Directing

James Cameron

James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. He is a major figure in the post-New Hollywood era and often uses novel technologies with a classical filmmaking style. Cameron first gained recognition for writing and directing The Terminator (1984), and found further success with Aliens (1986), The Abyss (1989), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), and True Lies (1994), as well as Avatar (2009) and its sequels. He directed, wrote, co-produced, and co-edited Titanic (1997), winning Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Film Editing. He is a recipient of various other industry accolades, and three of his films have been selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Cameron co-founded the production companies Lightstorm Entertainment, Digital Domain, and Earthship Productions. In addition to filmmaking, he is a National Geographic explorer-in-residence. He has produced many documentaries on deep-ocean exploration, including Ghosts of the Abyss (2003) and Aliens of the Deep (2005). Cameron has also contributed to underwater filming and remote vehicle technologies and helped create the digital 3D Fusion Camera System. In 2012, Cameron became the first person to solo descend the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the Earth's ocean, in the Deepsea Challenger submersible. Cameron's films have grossed over $8 billion worldwide, making him the second-highest-grossing film director. Three of Cameron's films are among the top four highest-grossing films of all time; Avatar (2009), Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) and Titanic (1997) are the highest, third-highest and fourth-highest-grossing films of all time, respectively. Cameron directed the first film to gross over $1 billion, the first two films to gross over $2 billion, and is the only director to have had three films grossing over $2 billion. In 2010, Time named Cameron one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Cameron is also an environmentalist and runs several sustainability businesses.