Without a stolen dissertation, James Cameron would never have made Avatar

James Cameron is the director of Alien, Terminator, Titanic e Avatar.

He won three Oscars (all for Titanic in 1998) and his films have grossed, overall, $5.2 billion. The first Avatarfrom 2009, is still today what he recorded the highest receipts in the history of cinema.

A extraordinary career which had an equally incredible start.

Little more than twenty, Cameron was a truck driver. But he dreamed of becoming a filmmaker. For this reason he continually wandered through the shelves of the library of the USC School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles. But unlike George Lucas and Robert Zemeckis, two of the most famous directors to come out of this university, Cameron he didn’t have enough money to afford the courses.

“One day – Cameron said – I found a 300-page degree thesis on the optical printer [dispositivo solitamente usato per gli effetti speciali o per restaurare vecchi filmati, ndr]”. Cameron didn’t think about it for a moment: “I took it, I removed the staples and I photocopied each of the 300 pages”.

For six months after that episode, James Cameron continued to photocopy everything he came across. He drove his truck and on the seat next to him he kept stacks of binders with writings and notes about them blue screens, lenses and photographic emulsion.

“I didn’t have much choice – said Cameron – I could get high and watch the Saturday Night Live, or I could study all this stuff, chapter by chapter. Basically, I got a college education in special effects and cinematography while driving a truck.”