goldenboy
09-30-2007, 01:28 PM
http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/070110/cameron1_l.jpg
James Cameron
Born: August 16, 1954, Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada
Education: Studied physics and english at California State University-Fullerton, Fullerton, California
Horror, Science Fiction or Fantasy work
Xenogenesis (http://imdb.com/title/tt0251488/) (1978)
Piranha 2: The Spawning (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piranha_II:_The_Spawning) (1982)
The Terminator (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Terminator) (1984)
Aliens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliens_%28film%29) (1986)
The Abyss (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Abyss) (1989)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminator_2:_Judgment_Day) (1991)
Dark Angel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Angel_%28TV_series%29) (2000-2002)
Avatar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_%28film%29) (2009)
Battle Angel (http://imdb.com/title/tt0437086/) (2009)
Biography
James Cameron was born in Kapuskasing, Canada, just north of Niagara Falls. Chafing at the strict discipline of his engineer father, Cameron became the master builder of his playmates, and enlisted his friends in elaborate construction projects, building go-carts, boats, rockets, catapults and miniature submersibles. His artist mother encouraged him to draw and paint. She helped arrange an exhibition of his work in a local gallery when he was still in his teens. Inspired by the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, he began to experiment with 16 mm film, photographing model space ships he had built.
The Cameron family moved to Fullerton, California when he was 17 and Cameron enrolled at Fullerton College. Uncertain of his direction in life, torn between art and science, he dropped out of college, married a waitress and drove a truck for the local school district. After the film Star Wars reawakened his love of filmmaking, he quit his job and followed his own course of study in the library of the University of Southern California, reading up on the technology of special effects, optical printing, front and rear projection. He spent his meager savings on photographic equipment, building his own dolly track and experimenting with beam splitters in the living room of his small suburban house.
His wife and friends doubted his sanity, but he borrowed money from friends to make a short film he showed to low-budget maestro Roger Corman. Corman gave Cameron a chance to work as a model builder and production designer on his horror films. "Three weeks after I started I had my own department," Cameron told Premiere magazine. "I was hiring people, and everybody else that worked there just hated me."
After two years with Corman, Cameron got his first crack at directing, but it almost turned into his last. The producer of Piranha II: The Spawning fired him unceremoniously, claiming the footage Cameron had shot was unusable. Cameron followed the producer from Jamaica to Rome, let himself into the editing bay after it was closed, and recut sections of the film himself.
While in Rome he conceived the film that was to make his reputation, The Terminator. The script found takers at the major studios, but Cameron insisted on directing it himself, a deal-killer. He finally sold the rights to producer Gale Anne Hurd for one dollar, on condition that he direct it himself. Cameron's unbridled enthusiasm won over Hemdale Films head John Daly and star Arnold Schwarzenegger. While waiting for Schwarzenegger to become available, Cameron wrote screenplays for Rambo: First Blood Part II and Aliens.
With the international success of the Terminator, Cameron won the director's chair for Aliens and went on to direct The Abyss, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and True Lies. Typecast as a director of high-testosterone action films, Cameron raised eyebrows by proposing Titanic as an intimate love story, albeit one with mid-boggling special effects. As production of the film ran months over schedule and millions of dollars over budget, industry pundits predicted an ignominious disaster. Cameron proved them wrong when Titanic broke box office records all over the world and swept the Academy Awards, winning an unprecedented 11 Oscars, including statuettes for Cameron as Best Director, and for the film as Best Picture.
His reputation as a driven perfectionist has become part of Hollywood legend. Cameron takes it in stride as he calmly plans his next film. Whatever he has up his sleeve, he has made motion picture history and touched the lives of millions.
source (http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/cam0bio-1)
James Cameron article - Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_cameron)
Trivia
* According to Cameron, he got his big break while doing pick-up shots for Galaxy of Terror (1981) as 2nd unit director. He was shooting scenes of a dismembered arm teeming with maggots (actually mealworms). In order to make them move, he hooked up an AC power cord to the arm, and an unseen assistant would plug it in when the film was rolling. Two producers were strolling through, and when Cameron yelled "Action!" the worms began to writhe on cue. When he yelled "Cut!" the worms stopped. The producers were so amazed at his directing prowess that they began talking with him about bigger projects.
* First director to film both a $100 million (Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)) and a $200 million (Titanic (1997)) movie.
* Cameron is in talks with RKK Energia and MirCorp to pay his way on board the Mir space station (or the ISS, should Mir be deorbited). He has been given the medical green light, and has already ridden aboard the Ilushin-76 jet used to train cosmonauts for space missions. [September 2000]
* Lost a plagiarism lawsuit brought by Harlan Ellison involving the movie The Terminator (1984). Newer prints of the film acknowledge Ellison.
* Wrote a screenplay for Spider-Man (2002) movie, but was turned down by the studios, due to the fact that his version of Spider-Man was "too violent". Sam Raimi's version got the green light instead.
* Married one of his producers and two of his actresses.
