James Cameron

_James Cameron_

James Cameron
Cameron in October 2012
Born	James Francis Cameron (1954-08-16) August 16, 1954 (age 58) Kapuskasing, Ontario
Residence	Permanent Los Angeles, California, secondary Permanent New Zealand
Nationality	Canadian
Citizenship	Canada
Education	Brea Olinda High School
Alma mater	Fullerton College
Occupation	Film director, producer, editor, screenwriter, environmentalist, explorer
Years active	1978–present
Notable work(s)	Titanic, Avatar, The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Aliens, True Lies
Influenced by	Stanley Kubrick, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Ridley Scott, George Lucas, Roger Corman, Steven Spielberg, Harlan Ellison
Influenced	Joss Whedon, Kathryn Bigelow, Rupert Wyatt, Sam Raimi, Robert Rodriguez, Michael Bay, Peter Jackson, Peter Berg, Rian Johnson, Michael Biehn
Home town	Chippawa, Ontario
Net worth	$700 million (est.)
Awards	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Cameron#Awards

James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian film director, film producer, deep-sea explorer, screenwriter, visual artist and editor. His writing and directing work includes The Terminator (1984), Aliens (1986), The Abyss (1989), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), True Lies (1994), Titanic (1997), Dark Angel (2000–02), and Avatar (2009). In the time between making Titanic and Avatar, Cameron spent several years creating many documentary films (specifically underwater documentaries) and co-developed the digital 3D Fusion Camera System. Described by a biographer as part-scientist and part-artist, Cameron has also contributed to underwater filming and remote vehicle technologies. On March 26, 2012, Cameron reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the ocean, in the Deepsea Challenger submersible.He was the first person to do this in a solo descent, and only the third person to do so ever.

He has been nominated for six Academy Awards overall and won three for Titanic. In total, Cameron's directorial efforts have grossed approximately US$2 billion in North America and US$6 billion worldwide. Not adjusted for inflation, Cameron's Titanic and Avatar are the two highest-grossing films of all time at $2.18 billion and $2.78 billion respectively. In March 2011 he was named Hollywood's top earner by Vanity Fair, with estimated 2010 earnings of $257 million.

About James Cameron

An audacious visionary who developed new film technologies midstream in order to turn his creative visions into reality, director James Cameron was credited with single-handedly resurrecting a once-dead science fiction genre, thanks to the timeless success of "The Terminator" (1984) and "Aliens" (1986). Tales of his volcanic temper on the set of the groundbreaking deep sea adventure "The Abyss" (1989), combined with its astronomical budget and relatively disappointing box-office performance, earned Cameron a reputation as one of Hollywood's most ambitious, but problematic directors. Reteaming with Arnold Schwarzenegger, he proved himself worth the risk with the back-to-back blockbusters, "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (1991) and "True Lies" (1994). Combining his passion for oceanic exploration and technology with his love of movies, he advanced underwater filmmaking to a remarkable degree. Despite his penchant for aliens of the deep and outer space, it was "Titanic" (1997) - a period romance based on the infamous ocean liner tragedy - that cemented Cameron as a director for the ages. "Titanic" was a seminal event in cinema in terms of size, scope and commercial success, quickly becoming the highest-grossing film of all time until it was bumped to No. 2 by Cameron's next film, the 3D sci-fi epic, "Avatar" (2009). In addition to his remarkable achievements outside of film, Cameron was inarguably one of the most proficient, admired and, above all, successful directors in Hollywood history.James Francis Cameron was born on Aug. 16, 1954 in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada to Philip, an electrical engineer, and Shirley, a painter. The family later crossed the border to live, first in Niagara Falls, NY, then later in Brea, CA. As a youngster, he was interested in astronomy and science fiction, even penning his own short stories. After boasting as a nine-year-old that he could make a better movie than "King Kong vs. Godzilla" (1962), Cameron began taking a deeper interest in film. Meanwhile, he developed an obsession for building rockets and airplanes from junk piles; skills that later translated into building models on set. A voracious reader, Cameron consumed books as a child, making him verbally and mentally precocious enough to skip a grade in school. But his most significant moment came when he saw Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968). Cameron reportedly saw the movie 10 times and was inspired to experiment with his father's Super-8 camera. After high school, he enrolled at California State University-Fullerton, where he studied physics for a year, before dropping out to marry a waitress, drive trucks and smoke pot. Despite his slip into a mundane blue collar life, Cameron remained obsessed with movies.

It was following a viewing of George Lucas' "Star Wars" (1977) that Cameron decided he should be making his own epics. He left his job - and his waitress wife, Sharon Williams - to move to Los Angeles and start working in the entertainment industry. Cameron made his first foray into filmmaking with "Xenogenesis" (1978), a 12-minute sci-fi short that proved his competence with special effects, while demonstrating a need for him to develop other filmmaking skills, namely story, character and dialogue. Because of "Xenogenesis," however, Cameron landed a job in the model department of Roger Corman's production company, New World Pictures. Corman's low-budget film factory was the perfect place for Cameron to further develop his craft; he performed a variety of functions, rising from art director on "Battle Beyond the Stars" (1980) to production designer and second unit director on "Galaxy of Terror" (1981). He even directed his first film, "Piranha II: The Spawning" (1981). An unfortunate experience for Cameron, he suffered through working with a crew that spoke only Italian, as well as a slim-to-nothing budget.

If there was one positive result of the chaotic production, it was a nightmare Cameron had of a robot assassin from the future, which lead him to write his first screenplay, "The Terminator" (1984). He made friends with Corman's head of marketing, Gale Anne Hurd, whom Cameron later married and convinced to buy the script for one dollar - but on the sole condition that he direct the film. With a budget of around $6.5 million and boasting sleek compositions, expertly edited action sequences, and a career-making performance by heretofore bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger, "The Terminator" was not just a critical and commercial triumph, but a seminal event in cinema that marked the dawn of a new era of action movies. Many storytelling devices that later became Cameron hallmarks were already present, including a strong plot, compelling characters - particularly the female lead - and a seriousness of purpose. His approach to the almost-mythical material was witty without being campy, while he never undermined the imagery and situations by trumpeting their allusions.

Early in his career, Cameron wrote films that others directed, including the script for "Rambo: First Blood II" (1985), a revisionist war fantasy that saw Vietnam vet John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) released from federal prison and sent back to Southeast Asia to rescue a group of forgotten POWs. But he returned to the director's chair for "Aliens" (1986), the sequel to the 1979 sci-fi/horror film directed by Ridley Scott. At the time Cameron was pushing to make the film, few people inside 20th Century Fox were interested in digging up those old bones, especially since it had been filmed to perfection the first time. But Cameron's passion for the project - he felt the original was the best science fiction/horror movie ever made - helped turn opinions inside the studio around. Once he received the green light, Cameron started by fashioning a story around the only character to survive the first movie, Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), turning her into a one-woman vigilante who takes on the alien monsters instead of merely reacting and trying to survive. By giving Ripley a child to look after in Newt (Carrie Henn), he also played up the maternal instincts of both Ripley, and, surprisingly, the Alien Queen herself, who was just as protective of her own offspring. He also changed the overall tone of the film from suspense thriller to heart-pumping movie, giving fans of the genre the first believable female action hero. The end result was a box office smash that many considered superior to Scott's original and which spawned one of the most famous movie lines in history, with Ripley's snarling declaration to the Alien Queen: "Get away from her, you bitch!" The film also snared a Best Actress nod at the Academy Awards for Weaver, and took home two Oscars for Best Sound Effects Editing and Best Visual Effects.

