“Ideas As ideas In Themselves Are Worthless” – Legendary Director James Cameron Speaks On Streaming, AI and Creativity

“Ideas As ideas In Themselves Are Worthless” – Legendary Director James Cameron Speaks On Streaming, AI and Creativity

Whilst many cringe when people in the industry describe themselves as “storytellers” in their LinkedIn bios, it is ultimately this love of storytelling that brings so many to the advertising, media, and marketing industries. 

This love can often be forgotten amongst deadlines, office politics, and day-to-day life – but ultimately it is what gets many people in adland out of bed in the morning. 

Yesterday, one of the world’s greatest modern-day storytellers – film director James Cameron – was in Sydney to share his journey and thought process on telling stories. 

Speaking at the World Business Forum, Cameron was in Sydney to talk to business leaders about creativity. 

Whilst on paper, Cameron may have been an unlikely speaker for the World Business Forum (which was dominated by a lot of people in suits), he gave valuable insight into modern-day storytelling where technology, exploration, physics, creativity, and love all collide into one. 

Here are some of his top pearls of wisdom. 

Return to Pandora | Avatar: The Way of Water

“Ideas as ideas in them themselves are worthless”

Cameron doesn’t do small indie films. He is known for making some of the most groundbreaking, and expensive films in recent history. Avatar cost $237 million USD to make and changed the world when it came to film technology and special effects. Titanic was the most expensive film ever made at the time of its release and involved building half a ship. Terminator 2 created technology that the world had never seen before. 

Whilst some might see budgets and investors as a necessary evil, for Cameron, getting together teams and capital is a valuable and much-loved part of the creative process. 

“Ideas as ideas in them themselves are worthless. It’s executing on that idea, executing on that idea of excellence, finding the capital, putting together the team doing all the things you have to do to manifest that idea in the real world, that really counts,” he said. 

Getting a team together was something that always came quite naturally to him, Cameron said, there were other parts of leadership he had to learn along the way. 

Kate Winslet, Titanic

“I think as be some people are natural leaders and some people learn as they go along,” he said. 

“I think I was always a natural alpha, I could always get the kids on the block to build some crazy project. I think that part of it was always there, but I’ve learned to be sensitive to people where they’re maybe putting themselves under too much pressure”. 

He went on to describe “financial metric” as a measure of success saying: “There’s a satisfaction in knowing that you’ve given the investors –  in this case Studio 20 Century Fox, and Disney –  their return on investment. To me, that’s very satisfying. I’ve had films that didn’t do well. And I don’t like that, you know, they put their trust in me. And it’s up to me to deliver. And it’s also a metric of how many people you’ve reached around the world.”

“Cinema Is Innately Artificial” 

With recent technology advancements, you’d be forgiven for thinking cinema’s relationship with technology is a new thing, however, Cameron reminded the audience that cinema’s dependence on technology (a camera) means that it is “innately artificial”. 

“Put some actors on stage and magic can happen. You give them some good words. Magic, pure magic can happen,” he said.  

“That’s raw human creation. But cinema is not natural, it is innately artificial”. 

“I think that’s the nature of the art form of cinema. It’s always evolved cameras, film, you know, lenses, optics, all of those things. I think anybody that thinks that just because we’ve incorporated computers and computer-generated imagery and characters are so into it, that it’s fundamentally different now – it was always a technical art form”. 

James Cameron Working On Titanic

 

AI Is Forcing Us To Ask ‘What Are We Here For?’ 

As someone who has been both a pioneer in technology and creativity, Cameron is the perfect person to ask about AI and whether it spells the downfall of human creativity. 

He said: “You see a lot of these articles about AI and the existential threat of AI. And what they mean is human extinction, or whatever”. 

“But I go back to the actual existential issues, Sartre and Kierkegaard who came up with this philosophy, that say we don’t get our sense of personal purpose, from authority from government, from religion from our parents, we create it internally for ourselves. And I think, from that standpoint, from the perspective of existentialism, I think this is both a crisis and a critical turning point in consciousness, because now we have to ask, what are we here for? What are we here to do? And that is a lot to wrap you’re head around”. 

