James Cameron

James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker known for his role in the post-New Hollywood era and his integration of novel technologies with classical filmmaking techniques. Cameron first gained recognition for writing and directing *The Terminator* (1984), and achieved 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), which won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Film Editing. He has received numerous 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 serves as a National Geographic explorer-in-residence and has produced several 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 develop the digital 3D Fusion Camera System. In 2012, he 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 his films are among the top four highest-grossing films of all time: *Avatar* (2009), *Avatar: The Way of Water* (2022), and *Titanic* (1997), which are the highest, third-highest, and fourth-highest-grossing films, 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* magazine named Cameron one of the 100 most influential people in the world. He is also an environmentalist and runs several sustainability-related businesses.