Cameron Gets DGA Film Award

In an important precursor to this year’s Academy Awards, James Cameron on Saturday won the 50th Directors Guild of America feature film award for “Titanic,” the blockbuster hit about the sinking of the famed luxury liner.

“I used to always say in interviews that I made movies and not films. ‘Remains of the Day’ is a film, ‘Terminator 2’ is a movie,” Cameron said in accepting the award. “Now that I have this, I have to admit I may have inadvertently made a film.”

“Titanic” has been a runaway success with 14 Oscar nominations and box office receipts that topped $1 billion worldwide only 11 weeks after its release. The Academy Awards will be handed out March 23.

One of the funniest moments of the evening came when emcee Carl Reiner critiqued Cameron’s thank-you speech. Knowing that Cameron had repeatedly put a finger to his nose while speaking--particularly while thanking studio executives at 20th Century Fox and Paramount--Reiner suggested, “Maybe you were checking to see if you were lying.”

Noting that Cameron, who gave up his salary when the $200-million movie went over budget, has yet to be paid his back-end money by the studios, Reiner said, “James, you can do anything you want in this town. You don’t need [Fox executive] Peter Chernin. Talk to your lawyers and make sure you get [paid].”

In other awards, Michael Uys and Lexy Lovell were named best directors for a documentary for “Riding the Rails.” Directing awards were given in television for best episode in a comedy and dramatic series and for best dramatic special. The winners were Andy Ackerman (“Seinfeld”), Barbara Kopple (“Homicide: Life on the Street”), and John Herzfeld (“Don King: Only in America”).

Lifetime achievement awards were presented to Martha Coolidge (“Rambling Rose,” “Real Genius”), Francis Ford Coppola (“The Godfather,” “The Rainmaker”) and George Sidney (“Showboat” and “Viva Las Vegas”).

The other feature film nominees were James L. Brooks (“As Good as It Gets”), Curtis Hanson (“L.A. Confidential”), Steven Spielberg (“Amistad”) and Gus Van Sant (“Good Will Hunting”).

The Directors Guild Award historically has been a harbinger of the Oscars. Only three times has the winner of the DGA not gone on to win the Oscar for best director.