Was John Refoua friends with James Cameron?

American film editor, John Refoua was a close ally and collaborator of famous director, James Cameron. He worked on both Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water. He also worked on the Titanic Documentary, Ghost of the Abyss, and others. Along with Cameron and Stephen Rivkin, Refoua was nominated for Best Film Editing at the 2010 Academy Awards for their work on Avatar. 

Refoua edited 16 episodes of Dark Angel created by Cameron, as well as other episodes on the shows Reno 911! and CSI: Miami from 2000 to 2002.

According to his wife, Selena Bell, Refoua was working on Avatar 3 in the last weeks before he passed away.

“Despite the pain and complexities of this aggressive disease, he faced it with courage and grit. He continued to work and edit on James Cameron’s Avatar 3 right up to his final weeks,” she wrote in the post in a Facebook post.

Refoua died after a long battle with bile cancer on May 14, 2023, at the age of 58. He was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, a rare bile duct cancer, 15 months ago.