Cameron Says Give Us Best Picture, Bigelow Best Director

Jim Cameron says his team deserves to win Best Picture for Avatar but that they should split the vote and give Director to Bigelow. Sometimes publicists tell their clients to go out there and say you want to win if you want to win, like Kate Winslet last year. Cameron is never one to hedge his bets so he just comes right out with it — give Bigelow Director, but save the big prize for the game-changer — From Nikki Finke’s site:

Charlie Rose: So if someone sitting there says, ‘Look, I’m going to give it to Cameron, Best Picture, but Bigelow Best Director ‚Äì

James Cameron: That would be a fantasy. That would be my fantasy outcome, absolutely.

Charlie Rose: That would be what you’d like to see?

James Cameron: That’s the best possible outcome‚Ä¶ because I know how hard my team worked and how much they would — how proud they would be of that accolade, you know what I mean? And look, for myself, I have already got an Oscar. I’ve got a couple of them, you know. And I respect the whole institution of the Academy Awards because it’s the pinnacle of achievement in my chosen profession. But I don’t really need another one. But to be honored ‚Äì you know, to have the team honored and for their accomplishment, that would mean so much to them. And I think that would be the fantasy outcome in all of this.

Charlie Rose: So you’re saying to the voters, please take a look at my team and go for us as Best Picture. But ‚Äì

James Cameron: Yeah, and I ‚Äì

Charlie Rose: — go for Kathryn Bigelow for Best Director.

James Cameron: I mean, all I can say is that that would make me very happy if that ‚Äì you know, I don’t want to try to get —

Charlie Rose: Happier than if it was Best Director for James Cameron?

James Cameron: Honestly, yes.

The whole team is going to be winning plenty of Oscars. Only the producers, Cameron and Jon Landau, get to go home with the Best Picture Oscar. And that’s it. I guess by “the team” he means symbolically they get to say they worked on a Best Picture winner. Either way, for Bigelow, a win for Director is still pretty great. With a blockbuster as the winner it shatters the sci-fi genre prejudice and paves the way for films without directing or writing nominations to win. I keed. I keed.