematic arts[1] |
| 2003 | James Cameron | For his stand-out effects and 3D lens innovations[1] |
| 2004 | Jerry Lewis | For introducing video-assist and video playback techniques, which have become industry standards[1] |
| 2005 | Stan Winston | For his special effects contributions to cinema[1] |
| 2006 | Richard Donner | For creating special effects on the 1978 film Superman that pre-dated contemporary computer-generated images[1] |
| 2007 | Dennis Muren | For his visual effects in films, especially with computer digital rendering and compositing[1] |
| 2008 | Rick Baker | For his innovative make-up, prosthetics, and creature effects in films[1] |
| 2009 | Roger Deakins | For his creative cinematography in films[1] |
| 2010 | Robert A. Harris | For his work as film preservationist and historian[1] |
| 2011 | Douglas Trumbull | For his film inventions and entrepreneurial work[3] |
| 2012 | Walter Murch | For award-winning sound design and editing in films[4] |
| 2013 | Garrett Brown | For visionary achievement in filmmaking technology[5] |
| 2014 | Industrial Light & Magic | For setting the standard for visual effects and creating some of the most stunning images in the history of film.[1] |
| 2015 | Robert Rutherford and Jonathan Miller (Hive Lighting) | For their energy efficient, full-spectrum, flicker-free plasma lighting systems.[1] |
| 2016 | John Toll | For setting a new bar in the future of digital filmmaking.[6] |
| 2017 | Robert Legato | For his deft atmospheric command of visual effects.[7] |
| 2018 | Kevin Baillie | For visionary achievement in filmmaking technology[1] |
| 2019 | Joe Letteri | For visionary achievement in filmmaking technology[8] |
| 2020 | Dick Pope | For visionary achievement in filmmaking technology[9] |
| 2021 | Joan Collins Carey | For visionary achievement in filmmaking technology |
| 2022 | Ryan Tudhope | For visionary achievement in filmmaking technology |
| 2023 | Neil Corbould | For visionary achievement in filmmaking technology |
| 2024 | Simon Hayes | For visionary achievement in filmmaking technology |