With two great films that outperformed all box office expectations under his belt, Cameron seemed poised to ride his success into his fourth feature, "The Abyss" (1989), an aptly-named underwater thriller that saw the director throw good money after bad down a bottomless pit. "The Abyss" followed a team of civilian scuba divers, including Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, tasked by the U.S. Navy to rescue a nuclear submarine at the bottom of the Caribbean. But a series of strange encounters underwater lead to the discovery of an alien species living in the deep ocean. During the shoot, cost overruns and three canceled release dates had the suits at Fox Studios biting fingernails, though Cameron himself remained largely free of blame; he was, after all, trying to make a movie that no one else had really tried before. However, the shoot later gained a bit of infamy for the tense state of affairs between the cast and Cameron, due, in no small part to the stress-inducing, claustrophobic underwater shots, which were filmed in the containment building of an unfinished nuclear power plant in South Carolina. It took seven million gallons of water to fill the tank to a depth of 13 meters, making it the largest underwater set ever. The depth and length of time spent underwater meant that the cast and crew had to sometimes go through decompression - a process in which Cameron famously hung upside down, decompressing and watching dailies at the same time. Following such a brutal production - during which, Harris and Mastrantonio clashed with Cameron often - both actors refused to do press for the film, publicly stating that they would never work with Cameron again. Unfortunately, amidst middling reviews, "The Abyss" suffered poor box office returns as well, giving the director his first taste of failure. Meanwhile in his personal life, Cameron and Hurd divorced - a personal setback famously compared to the onscreen marital problems of Harris and Mastrantonio. But "The Abyss" was not a total loss. It was nominated for four technical Academy Awards and won for Best Visual Effects, in which some of the first CGI special effects in the form of a water tentacle were utilized.

In 1990, Cameron and former Vestron production executive Larry Kasanoff formed Lightstorm Entertainment, a production company where the director could have more freedom to make the movies he wanted. The first movie to come out of Lightstorm was "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (1991), the eagerly awaited sequel to "Terminator," which recast Arnold Schwarzenegger's robotic assassin as the protector of John Connor (Edward Furlong), a young boy who grows up to lead a human resistance against the rise of the machines in 2029. "T2" offered some of the most groundbreaking and eye-popping visual effects of its day, especially the computer-generated morphing that transformed actor Robert Patrick's T-1000 terminator into a liquefied and unstoppable destructive force. Described by Cameron as a "violent movie about world peace," the film earned over $200 million in domestic box office and won Oscar Awards for Best Visual Effects, Best Sound, Best Makeup and Best Sound Effects Editing. Meanwhile, the success of "T2" led to Lightstorm signing an exclusive five-year, 12-picture financing distribution deal with 20th-Century Fox worth over $500 million. On a both a personal and professional note, Cameron also found time to produce Katherine Bigelow's adrenaline-rushed feature "Point Break" in 1991. Married from 1989-1991, Bigelow had been Cameron's third wife. The tempestuous but loyal Cameron would move from behind-the-scenes match-making, to camera ready wives, marrying his films' stars Linda Hamilton of "Terminator 2" fame from 1997-99 and "Titanic" player Suzi Amos in 2000.

In April 1993, Cameron founded a second company, Digital Domain, with former Industrial Light and Magic staffer Scott Ross and creature-maker/special makeup effects artist, Stan Winston. Its mission was to handle the full spectrum of visual effects, with an über-emphasis on computer-generated imagery. Back in the director's chair, Cameron teamed up with Schwarzenegger again for "True Lies" (1994), a mock James Bondesque yarn about an apparently humdrum husband who is actually a secret agent, while his suspicious wife (Jamie Lee Curtis) remains convinced he leads a double life. Described by Cameron as a "domestic epic," the big-budget actioner was loosely based on the French comedy "La Totale!" (1991). Production costs on "True Lies" exceeded the $60 million budget, forcing Cameron to scramble for financing and to restructure Lightstorm's lucrative deal with Fox. Though reviewers and audiences were divided over the merits of several comedy sequences, most everyone was blown away by the over-the-top stunts and visual effects. Once again, Cameron helmed a solid hit that managed to turn a healthy profit, despite its Olympian budget.

After co-producing and co-writing Bigelow's futuristic noir "Strange Days" (1995), Cameron firmly cemented his legend with "Titanic" (1997), the biggest, costliest, and ultimately, most successful movie ever made. First inspired to make the project in 1987 after seeing a National Geographic documentary on the doomed ship, Cameron ultimately devoted almost two years of his life to making the film, driving himself and his cast and crew to near exhaustion along the way. He began by submerging to the actual wreck to shoot footage to be used in the film. Cameron's quest for authenticity led him to Rosarito, Baja, Mexico, where he built a large tank next to the ocean and a model of the Titanic that was built 90 percent to scale. Almost from the start, the media was on Cameron's case about whether or not the film would be a commercial success or sink like the ill-fated ocean liner itself. Naturally, many of the claims made in the press were exaggerations, though Cameron and company experienced a great deal of setbacks, including an incident where someone spiked the onset food with PCP, poisoning Cameron and other crew members. The culprit was never discovered. On the other hand, typical cost overruns exploded to the point where Fox reached out to Paramount Studios to help with the over $200 million budget. Pushing the release date from June to December 1997 only fueled speculation that Cameron's movie was doomed - a prospect that sent many a studio representative south of the border to find out what was going on down there. In typical Cameron style, he would more often than not scare the hell out of the messenger, sending them scurrying back to their respective studio heads with nothing new to report. In fact, Cameron became so obsessed with the authenticity of his film - down to the White Star Line dishware insignia being authentic - and his insistence on zero studio interference, that when the budget became a seemingly insurmountable object, the renegade director decided to forgo his own paycheck.

With more ink spilled on "Titanic" than blood at Gettysburg, it was no small wonder that there was enough interest left in the viewing public, which was already bombarded with tales of its inevitable demise. But instead of staying home, audiences turned out in droves, equally drawn by the spectacle of the sinking ship and the romance between Rose (Kate Winslet), a society woman dreading her impeding marriage to a rich blowhard (Billy Zane), and Jack, a struggling artist traveling third class after winning passage in a card game. Miserable to the point of suicide, Rose intends to throw herself over the railing into the ocean, only to be rescued by Jack. In short order, the two find themselves falling in love, but the affair comes to a tragic end when the ship hits an iceberg and plunges into the icy deep. Thanks to repeat theatergoers - particularly the teenage girls who were smitten with DiCaprio - "Titanic" became the most successful movie ever made, pulling in a ridiculous $600 million in domestic box office and over $1 billion worldwide - the first film to ever to hit the 10-figure mark. Meanwhile, the film received 14 Academy Award nominations, matching a record held only by "All About Eve" (1950), and went on to tie "Ben-Hur" (1959) with 11 wins, including Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director. When accepting his win for Best Director, Cameron held his golden statue aloft, aping one of Jack's lines from the film: "I'm king of the world!" It would become an infamous moment he would never be able to live down.

