Skip to content
Culture & Religion

From Homeless to Hollywood Mogul

James Cameron was homeless when he wrote Terminator, according to History Pics. Yet he sold the film rights for $1. Why? He took the extremely low salary in exchange for getting to direct the project. Smart bargain. Image via History Pics
Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter
A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

James Cameron was homeless when he wrote Terminator, according to History Pics. Yet he sold the film rights for $1. Why? He took the low pay in exchange for getting to direct the project. Smart bargain.


Image via History Pics

Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter
A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Related
Anyone who has seen James Cameron’s 1984 film The Terminator remembers “seeing” through the eyes of the killer android sent into the past as it scans its surroundings for clothes, weapons, and, eventually, its target. German filmmaker Harun Farocki would later call those pictures “operational images”—the machine-made and machine-used pictures of the world that threatened to supplant not just how people see, but people period.   

Up Next