James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian and New Zealand filmmaker and explorer. His films combine cutting-edge film technology with classical filmmaking techniques and have grossed over $10 billion worldwide, making him the second highest-grossing film director of all time. A major figure in the post-New Hollywood era, Cameron has received numerous accolades including three Academy Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards, as well as nominations for six British Academy Film Awards. Born and raised in Ontario, Cameron moved to California aged 17 and enrolled at Fullerton Community College. Beginning his career with the short film Xenogenesis (1978), he first gained recognition for writing and directing the science fiction action film The Terminator (1984). He had further success with Aliens (1986), The Abyss (1989), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), and True Lies (1994), as well as the Avatar franchise (2009, 2022–present). He directed, wrote, co-produced, and co-edited the historical romance epic Titanic (1997), winning Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Film Editing. Three of Cameron's films—Avatar (2009), Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) and Titanic—are amongst the top five highest-grossing films of all time. He directed the first film to gross over $1 billion, the first two films to gross over $2 billion each, is the only director to have had three films gross over $2 billion each, and is the first director to have four consecutive feature films gross over $1 billion each. The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and Titanic have been selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Cameron also co-founded the production companies Lightstorm Entertainment, Digital Domain, and Earthship Productions. In 2010, Time named Cameron one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In addition to filmmaking, he is a National Geographic explorer-in-residence and 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 new digital 3D Fusion Camera System. In 2012, he became the first person to complete a solo descent to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of Earth's ocean, in the Deepsea Challenger submersible. He is also an environmentalist and runs several sustainability businesses.