In the wake of "Titanic," Cameron took over 10 years to make another film. In between that time, he made his first foray into television, serving as creator and executive producer of "Dark Angel" (Fox, 2000-02), a cyberpunk sci-fi series about Max (Jessica Alba), a genetically-altered human engineered to be a super-soldier, who has escaped her military handlers in order to fight the ruthless powerbrokers ruling futuristic society. Though well-received by critics and possessing a strong following, "Dark Angel" was canceled after only two seasons, due to an enormous budget and low ratings. The show did, however, generate spin-offs and video games, as well as introduce Jessica Alba to the world. After serving as executive producer on director Steven Soderbergh's remake of "Solaris" (2002), Cameron turned his passion for deep sea diving and exploring the world's most remote and inhospitable environments into films. As both producer and director, he mounted explorations that were later chronicled in several fascinating documentaries, including "James Cameron's Expedition: Bismark" (2002), a stunning adventure to the bottom of the Atlantic that provided the first-ever glimpse of The Bismark, the famed Nazi warship that cut a swath of destruction during World War II, until it was finally sunk by two British battleships after only nine days of operation. Plunging some 16,000 feet into the depths of the ocean, Cameron and his crew risked their own lives in obtaining the amazing footage.Their efforts were rewarded with five Emmy Awards nominations in 2003, including one for Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming.

Returning to the inspiration that made him one of the most celebrated directors of his era, Cameron directed his second documentary, "Ghosts of the Abyss" (2003), a 3-D IMAX journey to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean to find the final resting place of the ill-fated Titanic. With a team of history experts and deep sea explorers, Cameron and friend (as well as "Titanic" star) Bill Paxton used equipment specially designed for the voyage to explore the ins and outs of wreckage in ways never before captured on film. In fact, Cameron's aeronautical engineer brother, Mike, had been integral in not only creating deep sea diving technology to shoot the famous wreck for his brother's feature film, but the documentary as well. Mixed in with the dramatic documentary footage, were staged reenactments of what transpired on the ship before it sank. Cameron next served as executive producer on another IMAX adventure, "Volcanoes of the Deep" (2005), a brief, but exciting look at the untold world of underwater volcanoes and the thriving ecosystem surrounding them. For "Aliens of the Deep" (2005), yet another deep sea exploration made for IMAX theaters, Cameron joined forces with marine biologists and NASA scientists to explore the Mid-Ocean Ridge, a submerged chain of mountains deep below the surface that were home to the planet's most bizarre life forms. Cameron used the biological makeup of these strange creatures as a jump-off point for a speculative look on what life might be like on other planets.

In a return to news-making form, the director made headlines in 2007 when he announced in February, that he, along with his director, Simcha Jacobovici, had documented the unearthing of the Talpiot Tomb, which was alleged to be the tomb of Jesus. Unearthed in 1980 by Israeli construction workers, the names on the tomb - at the insistence of Cameron - correlated with the names of Jesus and several individuals closely associated with him. Cameron further claimed to have DNA tests, archaeological evidence, and Biblical studies to back up his claim. The documentary, named "The Lost Tomb of Jesus," was broadcast on the Discovery Channel in March of that year. After making amusing appearances in episodes of "Entourage" in 2005-06 (HBO, 2005- ), in which he turns actor Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) into an action hero on the fictional feature film, "Aquaman," Cameron finally returned to feature filmmaking with "Avatar" (2009), a futuristic sci-fi adventure about a band of humans battling a distant planet's indigenous population, with his long-awaited return to helming a film being chronicled near religiously in the sci-fi blogs of the world. Once again, Cameron was at the forefront of filmmaking innovation by using an advanced form of performance capture for the 3-D alien world he created. With an estimated budget well over $300 million, "Avatar" became the most expensive movie ever made, leading critics to think - and some to hope - that his latest opus would flop at the box office.

But with the advance buzz indicating he had another hit on his hands, Cameron began earning critical kudos for another exemplary job well done. After it was confirmed that "Avatar" had become the second highest-grossing film of all time, right behind his own "Titanic," Cameron found himself nominated for numerous awards, including a Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Achievement in a Feature Film, putting him in direct competition with ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow, who was nominated for "The Hurt Locker" (2009). He would win the Best Director Golden Globe over Bigelow in early 2010, graciously mentioning her in his acceptance speech, but he lost the DGA award to her. By the time Oscar nominations were being announced, "Avatar" had surpassed his own "Titanic" as the biggest moneymaker of all time. But it did fall short of the 14 Oscar nominations "Titanic" received in 1997, taking in a total of nine that included nods for Best Picture and Best Director for Cameron, who again lost to his ex-wife.

By now a respected innovator in the realm of deep sea technologies, Cameron met with members of the Environmental Protection Agency in the wake of British Petroleum's Deepwater Horizon oil spill catastrophe in the summer of 2010. After making his recommendations on how to go about cleaning up the spill, Cameron, sensing his advice would go unheeded, raised eyebrows when he publicly referred to the EPA representatives as "morons," stating that they "don't know what they're doing." Later, the filmmaker also noted the irony in the fact that the government eventually - belatedly, in his opinion - did almost exactly what he had first suggested. Operating in an arena where his sage advice and experience was sure to be more appreciated, Cameron served as executive producer on the 3-D movie, "Sanctum" (2011), an adventure tale about a group of divers trapped in a massive underwater cave system.

The following year, Cameron's personal legend grew to even greater heights. In March 2012, after previously journeying to the bottom of the New Britain Trench in a solo dive aboard the submersible, Deepsea Challenger, Cameron became the first person ever to make a solo trip to the lowest depths of the fabled Mariana Trench, in an area referred to as Challenger Deep. At the same time he was diving seven miles down, the 100th anniversary of the great nautical tragedy was noted by the rerelease of "Titanic" in April 2012, with Cameron having overseen the film's transfer to eye-popping 3-D. For a 14-year-old film which had long occupied shelf space in the homes of millions, "Titanic: 3-D" opened in an impressive third place, up against current blockbusters like "The Hunger Games" (2012). The original historic event was also marked by the television documentary, "Titanic: The Final Word with James Cameron" (National Geographic Channel, 2012), in which expert historians, architects, engineers and Cameron himself, provided the ultimate examination of the ship's sinking, aided by recent technological advancements.

Partners

Wife	Gale Anne Hurd. Married in 1985; co-wrote The Terminator (1984); Hurd produced Cameron s films including The Terminator (1984), Aliens (1986), The Abyss (1989), and Terminator 2 (1991); divorced in 1989
Wife	Kathryn Bigelow. Married Aug. 17, 1989; divorced Nov. 10, 1991; Cameron produced Bigelow s screenplay Point Break (1991); he also produced and scripted her film Strange Days (1995)
Wife	Linda Hamilton. Began dating in 1991; Cameron directed Hamilton in both Terminator films; split during pre-production of True Lies (1994); reunited and married on July 26, 1997; separated in May 1998; divorced on Dec. 16, 1999
Wife	Sharon Williams. Married Feb. 14, 1978; inspired the Sarah Connor character in The Terminator (1984); divorced July 14, 1984
Wife	Suzy Amis. Cameron directed Amis in Titanic (1997); married on June 4, 2000 near Malibu, CA

Family

Brother	John David Cameron. Born c. 1969
Brother	Mike Cameron. Aeronautical engineer; appeared in and received a technical credit in The Abyss (1989) and appeared in True Lies (1994)
Daughter	Claire Cameron. Born April 4, 2001; mother, Suzy Amis
Daughter	Elizabeth Rose Cameron. Born Dec. 29, 2006; twin of Quinn; mother, Suzy Amis
Daughter	Josephine Archer Cameron. Born in 1993; mother, Linda Hamilton
Father	Phillip Cameron. Worked for a paper mill
Mother	Shirley Cameron. Encouraged him to paint as a teen; helped him get his first exhibition at a local gallery
Son	Quinn Cameron. Born Dec. 29, 2006; twin of Elizabeth; mother, Suzy Amis
Step-Son	Jasper Evans Robards. Born to Suzy Amis and her first husband Sam Robards

