AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH

AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH

From Art of the Cut by Steve Hullfish, ACE

February 19, 2026 · 42 min

About this episode

Steve Hullfish interviews editor Stephen Rivkin about his work on Avatar: Fire and Ash and the unique editing process of the Avatar films.

Today on Art of the Cut we speak with Stephen Rivkin, ACE, who was one of the editors on James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash . The other editors included Cameron himself, Nicholas de Toth, Jason Gaudio, and John Refoua. Steve’s been on Art of the Cut before when we discussed the previous Avatar film – The Way of Water . Steve also edited the first Avatar film, for which he was nominated along with John Refoua and James Cameron for an Oscar, a BAFTA, and an ACE Eddie Award. He won an Eddie for his work on Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl . He was also nominated for ACE Eddies for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Other films include Alita: Battle Angel, Ali, The Hurricane, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and My Cousin Vinny. Today our discussion includes how the Avatar films use a unique two step process - first editing performance alone, then editing the final shots created with those performances, and on co-editing with the film’s director, James Cameron, ACE. If you'd like to read along with this interview and see the trailer, video featurettes, clips and images from the film, visit the BorisFX.com…

People in this episode

Host: Steve Hullfish

Guest: Stephen Rivkin

Topics covered

  • film editing
  • Avatar films
  • interview with editor
  • James Cameron
  • Oscar nominations
  • editing process

Keywords

  • Avatar
  • editing
  • film
  • James Cameron
  • Stephen Rivkin
  • Oscar
  • BAFTA
  • ACE Eddie

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Avatar: Fire and Ash, Avatar: The Way of Water, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Alita: Battle Angel, Ali, The Hurricane, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, My Cousin Vinny

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