* Got the nickname "Iron Jim" because of his stern, stubborn ways as a director.
source (http://imdb.com/name/nm0000116/bio)
James Cameron - Awards (http://imdb.com/name/nm0000116/awards)
James Cameron
Born: August 16, 1954, Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada
Education: Studied physics and english at California State University-Fullerton, Fullerton, California
Horror, Science Fiction or Fantasy work
Xenogenesis (http://imdb.com/title/tt0251488/) (1978)
Piranha 2: The Spawning (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piranha_II:_The_Spawning) (1982)
The Terminator (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Terminator) (1984)
Aliens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliens_%28film%29) (1986)
The Abyss (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Abyss) (1989)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminator_2:_Judgment_Day) (1991)
Dark Angel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Angel_%28TV_series%29) (2000-2002)
Avatar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_%28film%29) (2009)
Battle Angel (http://imdb.com/title/tt0437086/) (2009)
Biography
James Cameron was born in Kapuskasing, Canada, just north of Niagara Falls. Chafing at the strict discipline of his engineer father, Cameron became the master builder of his playmates, and enlisted his friends in elaborate construction projects, building go-carts, boats, rockets, catapults and miniature submersibles. His artist mother encouraged him to draw and paint. She helped arrange an exhibition of his work in a local gallery when he was still in his teens. Inspired by the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, he began to experiment with 16 mm film, photographing model space ships he had built.
The Cameron family moved to Fullerton, California when he was 17 and Cameron enrolled at Fullerton College. Uncertain of his direction in life, torn between art and science, he dropped out of college, married a waitress and drove a truck for the local school district. After the film Star Wars reawakened his love of filmmaking, he quit his job and followed his own course of study in the library of the University of Southern California, reading up on the technology of special effects, optical printing, front and rear projection. He spent his meager savings on photographic equipment, building his own dolly track and experimenting with beam splitters in the living room of his small suburban house.
His wife and friends doubted his sanity, but he borrowed money from friends to make a short film he showed to low-budget maestro Roger Corman. Corman gave Cameron a chance to work as a model builder and production designer on his horror films. "Three weeks after I started I had my own department," Cameron told Premiere magazine. "I was hiring people, and everybody else that worked there just hated me."
After two years with Corman, Cameron got his first crack at directing, but it almost turned into his last. The producer of Piranha II: The Spawning fired him unceremoniously, claiming the footage Cameron had shot was unusable. Cameron followed the producer from Jamaica to Rome, let himself into the editing bay after it was closed, and recut sections of the film himself.
While in Rome he conceived the film that was to make his reputation, The Terminator. The script found takers at the major studios, but Cameron insisted on directing it himself, a deal-killer. He finally sold the rights to producer Gale Anne Hurd for one dollar, on condition that he direct it himself. Cameron's unbridled enthusiasm won over Hemdale Films head John Daly and star Arnold Schwarzenegger. While waiting for Schwarzenegger to become available, Cameron wrote screenplays for Rambo: First Blood Part II and Aliens.
With the international success of the Terminator, Cameron won the director's chair for Aliens and went on to direct The Abyss, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and True Lies. Typecast as a director of high-testosterone action films, Cameron raised eyebrows by proposing Titanic as an intimate love story, albeit one with mid-boggling special effects. As production of the film ran months over schedule and millions of dollars over budget, industry pundits predicted an ignominious disaster. Cameron proved them wrong when Titanic broke box office records all over the world and swept the Academy Awards, winning an unprecedented 11 Oscars, including statuettes for Cameron as Best Director, and for the film as Best Picture.
His reputation as a driven perfectionist has become part of Hollywood legend. Cameron takes it in stride as he calmly plans his next film. Whatever he has up his sleeve, he has made motion picture history and touched the lives of millions.
source (http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/cam0bio-1)
James Cameron article - Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_cameron)
Trivia
* According to Cameron, he got his big break while doing pick-up shots for Galaxy of Terror (1981) as 2nd unit director. He was shooting scenes of a dismembered arm teeming with maggots (actually mealworms). In order to make them move, he hooked up an AC power cord to the arm, and an unseen assistant would plug it in when the film was rolling. Two producers were strolling through, and when Cameron yelled "Action!" the worms began to writhe on cue. When he yelled "Cut!" the worms stopped. The producers were so amazed at his directing prowess that they began talking with him about bigger projects.
* First director to film both a $100 million (Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)) and a $200 million (Titanic (1997)) movie.
* Cameron is in talks with RKK Energia and MirCorp to pay his way on board the Mir space station (or the ISS, should Mir be deorbited). He has been given the medical green light, and has already ridden aboard the Ilushin-76 jet used to train cosmonauts for space missions. [September 2000]
* Lost a plagiarism lawsuit brought by Harlan Ellison involving the movie The Terminator (1984). Newer prints of the film acknowledge Ellison.
* Wrote a screenplay for Spider-Man (2002) movie, but was turned down by the studios, due to the fact that his version of Spider-Man was "too violent". Sam Raimi's version got the green light instead.
* Married one of his producers and two of his actresses.
* Got the nickname "Iron Jim" because of his stern, stubborn ways as a director.
source (http://imdb.com/name/nm0000116/bio)
James Cameron - Awards (http://imdb.com/name/nm0000116/awards)