Education

The University of Toronto

California State University, Fullerton,, Fullerton , California

Career Milestones

Co-produced (with Jean-Michel Cousteau) a series of undersea specials for ABC
Dropped out, married a waitress, and worked as a truck driver for the local school district
Enrolled in college to study physics
Joined Roger Corman s New World Pictures as a special effects person, and later became art director and production designer
Made first film Niagara: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Falls
Raised private financing, directed, shot, edited and built miniatures for first short film, Xenogenesis
Started building models and experimenting with 16mm film
Wrote first draft of screenplay for what would become The Terminator ; sold rights to producer Gale Anne Hurd for $1 on the condition that he would direct
1966	At age 12, wrote a short story that was reportedly a precursor for The Abyss
1977	Inspired to become a filmmaker after seeing Star Wars
1980	Credited as set dresser assistant on Happy Birthday, Gemini
1980	First film as art director, Battle Beyond the Stars
1981	Feature debut as production designer and second unit director, Galaxy of Terror
1981	Feature directing debut, Piranha II: The Spawning/Piranha II: Flying Killers
1984	Gained recognition with feature screenwriting and directing debut, The Terminator ; co-wrote with producer and future wife Gale Anne Hurd
1985	Co-wrote (with Sylvester Stallone) the hugely successful Rambo: First Blood II
1986	Co-wrote and directed the sequel to Alien titled Aliens, again starring Sigourney Weaver
1989	Wrote and directed The Abyss, which used cutting-edge effects technology
1990	Formed production company Lightstorm Entertainment Inc.
1991	Produced, directed and scripted the blockbuster sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day
1992	Lightstorm signed an exclusive five-year, 12-picture distribution deal with 20th Century Fox
1993	Founded the special effects company Digital Domain with Stan Winston and Scott Ross to further develop the field of digital FX
1993	Released a restored print of The Abyss including approximately 27 minutes of scenes omitted from the original
1994	Wrote, produced, and directed the action-comedy True Lies ; the first film release under Lightstorm Entertainment
1995	Became the first feature film director to shoot underwater footage of the wreck of the Titanic; used a specially-designed, state-of-the-art camera encased in titanium; footage was incorporated into the feature Titanic
1995	Provided the story and served as a producer on Strange Days ; directed by ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow
1997	Co-edited, co-produced, wrote and directed the lavish spectacle Titanic ; reported to be the most expensive film made to date (budgeted at $200 million); went on to become the top grossing film in history; film received 14 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Editing; awarded 11 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, tying the record set by 1959 s Ben-Hur
1998	With Stan Winston, resigned from board of Digital Domain
2000	Executive produced and co-wrote the Fox drama series Dark Angel ; helmed the finale of the 2001-02 season
2005	Appeared as himself on several episodes of the hit HBO comedy Entourage, directing a big screen version of the comic book hero Aquaman starring Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier)
2009	Returned to directing features with the 3-D sci-fi epic film Avatar ; earned a Directors Guild nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement and Oscar nominations for Directing, Film Editing and Producing
2012	Completed the world s first solo dive to the deepest-known point on Earth, reaching the bottom of the Pacific Ocean s Mariana Trench southwest of Guam in a specially designed submarine.

Background

Cameron was born in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada, 1954, the son of Shirley (née Lowe), an artist and nurse, and Phillip Cameron. His paternal great-great-great-grandfather emigrated from Balquhidder, Scotland in 1825; thus, he descends from Clan Cameron.

Cameron grew up in Chippawa, Ontario with his brothers Mike and John David Cameron and attended Stamford Collegiate School in Niagara Falls; his family moved to Brea, California in 1971 when he was 17. Cameron enrolled at Fullerton College, a 2-year community college, in 1973 to study physics. He switched to English, then dropped out before the start of the fall 1974 semester.

After dropping out of Sonora High School, he went to further his secondary education at Brea Olinda High School. After graduating, he worked several jobs such as truck driving and wrote when he had time. During this period he taught himself about special effects: "I'd go down to the USC library and pull any thesis that graduate students had written about optical printing, or front screen projection, or dye transfers, anything that related to film technology. That way I could sit down and read it, and if they'd let me photocopy it, I would. If not, I'd make notes."

After seeing the original Star Wars film in 1977, Cameron quit his job as a truck driver to enter the film industry. When Cameron read Syd Field's book Screenplay, it occurred to him that integrating science and art was possible, and he wrote a ten-minute science fiction script with two friends, entitled Xenogenesis. They raised money and rented camera, lenses, film stock, and studio, and shot it in 35mm. To understand how to operate the camera, they dismantled it and spent the first half-day of the shoot trying to figure out how to get it running.

Early career

While continuing to educate himself in film-making techniques, Cameron started working as a miniature-model maker at Roger Corman Studios. Making rapidly produced, low-budget productions taught Cameron to work efficiently and effectively. He soon found employment as an art director in the sci-fi movie Battle Beyond the Stars (1980). He did special effects work design and direction on John Carpenter's Escape from New York (1981), acted as production designer on Galaxy of Terror (1981), and consulted on the design of Android (1982). Cameron was hired as the special effects director for the sequel of Piranha, entitled Piranha II: The Spawning in 1981. The original director, Miller Drake, left the project due to creative differences with Ovidio Assonitis. Cameron was hired by Assonitis, giving him his first directorial job. The interior scenes were filmed in Italy while the underwater sequences were shot at Grand Cayman Island. The movie was to be produced in Jamaica. On location, production slowed due to numerous problems and adverse weather. James Cameron was fired after failing to get a close up of Carole Davis in her opening scene. Ovidio ordered Cameron to do the close-up the next day before he started on that day’s shooting. Cameron spent the entire day sailing around the resort to reproduce the lighting but still failed to get the close-up. After he was fired, Ovidio invited Cameron to stay on location and assist in the shooting. Once in Rome, Ovidio took over the editing when Cameron was stricken with food poisoning. During his illness, he had a nightmare about an invincible robot hitman sent from the future to kill him, giving him the idea for The Terminator, which later catapulted his film career.

Major films

Cameron in September 1986

After completing a screenplay for The Terminator, Cameron decided to sell it so that he could direct the movie. However, the production companies he contacted, while expressing interest in the project, were unwilling to let a largely inexperienced feature film director make the movie. Finally, Cameron found a company called Hemdale Pictures, which was willing to let him direct. Gale Anne Hurd, who had started her own production company, Pacific Western Productions, had previously worked with Cameron in Roger Corman's company and agreed to buy Cameron's screenplay for one dollar, on the condition that Cameron direct the film. Hurd was signed on as producer, and Cameron finally got his first break as director. Orion Pictures distributed the film. Initially, for the role of the Terminator, Cameron wanted someone who wasn't exceptionally muscular, and who could "blend into" a normal crowd. Lance Henriksen, who had starred in Piranha II: The Spawning, was considered for the title role, but when Arnold Schwarzenegger and Cameron first met over lunch to discuss Schwarzenegger playing the role of Kyle Reese, both came to the conclusion that the cyborg villain would be the more compelling role for the Austrian bodybuilder; Henriksen got the smaller part of LAPD detective Hal Vukovich and the role of Kyle Reese went to Michael Biehn. In addition, Linda Hamilton first appeared in this film in her iconic role of Sarah Connor, and later married Cameron. The Terminator was a box office hit, breaking expectations by Orion Pictures executives that the film would be regarded as no more than a sci-fi film, and only last a week in theaters. It was a low-budget film which cost $6.5 million to make, cutting expenses in such ways as recording the audio track in mono. However, The Terminator eventually earned over $78 million worldwide.

