James Cameron - Agenda Setters 2009

Name: James Cameron

Title: Hollywood director

Position: 40    Last year: Not ranked

Why? Taking a huge leap forward in cinematic technology

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• Marten Mickos
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• Jim Whitehurst

While Titanic and Terminator director James Cameron might not have some of the obvious technology credentials of others who feature on the Agenda Setters list, his latest cinematic effort has earned him a place on the list.

The film in question is Avatar and, while cinema goers have yet to see the finished product, the early buzz suggests it could represent the next big leap forward in film tech.

While bigger and better TVs and home entertainment systems are bringing the experience of watching a movie at home ever closer to that of enjoying it in a cinema, Cameron is forging a new path: hoping to give viewers something they simply couldn't get in their living room.

With its innovative use of new 3D technology, Avatar is not only about getting audiences back into the cinema it's about getting them more involved as a whole - bringing them into the film's world through the likes of games and other media.

Consciously or not, Cameron's use of 3D has also offered a rebuff to one of the bugbears of content creators today: piracy. After all, a 2D film captured on a small camcorder looks bad but watchable - the same can't be said of the 3D likes of Avatar.