James Allan Schamus (born September 7, 1959) is an American screenwriter, producer, business executive, film historian, professor, and director. He is a frequent collaborator of Ang Lee, the co-founder of the production company Good Machine, and the co-founder and former CEO of motion picture production, financing, and worldwide distribution company Focus Features, a subsidiary of NBCUniversal. He is currently president of the New York–based production company Symbolic Exchange,[2] and is Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia University, where he has taught film history and theory since 1989.
James Schamus
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Schamus in 2016
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| Born | James Allan Schamus[1] (1959-09-07) September 7, 1959 (age 64)[1]
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
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| Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley |
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| Spouse | Nancy Kricorian |
| Children | 2 |
Schamus was born in Detroit, Michigan, to a Jewish family.[3] He is the son of Clarita (Gershowitz) Karlin and Julian John Schamus, and was raised in Los Angeles. He is married to writer Nancy Kricorian, with whom he has two children.[4]
His output includes writing or co-writing The Ice Storm, Eat, Drink, Man, Woman, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hulk (all directed by Ang Lee), and producing Brokeback Mountain and Alone in Berlin. At Focus he oversaw the production and distribution of Lost in Translation, Milk, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Coraline, and The Kids Are All Right. In addition to his tenure at Columbia University, he has also taught at Yale University and at Rutgers University. He is the author of Carl Theodor Dreyer's Gertrud: The Moving Word, published by the University of Washington Press. He earned his BA, MA, and Ph.D. in English from University of California, Berkeley.[5]
Schamus made his feature directorial debut with Indignation, an adaptation of Philip Roth's novel of the same name. Schamus also wrote the script for the film, which stars Logan Lerman, Sarah Gadon, and Tracy Letts, and is the story of a Jewish student at an Ohio college in 1951.[6] The film premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, and was theatrically released by Roadside Attractions on July 29, 2016.[2]
He was president of the jury for the 64th Berlin International Film Festival.[7] He has also been on the jury of the New York International Children's Film Festival,[8] and has served on the editorial boards of Film Quarterly and Cinema Journal, as well as on the board of Creative Capital and the Heyman Center for the Humanities.[9]
| Year | Title | Producer | Writer | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | The Golden Boat | Yes | No | Raúl Ruiz | |
| 1991 | Pushing Hands | Yes | Yes | Ang Lee | Also additional scenes |
| 1993 | The Wedding Banquet | Yes | Yes | ||
| 1994 | Eat Drink Man Woman | Associate | Yes | ||
| 1995 | Sense and Sensibility | Yes | No | ||
| 1996 | She's the One | Yes | No | Edward Burns | |
| Walking and Talking | Yes | No | Nicole Holofcener | ||
| 1997 | The Ice Storm | Yes | Yes | Ang Lee | |
| 1999 | Ride with the Devil | Yes | Yes | ||
| 2000 | Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon | No | Yes | Also songwriter | |
| 2003 | Hulk | Yes | Yes | ||
| 2005 | Brokeback Mountain | Yes | No | ||
| 2007 | Lust, Caution | Yes | Yes | Also songwriter | |
| 2009 | Taking Woodstock | Yes | Yes | ||
| 2014 | That Film About Money[10] | Yes | Yes | Himself | Short film |
| 2015 | Alone in Berlin | Yes | No | Vincent Perez | |
| 2016 | Indignation[11] | Yes | Yes | Himself | Directorial debut |
| 2017 | Casting JonBenet[12] | Yes | No | Kitty Green | Documentary |
| 2019 | Adam | Yes | No | Rhys Ernst | |
| The Tomorrow Man | Yes | No | Noble Jones | ||
| The Assistant | Yes | No | Kitty Green | ||
| 2022 | The King's Daughter | No | Yes | Sean McNamara | |
| 2025 | The Wedding Banquet | Yes | Yes | Andrew Ahn | Post-production |
Executive producer
| Year | Title | Awards/Nominations |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | The Ice Storm | Prix du Scénario (Best Screenplay Award)[15] Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated – WGA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay |
| 2000 | Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon | Nominated – Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated – Academy Award for Best Original Song Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated – WGA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay |
| 2005 | Brokeback Mountain | BAFTA Award for Best Film Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama[16] Independent Spirit Award for Best Film[17] Nominated – Academy Award for Best Picture |
| 2007 | Lust, Caution | Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film |
The story of America, of Western culture, is often the story of queer culture, of being Jewish" — Schamus is Jewish — "of being outsiders and refugees who find a place that is the not-place.