Cameron's fortunes changed in 1984, when he wrote and directed the film The Terminator (1984). The movie told the gripping science fiction tale of a robot from the future (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) who travels to the present day to hunt down the leader of the resistance in a yet-to-occur battle between humans and machines. The film became a critical and commercial hit, and helped Cameron land his next project, the sequel to Ridley Scott's Alien (1979), which featured Sigourney Weaver as a female action hero in space. Aliens (1986) received several Academy Award nominations, including one for Weaver as Best Actress.

With The Abyss (1989), however, Cameron experienced a number of disappointments. The shoot for the film was grueling. Much of it was filmed in a huge underwater set, which took its toll on the cast and crew. After its release, critics and move-goers were not impressed with the story of scuba divers who encounter aliens while recovering a U.S. Navy submarine. The film's visual effects, however, were stunning and earned an Academy Award.

Working with his third wife, Kathryn Bigelow, Cameron helped produce her 1991 action flick, Point Break (1991). The couple's two-year relationship ended around this same time. Cameron returned to form that same year with another box-office hit, Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). The film earned more than $200 million, and broke new ground with its impressive visual effects. He later married one of the film's stars, Linda Hamilton.

  Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)

During the early 1980s, Cameron wrote three screenplays simultaneously: The Terminator, Aliens, and the first draft of Rambo: First Blood Part II. While Cameron continued with The Terminator and Aliens, Sylvester Stallone eventually took over the script of Rambo: First Blood Part II, creating a final draft which differed radically from Cameron's initial vision.

Aliens (1986)

The producing team behind Aliens, James Cameron and Gale Ann Hurd.

Cameron next began the sequel to Alien, the 1979 film by Ridley Scott. Cameron named the sequel Aliens, and again cast Sigourney Weaver in the iconic role of Ellen Ripley. According to Cameron, the crew on Aliens was hostile to him, regarding him as a poor substitute for Ridley Scott. Cameron sought to show them The Terminator but the majority of the crew refused to watch it and remained skeptical of his direction throughout production. Despite this and other off-screen problems (such as clashing with an uncooperative camera man and having to replace one of the lead actors – Michael Biehn of Terminator took James Remar's place as Corporal Hicks), Aliens became a box office success, and received Academy Award nominations for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Weaver, Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Sound, and won awards for Best Sound Effects Editing and Best Visual Effects. In addition, the film and its lead actress made the cover of TIME magazine as a result of its numerous and extensive scenes of women in combat - these were almost without precedent and expressed the feminist theme of the film very strongly.

The Abyss (1989)

Cameron's next project stemmed from an idea that had come up during a high school biology class. The story of oil-rig workers who discover otherworldly underwater creatures became the basis of Cameron's screenplay for The Abyss, which cast Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Michael Biehn. Initially budgeted at $41 million U.S. (though the production ran considerably over budget), it was considered to be one of the most expensive films of its time, and required cutting-edge effects technology. Because much of the film takes place underwater and the technology wasn't advanced enough to digitally create an underwater environment, Cameron chose to shoot much of the movie "reel-for-real", at depths of up to 40 feet (12 m). For creation of the sets, the containment building of an unfinished nuclear power plant was converted, and two huge tanks were used. The main tank was filled with 7,500,000 US gallons (28,000,000 L) of water, and the second with 2,500,000 US gallons (9,500,000 L). The cast and crew resided there for much of the shooting.

  Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

After the success of The Terminator, there had always been talks about a sequel to continue the story of Sarah Connor and her struggle against machines from the future. Although Cameron had come up with a core idea for the sequel, and Schwarzenegger expressed interest in continuing the story, there were still problems regarding who had the rights to the story, as well as the logistics of the special effects needed to make the sequel. Finally, in late-1980s, Mario Kassar of Carolco Pictures secured the rights to the sequel, allowing Cameron to greenlight production of the film, now called Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

For the film, Linda Hamilton reprised her iconic role of Sarah Connor. In addition, Schwarzenegger also returned in his role as The Terminator, but this time as a protector. Unlike Schwarzenegger's character -- the T-800 Terminator which is made of a metal endoskeleton -- the new villain of the sequel, called the T-1000, is a more-advanced Terminator made of liquid metal, and with polymorphic abilities. The T-1000 would also be much less bulky than the T-800. For the role, Cameron cast Robert Patrick, a sharp contrast to Schwarzenegger. Cameron explained, "I wanted someone who was extremely fast and agile. If the T-800 is a human Panzer tank, then the T-1000 is a Porsche."

Cameron had originally wanted to incorporate this advanced-model Terminator into the first film, but the special effects at the time were not advanced enough. The ground-breaking effects used in The Abyss to digitally depict the water tentacle convinced Cameron that his liquid metal villain was now possible.

TriStar Pictures agreed to distribute the film, but under a locked release date only about one year after the start of shooting. The movie, co-written by Cameron and his longtime friend, William Wisher, Jr., had to go from screenplay to finished film in just that amount of time. Like Cameron's previous film, it was one of the most expensive films of its era, with a budget of about $100 million. The biggest challenge of the movie was the special effects used in creating the T-1000. Nevertheless, the film was finished on time, and released to theaters on July 3, 1991.

Terminator 2, or T2, as it was abbreviated, broke box-office records (including the opening weekend record for an R-rated film), earning over $200 million in the United States and Canada, and over $300 million in other territories, and became the highest-grossing film of that year. It won four Academy Awards: Best Makeup, Best Sound, Best Sound Effects Editing, and Best Visual Effects. It was also nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing, but lost both Awards to JFK.

James Cameron announced a third Terminator film many times during the 1990s, but without coming out with any finished scripts. Kassar and Vajna purchased the rights to the Terminator franchise from a bankruptcy sale of Carolco's assets. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines was eventually made and released in July 2003 without Cameron's involvement. Jonathan Mostow directed the film and Schwarzenegger returned as the Terminator.

Cameron reunited with the main cast of Terminator 2 to film T2 3-D: Battle Across Time, an attraction at Universal Studios Florida, Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Japan. It was released in 1996 and was a mini-sequel to Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The show is in two parts: a prequel segment in which a spokesperson talks about Cyberdyne, and a main feature, in which the performers interact with a 3-D movie.

  True Lies (1994)

Before the release of T2, Schwarzenegger came to Cameron with the idea of remaking the French comedy La Totale! Titled True Lies, with filming beginning after T2's release, the story revolves around a secret-agent spy who leads a double life as a married man, whose wife believes he is a computer salesman. Schwarzenegger was cast as Harry Tasker, a spy charged with stopping a plan by a terrorist to use nuclear weapons against the United States. Jamie Lee Curtis and Eliza Dushku played the character's family, and Tom Arnold the sidekick.

Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment signed on with Twentieth Century Fox for production of True Lies. Made on a budget of $115 million and released in 1994, the film earned $146 million in North America, and $232 million abroad. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects.

