Academy Award Win For Wētā FX

Wētā FX has won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for their work on James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash.

Representing more than 1,200 Wētā FX crew who contributed to the film, honourees Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, and Daniel Barrett were in Los Angeles to collect the award.

“We are overwhelmed with gratitude and deeply honoured to receive the Visual Effects award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for our work on Avatar: Fire and Ash,” say Letteri, Saindon, and Barrett.

“To be recognised by the Academy is something we never take lightly. This award represents years of passion, risk, collaboration, and an unwavering belief in what cinema can achieve when artistry and technology move together in service of story.”

“Hundreds of artists, engineers, technicians, and production partners poured their hearts into every frame. This honour belongs to all of them,” they say.

Wētā FX has worked with James Cameron and his company Lightstorm Entertainment for the last twenty years, resulting in a close, collaborative relationship that has enabled cutting-edge innovations in visual effects.

Letteri, Saindon and Barrett add, “We are profoundly grateful to Lightstorm Entertainment and The Walt Disney Company for their trust and steadfast support. Their belief in ambitious filmmaking gives us the courage to push boundaries and explore new creative ground. That trust is invaluable.”

“We also want to acknowledge the extraordinary film community of New Zealand. The talent, generosity, and collaborative spirit here are unlike anywhere else. It is a privilege to create alongside such dedicated and innovative people, and to bring world-class filmmaking to the global stage from this remarkable corner of the world,” they say.

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This is Letteri’s sixth Oscar win, and Saindon and Barrett’s second, with all three having received the honour for Avatar: The Way of Water in 2023.

The trio also won the Special Visual Effects BAFTA Award for Avatar: Fire and Ash in London last month.

The BAFTA and Oscar trophies will be travelling back to Wellington to join the seven Visual Effects Society Awards that Wētā FX received from their peers in February, with six awarded for Avatar: Fire and Ash, and one for The Last of Us season two.

Matt Aitken, Head of VFX, says, “This has been a particularly strong awards season for us at Wētā FX. We are proud every day of the work we do and our incredibly talented, best-in-class crew, so it is a true honour for everyone’s efforts to be recognised with the most prestigious accolades in our industry.”

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Wētā FX Academy Award winners:

• Joe Letteri, Senior VFX Supervisor
• Eric Saindon, Senior VFX Supervisor, Wētā FX
• Daniel Barrett, Senior Animation Supervisor, Wētā FX

Wētā FX’s 2026 awards season results include:

• Academy Award win for Best Visual Effects for Avatar: Fire and Ash
• BAFTA Film Award win for Best Special Visual Effects for Avatar: Fire and Ash

• Six Visual Effects Society (VES) award wins for Avatar: Fire and Ash, including:

  • Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
  • Outstanding Character in a Photoreal Feature
  • Outstanding CG Cinematography
  • Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project
  • Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature
  • The Emerging Technology award for Wētā FX’s new fire toolset, Kora ('spark” in Te Reo Māori)
• VES award win for Outstanding Compositing and Lighting in an Episode for The Last of Us S2
• Saturn Award for Best Film Visual / Special Effects for Avatar: Fire and Ash
• Advanced Imaging Society Lumiere Award win for Best Sequence for Avatar: Fire and Ash
• Two Annie Award nominations for A Minecraft Movie and Captain America: Brave New World

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