James Cameron keynote

I have been lucky enough to be at CA World in Las Vegas this week - hearing about CA's strategy going forward under its new (ish) chief executive Bill McCracken.

This is my sixth CA World conference and every time we go there is a great guest keynote speech - this year was no exception - with Avatar, True Lies and Titanic director James Cameron.

I certainly didn't know that Avatar was actually written in 1994, but was unable to be produced because the technology was not advanced enough to make it reality. It was only 10 years later, and after Cameron had actually invented and built his own 3D camera and related equipment that it could take shape.

His keynote was fascinating and when he started describing the technological process used to create Avatar - even the most tecchie person in the audience was taken aback. His level of IT knowledge was profound.

Cameron didn't get into Hollywood straight away - he worked as a truck driver and a school janitor, using his spare time to compile his own reference library on film production and camera technology from pages photocopied from the local library.

The release of the first Star Wars film spurred him into quitting his job and getting funding to start his own career in B-movies.

His first full directing job was Terminator, followed by Alien and The Abyss - which used the first ever Computer Generated (CG) character in a movie. This was then developed further in his next film - Terminator 2, with the liquid metal baddie.

After the success of Titanic several years later, Cameron took some time out to pursue his other hobby of deep sea diving and building Radio Operated Vehicles capable of exploring underwater at intense pressures - taking part in oceanic discovery missions at locations such as the actual Titanic and the Bismarck. He was also involved in space exploration research.

Then five years ago he began working on Avatar, building his own camera equipment and perfecting the technique with his vast team as he went along. The film took five years to make, used the largest computer system in the southern hemisphere, had its own digital asset management system and used a petabye of storage. It was three years into production before the team even saw a shot. Despite financial pressures and intense deadlines, the film was a huge success and went on to gross $2.8bn worldwide and is still making money through DVD sales.

A truly fascinating insight into the life of a man who has changed the cinematic experience for ever and is one of the true pioneers of his genre.