  Titanic (1997)

Cameron expressed interest in the famous sinking of the ship RMS Titanic. He decided to script and film his next project based on this event. The picture revolved around a fictional romance story between two young lovers from different social classes who meet on board. Before production began, he took dives to the bottom of the Atlantic and shot actual footage of the ship underwater, which he inserted into the final film. Much of the film's dialogue was also written during these dives.

Subsequently, Cameron cast Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher, Gloria Stuart, Bernard Hill, Jonathan Hyde, Victor Garber, Danny Nucci, David Warner, Suzy Amis, and Bill Paxton as the film's principal cast. Cameron's budget for the film reached about $200 million, making it the most expensive movie ever made at the time. Before its release, the film was widely ridiculed for its expense and protracted production schedule.

Released to theaters on December 19, 1997, Titanic grossed less in its first weekend ($28.6 million) than in its second, ($35.4 million), an increase of 23.8%. This is unheard of for a widely released film, which is a testament to the movie's appeal. This was especially noteworthy, considering that the film's running time of more than three hours limited the number of showings each theater could schedule. It held the No. 1 spot on the box-office charts for months, eventually grossing a total of over $600 million in the United States and Canada and more than $1.84 billion worldwide. Titanic became the highest-grossing film of all time and in the United States and Canada. It held those records for twelve years (1997-2009), until Cameron's 2009 film, Avatar, surpassed it.

The CG visuals surrounding the sinking and destruction of the ship were considered spectacular. Despite criticism during production of the film, it received a record-tying 14 Oscar nominations (tied with All About Eve) at the 1998 Academy Awards. It won 11 Oscars (also record-tying with Ben-Hur and later The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King), including Best Picture, Best Film Editing, Best Sound, Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Visual Effects, Best Original Song, Best Original Dramatic Score, and the Best Director award for Cameron. Upon receiving the award, Cameron exclaimed, "I'm king of the world!", in reference to one of the main characters' lines from the film. In March 2010, Cameron revealed that Titanic would be re-released in 3D in April 2012, in order to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the actual ship. Following the re-release, Titanic became the second film to gross over $2 billion worldwide (the first being Avatar).

Mixing martial issues with undercover spies, Cameron wrote and directed True Lies (1994), starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The film made it to No. 1 at the box office, grossed more than $378 million worldwide, and received an Oscar nod for its visual effects. Cameron then began a massive undertaking with his story Titanic, a movie about star-crossed lovers (played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet) trapped aboard the doomed Titanic ocean liner. To recreate one of the greatest disasters at sea, Cameron had a special studio built in Mexico, which featured a 17-million-gallon water tank and 775-foot replica of the Titanic. The film cost nearly $200 million to make, and was plagued with problems and delays. Many in the industry expected the film to tank just like its namesake, but Cameron proved the skeptics wrong. Opening in December 1997, the film received critical raves and strong ticket sales. Titanic became the first film to earn more than $1 billion and landed 14 Academy Award nominations. For his work on the film, Cameron took home three Oscars—for Best Director, Best Best Film Editing, and Best Picture.

  Spider-Man and Dark Angel (2000–2002)

Cameron had initially next planned to do a film of the comic book character Spider-Man, a project developed by Menahem Golan of Cannon Films. Columbia hired David Koepp to adapt Cameron's treatment into a screenplay, and Koepp's first draft is taken often word-for-word from Cameron's story, though later drafts were heavily rewritten by Koepp himself, Scott Rosenberg, and Alvin Sargent. Columbia preferred to credit David Koepp solely, and none of the scripts before or after his were ever examined by the Writers Guild of America, East  to determine proper credit attribution.  Cameron and other writers objected, but Columbia and the WGA prevailed. In its release in 2002, Spider-Man had its screenplay credited solely to Koepp. Unable to make Spider-Man, Cameron moved to television and created Dark Angel, a superheroine-centered series influenced by cyberpunk, biopunk, contemporary superhero franchises, and third-wave feminism. Co-produced with Charles H. Eglee, Dark Angel starred Jessica Alba as Max Guevara, a genetically enhanced transgenic super-soldier created by a secretive organization. Cameron's work was said to "bring empowered female warriors back to television screens by mixing the sober feminism of his The Terminator and Aliens characters with the sexed-up Girl Power of a Britney Spears concert." While a success in its first season, low ratings in the second led to its cancellation. Cameron himself directed the series finale, a two-hour episode wrapping up many of the series' loose ends.

Documentaries (2002–12)

Cameron in February 2010

In 1998 James and John David Cameron formed a digital media company, earthship.tv which became Earthship Productions. The company produced live multimedia documentaries from the depths of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. With Earthship Productions, John Cameron's recent projects have included undersea documentaries on the Bismarck (Expedition: Bismarck, 2002) and the Titanic (Ghosts of the Abyss (2003, in IMAX 3D) and Tony Robinson's Titanic Adventure (2005)). He was a producer on the 2002 film Solaris, and narrated The Exodus Decoded. Cameron is a leading advocate for stereoscopic digital 3-D films. In a 2003 interview about his IMAX 2D documentary Ghosts of the Abyss, he mentioned that he is "going to do everything in 3D now". He has made similar statements in other interviews. Ghosts of the Abyss and Aliens of the Deep (also an IMAX documentary) were both shot in 3-D and released by Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media, and Cameron did the same for his new project, Avatar for 20th Century Fox & Sony Pictures' Columbia Pictures. He intends to use the same technology for The Dive, Sanctum and an adaptation of the manga series Battle Angel Alita. Cameron was the founder and CEO of Digital Domain, a visual effects production and technology company. In addition, he plans to create a 3-D project about the first trip to Mars. ("I've been very interested in the Humans to Mars movement—the 'Mars Underground'—and I've done a tremendous amount of personal research for a novel, a miniseries, and a 3-D film.") He is on the science team for the 2011 Mars Science Laboratory. Cameron announced on February 26, 2007, that he, along with his director, Simcha Jacobovici, have documented the unearthing of the Talpiot Tomb, which is alleged to be the tomb of Jesus. Unearthed in 1981 by Israeli construction workers, the names on the tomb are claimed, in the documentary, to correlate with the names of Jesus and several individuals closely associated with him. Scientists pictured in the feature further claim to have DNA tests, archaeological evidence, and Biblical studies to back up their claim. The documentary, named The Lost Tomb of Jesus, was broadcast on the Discovery Channel on March 4, 2007. As a National Geographic explorer-in-residence, Cameron re-investigated the sinking of the Titanic with eight experts in 2012. The investigation was featured in the TV documentary special Titanic: The Final Word with James Cameron, which premiered on April 8 on the National Geographic Channel. In the conclusion of the analysis, the consensus revised the CGI animation of the sinking conceived in 1995.

