Avatar VFX artist recalls harsh working conditions under James Cameron; calls out him for exploiting them with ‘endless unpaid revisions’

Well-known filmmaker James Cameron, who is gearing up for the release of his much-anticipated film Avatar: The Way of Water, a sequel to his 2009 blockbuster Avatar, has been accused of going rough on the VFX artists for the film in a bid to get Oscars.

Taking to Twitter, Nick Sinnott, one of the VFX artists, tweeted, "A fun thing about working on the VFX for Avatar was being the only major department not unionised and having Cameron exploit that fact with endless unpaid revisions then win a bunch of Oscars.” The artist quickly deleted the tweet to avoid backlash on social media.

Surprisingly, a number of VFX artists in Hollywood recently talked about to the rough working conditions. Working under severe pressure for blockbuster productions like Avatar, where often the entire film is in CGI, which requires repeated changes, may ultimately lead to an unhealthy working environment, which Sinnott unequivocally blames Cameron for.

Avatar revolves around marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), who joins forces with Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) and the native inhabitants of an alien moon called Pandora to fight off a group of human invaders.

The received global praise for its jaw-dropping visual effects upon its release in 2009. The film utilized state-of-the-art cameras and CGI to bring Pandora and its inhabitants to life.

Throughout the film, audiences are introduced not only to the Na'vi, Pandora's tall, blue aliens but also to a host of flora and fauna that boast vibrant colours and intricate designs. Avatar was recently re-released in theaters ahead of the premiere of Avatar: The Way of Water, featuring stunning visuals that have been remastered in 4K.

Avatar: The Way of Water is slated to enter cinemas on December 16, 2022.