E! True Hollywood Story: James Cameron FINAL SCRIPT. Red carpet viz with music. films.

Transcription

1 E! True Hollywood Story: James Cameron FINAL SCRIPT COLD OPEN Quick montage: Red carpet viz with music THS 169 [James Cameron 1994] Well it s not a secret, my fantasy life is making films. CO-1 For filmmaker James Cameron, it s go big or go home. THS 169 James Cameron Terminator JNKT, on making the film 1991] I gotta get my hands dirty. If I don t come home with my hands black at the end of the day, I don t feel like I ve done a good day s work. CO-2 From Terminator to Titanic, his mega budget movies pulled off remarkable feats. THS 169 Leonardo Dicaprio, He s a complete genius. CO-3 His uncompromising need for perfection created cinematic masterpieces THS-288 Roger Corman Because he truly is a Renaissance Man. CO-4 but pushed people to the edge. THS 291 John Bruno Jim will bring the best out of you. Or kill you. CO-5 In the next hour we explore the remarkable career of this movie maverick, and his notoriously demanding ways. THS-286 Bill Mechanic He wants what he wants when he wants it, he doesn t care who is in his path CO-6 This is James Cameron. THS 169 Linda: He s the King! CO-7 The E! True Hollywood Story!

2 ACT 1: Track 1-1 In 1995, James Cameron s dream to set an epic romance against the sinking of the Titanic was a long shot. THS-294 Peter Soumalias Any time someone goes to a studio and says we re gonna make a film where everyone knows the end, and it s gonna cost, oh, a hundred million dollars, maybe more. I think that s a pretty tough sell Green light was given Feb 1995 Track 1-2 When the film was green lit, expectations were high. THS 169 [JC TITANIC Jnkt, research, movie, pressure 1997] For me that translates into the pressure is on to make it THE-BEST-POSSIBLE-FILM that it can be. Track 1-3 But no one anticipated the difficulties that lay ahead. THS 171 Jim THS-289 David Sanfield THS 289 Paul Hibler The physicality of the production was extremely daunting We were working 16 hours, sometimes 18 hours, it doesn t allow a lot of time for sleep What ended up happening was they laced their soup with PCP, Angel Dust. Track 1-4 James was in over his head and feared he d never work again. (2 beats fade to blk) Pronounce: Cap us case ing Track 1-5 James Cameron was born to parents Philip and Shirley on August 16 th, 1954, in the mining town of Kapuskasing, Ontario. Soon after, the Camerons moved to Chippawa, just minutes away from Niagara Falls, Canada. His parents encouraged different sides of the young boy s personality. THS 170 [JC INTV Malibu Film Festival:, in restaurant 1999] My mom is an artist, my dad s an engineer, he s not here tonight. My dad used to throw away my comic books in the trash; he d take me out of my hand and throw them away. My mom used to dig them back out and give them to me. Encourage that part of my life He was always drawing // and he was always painting, always had something weird Very artistic. In fact, we all 15

3 thought he was gonna be a famous artist some day. Track 1-6 James also excelled in science. His father hoped his son would follow in his footsteps He wanted him to become an engineer, somebody in the family to become an engineer He was talking, talking over my head sometimes. // And he was always talking future stuff. Track 1-7 By his mid teens, James ditched comics for sci fi, devouring the classics. THS-292 Sean Davidson Born Aug 1954, at 15 it would be 1969 Release date: 6 April science fiction was a very emerging genre in the late 60s, 70s is one example of that Track 1-8 In 1968, James saw 2001: A Space Odyssey. The film combined his love of arts with science, and sparked his obsession with movies. 01;01;17;00 He was just fascinated by the visuals in this movie and watched it 10 times to try to figure out how they did it. Track 1-9 Though he fantasized about making his own films, James felt his dreams were unrealistic. THS 268 James Cameron (around 17 here) pronounce: bray ah THS-287 Susan THS-287 Susan I was raised // in the historic village of Chippewa, in Niagara, you come from a place like that that seems so far from Hollywood and it seems so impossible to be able to break into that world. Track 1-10 In early 1971, James couldn t believe his luck; his father took a better paying job in Brea, California Jim moved into my neighborhood, in Brea. Like 30 years ago and his mom and I became fast friends, immediately I thought he was very smart. Everything he said, I could just tell. Track 1-11 In Brea, James fell in love with 17-year old Sharon Williams. The pair were inseparable I remember seeing them together all the

4 time and I remember for the summer she went to Needles, California, and I remember Jim was going to visit her, and he made a great big hand, he was going to hitchhike Track 1-12 As his high school days came to an end, James thought hard about his future. He was drawn to filmmaking but couldn t ignore his love of science He got straight A s in physics, but he never studied And he was fascinated by science So he really wasn t 100% sure what he wanted. 01;03;53;00 Unfortunately James parents couldn t afford to put him through a 4 year college program to study film and he was a little resentful of that so instead he enrolled in a 2 year physics program at the community college, but then he later switched to English literature. 01;04;10;00 Track 1-13 In 1974, at the age of twenty, James dropped out of college. Quote from James E interview: When I was driving a truck for a school district THS 268 James Cameron He just wanted to be a director // so he quit college because he wanted to pursue that career Track 1-14 To earn some quick cash, James took a truckdriving gig that paid four dollars an hour. While working, he made time for writing I had a trick, I d pull behind a billboard where they couldn t see my truck, and I d work quickly on some script ideas that I had while I was driving around, then I d pull out and try to make up the time and get back on my route in time. Married in Feb 1977 Track 1-15 Meanwhile, Sharon remained supportive. They were married on Valentines Day in ;05;13;00 They had a really simple ceremony with a few close friends and family. 01;05;18;00 Star Wars came out May Track 1-16 Three months later, James watched a film that would change his life. THS 170 [JC Fox Upfront 1999] I saw a movie called Star Wars. And I came home, and there were so many things that I had seen that I had imagined and wanted to see, that I quit my job and started making films.

5 Track 1-17 James became obsessed with cinematography and taught himself all there was to know about movie making. Inspired by Star Wars, Cameron shot his first film. THS-314 Michael Speier THS Xenogenesis was James Cameron s first film. It was a twelve-minute short film; I think it was funded by a group of dentists. It really showcased what he was all about, which was technology and filmmaking. Pronounce: Zeh nah (genesis) Track 1-18 The positive feedback James got for Xenogenesis, gave him a boost of confidence. He brought his reel to the office of renowned film producer Roger Corman. THS-284 David DeCoteau Filmmaker / Production Assistant, Galaxy of Terror Well New World Pictures // was the only independent film studio in Hollywood at the time. If you didn t work at New World, you really never got in the business Track 1-19 Coming Up Shattered Dreams. THS-288 Roger Corman This was the worst mess I have ever seen