Joshua Izzo is the Executive Vice President of Franchise Development at Lightstorm Entertainment, James Cameron’s production company. He is the author of The World of Avatar: A Visual Exploration and Avatar: The Way of Water: The Visual Dictionary and designed the new font and logo for all Avatar material.
Izzo oversees all areas of the Avatar franchise that are not the films; this includes games, comics, and brand deals. Izzo ensures all content is appropriate for the Avatar brand and that it stays true to James Cameron's vision for the franchise. This also means Izzo is in charge of the Avatar canon.
Community Involvement[]
Izzo and Todd McFarlane at Disney's D23 convention
Izzo has frequently interacted with the community at venues such as Disney's D23 convention and LegoCon. He also interacts with fans on the social forum website, Reddit, wherein he has provided clarifications on the Avatar lore and canon.
On January 14, 2023, Izzo appeared as a guest panelist during the annual online Avatar fan convention, OmatiCon, hosted by the fan community Kelutral.org. Izzo gave an interview elaborating on aspects of the Avatar canon, including deeming the games from 2009 as non-canon while affirming that content such as the new comics, Toruk - The First Flight, and Pandora: The World of Avatar were entirely canon.
In 2024, Izzo dismissed the James Cameron's Avatar: An Activist Survival Guide and old Pandorapedia as non-canon. He also gave a Q and A during OmatiCon 2024 clarifying details such as how Eywa works.