Hands of robot and human touching on global virtual network connection future interface. Artificial intelligence technology concept.

Streaming Has Been More Disruptive To Writers And Actors Than AI 

Hollywood and the film industry have recently been heavily disrupted by the well-publicised actors and writers strike. Whilst AI was named as the cause of the strike, Cameron said streaming is mainly to blame for the disruption within the creative industries. 

“Streaming has been very disruptive to the entire group. Because there’s zero transparency with the flow of money because they’re not monetizing individual titles. It’s a subscription-based idea. They’re not selling tickets. So, you know, the monitoring logs have all been completely flipped upside down by streaming. And I think that [the strike] was absolutely critical for them to do”.

“ I don’t think it was so critical for them to make it about AI because I do feel like it probably would have been vetted to go through one contract cycle and see what the impact actually was, rather than it being an imagined fear. But people get these superstitious fears and I like to be very rigid and disciplined myself about what you really need to worry about and what you don’t”. 

 

The Importance of Passion For Exploration 

For Cameron, it was his passion for exploration that led and building new technology that led him to push boundaries in cinema. 

“I didn’t go to the deepest place on earth to make my movies. I made the movie to get the money to make the sub that goes to the deepest place on earth. Everybody connects the dots in the wrong order. Because its the passion for exploration and innovation that gets you to exploration”. 

 




Please login with linkedin to comment

AI creativity

Latest News

Amazon Prime Secures Rights To Next Cricket World Cup
  • Media

Amazon Prime Secures Rights To Next Cricket World Cup

In a massive shift in the broadcasting landscape, Amazon Prime has secured the Australian rights to the next cricket World Cup alongside a range of other tournaments run by the International Cricket Council (ICC) until 2027. The deal means that Australian Cricket fans can only access the tournaments if they have a paid subscription to […]

Limited Tickets Still Available For First Ever Industry Pantomime
  • Advertising

Limited Tickets Still Available For First Ever Industry Pantomime

With just over 24 hours to go until the world premiere of Addy Lala and the Mood Tea Thieves, limited tickets are still available for the pantomime, which will run for one night only at the Everest Theatre in Sydney’s Seymour Centre on December 5th. All in the industry are encouraged to come along to […]

Palin Communications joins GlobalCom PR Network
  • Marketing

Palin Communications joins GlobalCom PR Network

Specialist Australian health PR agency, Palin Communications, has joined GlobalCom PR Network with a view to delivering meaningful, consistent, impactful, global health campaigns across a range of countries and regions.

2045: A New Melbourne-Based Creative Agency Founded by Tim Evans and Nick Auditore
  • Marketing

2045: A New Melbourne-Based Creative Agency Founded by Tim Evans and Nick Auditore

2045, a Melbourne-based creative agency founded by Tim Evans and Nick Auditore has just launched. The agency takes its name from the year futurist Ray Kurzweil predicted organic and artificial intelligence would converge. Lead Image: 2045 Team Evans was formerly a Partner and Executive Strategy Director at DT (now AKQA), before co-founding B.B.E in 2015. […]

New Years Eve fireworks
  • Marketing

National Breast Cancer Foundation Announced as Charity Partner For NYE Sydney

The National Breast Cancer Foundation has been announced as the Charity Partner for Sydney New Year’s Eve. The Australian not-for-profit organisation is represented by the pink ribbon and raises money to fund world-class research towards its vision of zero deaths from breast cancer. Research that saves lives through a better understanding of how to prevent […]

Emporium Unveils Unique Christmas Campaign: “Every Tradition Starts Somewhere”
  • Campaigns

Emporium Unveils Unique Christmas Campaign: “Every Tradition Starts Somewhere”