  Avatar (2009)

Cameron promoting Avatar during the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con

In June 2005, Cameron was announced to be working on a project tentatively titled "Project 880" (now known to be Avatar) in parallel with another project, Battle Angel (an adaptation of the manga series Battle Angel Alita). Both movies were to be shot in 3D. By December, Cameron stated that he wanted to film Battle Angel first, followed by Avatar. However in February 2006, he switched goals for the two film projects and decided to film Avatar first. He mentioned that if both films are successful, he would be interested in seeing a trilogy being made for both. Avatar had an estimated budget of over $300 million and was released on December 18, 2009. This marked his first feature film since 1997's Titanic. It is composed almost entirely of computer-generated animation, using a more advanced version of the "performance capture" technique used by director Robert Zemeckis in The Polar Express. James Cameron had written an 80 page scriptment for Avatar in 1995 and announced in 1996 that he would make the film after completing Titanic. In December 2006, Cameron explained that the delay in producing the film since the 1990s had been to wait until the technology necessary to create his project was advanced enough. The film was originally scheduled to be released in May 2009 but was pushed back to December 2009 to allow more time for post-production on the complex CGI and to give more time for theatres worldwide to install 3D projectors. Cameron originally intended Avatar to be 3D-only. Avatar broke several Box Office records during its theatrical run. It grossed over $749 million in the United States and Canada and more than $2.74 billion worldwide, to become the highest-grossing film of all time in the United States and Canada, surpassing Cameron's Titanic. Avatar also became the first movie to ever earn more than $2 billion worldwide. It was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and won three for Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects and Best Art Direction. Cameron lost the award for Best Director to his ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow, who also took Best Picture with her film The Hurt Locker. Avatar's blockbuster success made Cameron the highest earner in Hollywood for 2010, netting him $257 million as reported by Vanity Fair.

  Sanctum (2011)

Most recently, James Cameron served as the executive producer of Sanctum, a $30,000,000 (estimated budget) film detailing the expedition of a team of underwater cave divers who find themselves trapped in a cave, their exit blocked and no known way to reach the surface either in person or with radio contact.

  Planned films

In October 2010, Cameron signed an agreement with Fox to direct two sequels to Avatar, which are scheduled to be released in December 2014 and December 2015. Another project Cameron has announced is a personal commitment to shoot a film on the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as told through the story of Tsutomu Yamaguchi, a man who survived both attacks. Cameron met with Yamaguchi just days before he died in 2010.

Awards

Cameron receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in December 2009

Cameron received the Bradbury Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 1991—but, being primarily thought of as a genre filmmaker, he did not receive any major mainstream filmmaking awards prior to Titanic. With Titanic, Cameron received Academy Awards for Best Film Editing (shared with Conrad Buff and Richard A. Harris), Best Picture (shared with Jon Landau), and Best Director. He also won a Golden Globe Award for best director for the film. In recognition of "a distinguished career as a Canadian filmmaker", Carleton University, Ottawa, awarded Cameron the honorary degree of Doctor of Fine Arts on June 13, 1998. Cameron accepted the degree in person and gave the Convocation Address. He also received an honorary doctorate in October 1998 from Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, for his accomplishments in the international film industry. In 1998, Cameron attended convocation to receive an honorary doctorate of Laws from Ryerson University, Toronto. The university awards its highest honor to those who have made extraordinary contributions in Canada, or internationally. In 1999, Cameron received the honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from California State University, Fullerton, where he had been a student in the 1970s. He received the degree at the university's annual Commencement exercises that year, where he gave the keynote speech. In recognition of his contributions to underwater filming and remote vehicle technology, the University of Southampton awarded Cameron the honorary degree of Doctor of the University. Cameron did not attend the Engineering Sciences graduation ceremony in July 2004 where the degree was awarded but instead received it in person at the National Oceanography Centre. On June 3, 2008, it was announced that he would be inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. On December 18, 2009, the same day Avatar was released worldwide, Cameron received the 2,396th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On February 28, 2010 James Cameron was honored with a Visual Effects Society (VES) Lifetime Achievement Award. With Avatar, Cameron has been nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Picture (shared with Jon Landau), Best Director and Best Film Editing (shared with John Refoua and Stephen E. Rivkin) and received the Golden Globe for Best Picture and Best Director. Cameron and Avatar lost the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture to Cameron's former wife Kathryn Bigelow for her film, The Hurt Locker. On September 24, 2010 James Cameron was named Number 1 in The 2010 Guardian Film Power 100 list. In a list compiled by the British magazine New Statesman in September 2010, he was listed 30th in the list of "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures 2010".

Awards

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1984	The Terminator	Director, Writer	Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film Saturn Award for Best Make-up Saturn Award for Best Writing
1985	Rambo: First Blood Part II	Writer	Razzie Award for Worst Screenplay
1986	Aliens	Director, Writer	Academy Award for Best Sound Editing Academy Award for Best Visual Effects Nominated for Academy Award for Best Actress Nominated for Academy Award for Best Original Score Nominated for Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing Nominated for Academy Award for Best Film Editing Nominated for Academy Award for Best Art Direction
1989	The Abyss	Director, Writer	Academy Award for Best Visual Effects Nominated for Academy Award for Best Art Direction Nominated for Academy Award for Best Cinematography Nominated for Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing
1991	Terminator 2: Judgment Day	Director, Writer and Producer	Academy Award for Best Makeup Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing Academy Award for Best Sound Editing Academy Award for Best Visual Effects Nominated for Academy Award for Best Cinematography Nominated for Academy Award for Best Film Editing
1994	True Lies	Director, Writer and Producer	Nominated for Academy Award for Best Visual Effects
1997	Titanic	Director, Writer, Producer and Editor	Academy Award for Best Director Academy Award for Best Film Editing Academy Award for Best Picture Golden Globe Award for Best Director Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama Amanda Award for Best Foreign Feature Film Eddie Award for Best Edited Feature Film Blue Ribbon Award for Best Foreign Language Film Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Director Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Director DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures Hochi Film Award for Best Foreign Language Film International Monitor Award for Theatrical Releases - Color Correction Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Director Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Picture Mainichi Film Concours - Best Foreign Language Film National Board of Review Special Citation - For the use of special effects technology Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Director PGA Award for Motion Picture Producer of the Year People's Choice Award for Favorite Dramatic Motion Picture People's Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture Russian Guild of Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Film Golden Satellite Award for Best Director of a Motion Picture Golden Satellite Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama
2003	Ghosts of the Abyss	Director and Producer	Nominated by the Broadcast Film Critics Association for Best Documentary
2009	Avatar	Director, Writer, Producer and Editor	Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Action Movie Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Editing Empire Award for Best Film Empire Award for Best Director Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama Golden Globe Award for Best Director Japan Academy Prize for Outstanding Foreign Language Film Lumière Award for Live Action 3D Feature New York Film Critics Online Award for Best Film Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Editing PETA's Proggy award for Outstanding Feature Film Santa Barbara International Film Festival Lucky Brand Modern Master Award Saturn Award - Visionary Award for Avatar Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film Saturn Award for Best Director Saturn Award for Best Writing Scream Award for Best Director St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Most Original, Innovative or Creative Film Teen Choice Award for Sci-Fi Movie People's Choice Award for Favorite 3D Live Action Movie People's Choice Award for Favorite 3D Animated Movie

Collaborations

Cameron often casts certain actors more than once in his films. Cameron has consistently worked with Bill Paxton, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Jenette Goldstein and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Actor	Xenogenesis (1978)	Piranha II: The Spawning (1981)	The Terminator (1984)	Aliens (1986)	The Abyss (1989)	Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)	True Lies (1994)	Titanic (1997)	Expedition: Bismarck (2002)	Ghosts of the Abyss (2003)	Avatar (2009)	Avatar 2 (2015)
William Wisher, Jr.1	Y				Y
Lance Henriksen		Y	Y	Y					Y
Bill Paxton			Y	Y			Y	Y		Y
Linda Hamilton			Y			Y
Michael Biehn			Y	Y	Y	2Y
Earl Boen			Y			Y
Arnold Schwarzenegger			Y			Y	Y
Jenette Goldstein				Y		Y		Y
Zoe Saldana											Y	Y
Sam Worthington											Y	Y
Sigourney Weaver				Y							Y

¹ Although Wisher Jr. has written some of Cameron's works, he is listed in the above table as an actor.
² His reprised role of Reese was cut from the theatrical release, but restored in the DVD's Special Edition Version.  