This holiday season, Emporium Melbourne has announced its festive creative campaign that celebrates and encourages the Melbourne community to embrace their personal ‘untraditional traditions’ – the unique traditions that make Christmas truly special for them, and their family. The campaign’s tagline, “Every tradition starts somewhere”, reflects Emporium’s commitment to embracing, inspiring and applauding diverse traditions […]

Reddit Updates Conversation Placement Ads Formats
  • Technology

Reddit Updates Conversation Placement Ads Formats

Reddit has announced updates to its new ads placement with Carousel Ads and Product Ads. These new units, placed in the heart of Reddit discussions, provide an even more dynamic and compelling way for advertisers to scale to relevant audiences, deliver deeper value to users, and drive stronger, full-funnel performance among the hundreds of thousands […]

Full Throttle Into 2024: Drive.com.au Announces 12 New Products In 2024 Upfronts
  • Media

Full Throttle Into 2024: Drive.com.au Announces 12 New Products In 2024 Upfronts

Automotive Network Drive has announced its 2024 upfronts, its biggest in more than a decade, with a suite of more than 12 new products that underpin its vision to be the number one automotive network in Australia. Now in its 27th year and with a monthly audience of 2.45 million, Drive is leveraging its reputation […]

oOh!media Unveils 51 New Large Format Sites This Year
  • Advertising

oOh!media Unveils 51 New Large Format Sites This Year

oOh!media continues to rapidly expand its large format digital network, launching seven new sites at premium locations across major arterials in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The latest large format digitals include another premium site in the exclusive Sydney suburb of Mosman. Positioned at the gateway of the lower north shore on Military Road, the high-impact […]

Seven Uses Gen AI to Push Tech Boundaries With Ignite
  • Media

Seven Uses Gen AI to Push Tech Boundaries With Ignite

The Seven Network revealed the results of the second round of its flagship innovation initiative – Ignite – which saw seven employee-led generative AI concepts selected for prototype development. An inspiring three-week event, Ignite brings together internal cross-functional teams of engineers, data scientists, product managers and staff from across the business to collaborate and develop […]

Australian Agency Engaging.io Slam Dunks With Texas NBA Team
  • Marketing

Australian Agency Engaging.io Slam Dunks With Texas NBA Team

Australian tech consultancy Engaging.io has scored a major business win with the appointment by a leading Texas-based US National Basketball Association (NBA) team to revolutionise its marketing and communication strategies. The powerhouse NBA franchise turned to Sydney-headquartered Engaging to spearhead a major HubSpot implementation, driving greater efficiencies, personalisation and a more seamless experience for fans. […]

Dentsu QLD Partners With DeadlyScience & UnLtd To Drive STEM Programs With First Nations Youth
  • Media

Dentsu QLD Partners With DeadlyScience & UnLtd To Drive STEM Programs With First Nations Youth

Dentsu Queensland has formed a strategic partnership with DeadlyScience, an organisation that provides science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) resources to Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander students across Australia. The partnership is in collaboration with UnLtd, which helps connect the media and marketing industries with charities helping children and young people at risk. This is […]

Revolution360 Parent Venetian Media Group Acquires Digital Native
  • Technology

Revolution360 Parent Venetian Media Group Acquires Digital Native

Victoria-based Venetian Media Group (VMG) has acquired web and digital strategy shop Digital Native. Lead image L-R: VMG CEO, Michael Fishwick; Digital Native big chief, Matt Gardan.  Digital Native specialises in digital strategy, branding, UX and web design it has deep experience in renewables, emerging technology and not-for-profit. Its web design process and collaborative approach […]

Murmur Group Launches High-Octane Campaign For Rare Spares Rockynats
  • Campaigns

Murmur Group Launches High-Octane Campaign For Rare Spares Rockynats

One of Australia’s biggest off-street car and motorbike festivals, Rare Spares Rockynats, is returning to Rockhampton for Easter 2024 and has kicked off its promotional calendar with a high-octane media campaign. The two-phase campaign, via award-winning marketing agency Murmur-Group, will launch across large format out-of-home and retail placements and will be supported by local radio, […]