Recurring themes

Cameron's films have recurring themes and subtexts. These include the conflicts between humanity and technology, the dangers of corporate greed, strong female characters, and a strong romance subplot. In almost all films, the main characters usually get into dramatic crisis situations with significant threats to their own life or even the threat of an impending apocalypse. While The Abyss dealt with deep sea exploration (shot on a studio set), Cameron himself became an expert in the field of deep sea wreckage exploration, exploring the wreckage of Titanic and Bismarck. Cameron will return to this theme with The Dive, shooting from a minisub.

So important is technology in Cameron's films that he waited years for the technical tools of the craft to advance sufficiently to realize his vision for Avatar, for which he had special 3-D cameras developed.

Filmography

Cameron has contributed to many projects as either a writer, director, producer, or as a combination of the three. Cameron's first film was the 1978 science fiction short film Xenogenesis, which he directed, wrote and produced. Cameron's films have grossed a total of over $7 billion worldwide.

In addition to works of fiction, Cameron has directed and appeared in several documentaries including Ghosts of the Abyss and Aliens of the Deep. He also contributed to a number of television series including Dark Angel and Entourage. He plans to shoot a small drama film after the Avatar trilogy, just to prove that 3D works even for domestic dramas.

  Personal life

Cameron has been married five times: to Sharon Williams (1978–1984), Gale Anne Hurd (1985–1989), director Kathryn Bigelow (1989–1991), and Linda Hamilton (1997–1999, daughter Josephine born in 1993). Cameron dated Hamilton since 1991, but the two didn't marry until 1997. Eight months after the marriage, however, they separated, and within days of Cameron's Oscar victory with Titanic, the couple announced their divorce. As part of the divorce settlement, Cameron was ordered to pay Hamilton $50 million. Hamilton later revealed that the reason for their divorce was not only Cameron's blind devotion to his work to the exclusion of almost everything else, but also that he had been having an affair with Suzy Amis, an actress he cast in Titanic.  He married Amis in 2000, and they have one son and two daughters. Cameron lives in Malibu, California, with his wife. On February 2 the Associated Press said Cameron would be moving to New Zealand to film Avatar. Hurd was the producer of Cameron's The Terminator, Aliens, and The Abyss, and the executive producer of Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Hamilton played the role of Sarah Connor in both Terminator films. Amis played the part of Lizzy Calvert, Rose's granddaughter, in Titanic. Both Cameron (Avatar) and Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) were nominated for the Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA Award for Best Director for films released in 2009. Cameron won the Golden Globe, whilst Bigelow won the Oscar and the BAFTA for Best Director, becoming the first woman to win either. Cameron is a member of the NASA Advisory Council and is working on the project to put cameras on an upcoming manned Mars mission. Cameron has also given speeches and raised money for the Mars Society, a non-profit organization lobbying for the colonization of Mars. Cameron became an expert on deep-sea exploration in conjunction with his research and underwater filming surrounding The Abyss (1989) and Titanic (1997). In June 2010, Cameron met in Washington with the EPA to discuss possible solutions to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (BP) oil spill. Later that week at the All Things Digital Conference, he attracted some notoriety when he stated, "Over the last few weeks I've watched...and been thinking, 'Those morons don't know what they're doing'." Reportedly, Cameron had offered BP help to plug the oil well, but they declined. The oil spill was eventually stopped using techniques similar to those Cameron recommended. Although Cameron has lived his entire adult life in the United States, he remains a Canadian citizen. Cameron applied for American citizenship but withdrew his application after George W. Bush won the presidential election in 2004. Cameron calls himself "Converted Agnostic", and says "I've sworn off agnosticism, which I now call cowardly atheism". As a child he described the Lord's Prayer as being a 'tribal chant'. In 2012, Cameron became vegan, along with his children.

Deep sea dives

On March 7, 2012, Cameron took the Deepsea Challenger submersible to the bottom of the New Britain Trench in a five-mile-deep solo dive. On March 26, 2012, Cameron reached the Challenger Deep, the deepest part of the Mariana Trench. He spent more than three hours exploring the ocean floor before returning to the surface. Cameron is the first person to accomplish the trip solo. He was preceded by unmanned dives in 1995 and 2009, and by Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh, who were the first men to reach the bottom of the Mariana Trench aboard the Bathyscaphe Trieste in 1960. Cameron is making a three-dimensional film of his dive.

  Influence

Cameron's directional style has provided great influence throughout the film industry. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly creator Joss Whedon stated that Cameron's approach to action scenes was influential to those in The Avengers. He also cited Cameron as "the leader and the teacher and the Yoda". Michael Bay considers Cameron an idol and was convinced by him to use 3D in Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

  Reputation

Cameron has been labeled by one collaborator, author Orson Scott Card, as selfish and cruel. When asked about working with Cameron on the novelization of The Abyss, Card said the experience was "hell on wheels. He was very nice to me, because I could afford to walk away. But he made everyone around him miserable, and his unkindness did nothing to improve the film in any way. Nor did it motivate people to work faster or better. And unless he changes his way of working with people, I hope he never directs anything of mine. In fact, now that this is in print, I can fairly guarantee that he will never direct anything of mine. Life is too short to collaborate with selfish, cruel people."

After working with Cameron on Titanic, Kate Winslet decided she would not work with Cameron again unless she earned "a lot of money." She said that Cameron was a nice man, but she found his temper difficult to deal with. In an editorial, the British newspaper The Independent said that Cameron "is a nightmare to work with. Studios have come to fear his habit of straying way over schedule and over budget. He is notorious on set for his uncompromising and dictatorial manner, as well as his flaming temper." Sam Worthington, the latest lead actor to work with Cameron, stated on The Jay Leno Show that Cameron had very high expectations from everyone, and would often use a nail gun to nail the film crew's cell phones to a wall above an exit door in retaliation for unwanted ringing during production. Other actors, such as Bill Paxton and Sigourney Weaver, have praised Cameron's perfectionism. Weaver said of Cameron: "He really does want us to risk our lives and limbs for the shot, but he doesn't mind risking his own." Michael Biehn has also praised Cameron, claiming "Jim is a really passionate person. He cares more about his movies than other directors care about their movies", but added "I’ve never seen him yell at anybody." However, Biehn did claim Cameron is "not real sensitive when it comes to actors." Additionally, composer James Horner refused to work with Cameron for ten years following their strained working relationship on 1986's Aliens, but they eventually settled their differences, and Horner went on to score both Titanic and Avatar for Cameron. An episode of South Park that first aired on October 3, 2012 poked fun at James Cameron's reputation for being self-centered, by depicting the director as being whiny and obsessed with his own name and abilities. He is seen going deep sea diving while playing his own theme song and appearing oblivious to his overly unenthusiastic and bored ship crew. At the end of the episode, the character speaks in third person, saying "James Cameron does not do what James Cameron does for James Cameron... James Cameron does what James Cameron does because James Cameron IS James Cameron."

Photo of James Cameron