James Schamus | |
|---|---|
 Schamus in 2016 | |
| Born | James Allan Schamus (1959-09-07)September 7, 1959 (age 66) Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Education | University of California, Berkeley (BA,MA,PhD) |
| Occupations |
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| Spouse | Nancy Kricorian |
| Children | 2 |
James Allan Schamus (born September 7, 1959) is an American screenwriter, producer, business executive, film historian, professor, and director. He is a frequent collaborator ofAng Lee, the co-founder of the production companyGood Machine, and the co-founder and former CEO of motion picture production, financing, and worldwide distribution companyFocus Features, a subsidiary ofNBCUniversal. He is currently president of the New York–based production company Symbolic Exchange,[1] and is Professor of Professional Practice atColumbia University, where he has taught film history and theory since 1989.
Schamus was born in Detroit, Michigan, to aJewish family.[2] He is the son of Clarita (Gershowitz) Karlin and Julian John Schamus, and was raised in Los Angeles. He is married to writerNancy Kricorian, with whom he has two children.
His output includes writing or co-writingThe Ice Storm,Eat, Drink, Man, Woman,Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon andHulk (all directed byAng Lee), and producingBrokeback Mountain andAlone in Berlin. At Focus he oversaw the production and distribution ofLost in Translation,Milk,Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,Coraline, andThe Kids Are All Right. In addition to his tenure at Columbia University, he has also taught atYale University and atRutgers University. He is the author ofCarl Theodor Dreyer's Gertrud: The Moving Word, published by the University of Washington Press. He earned his BA, MA, and Ph.D. in English fromUniversity of California, Berkeley.[3]
Schamus made his feature directorial debut withIndignation, an adaptation ofPhilip Roth'snovel of the same name. Schamus also wrote the script for the film, which starsLogan Lerman,Sarah Gadon, andTracy Letts, and is the story of a Jewish student at an Ohio college in 1951.[4] The film premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, and was theatrically released byRoadside Attractions on July 29, 2016.[1]
He was president of the jury for the64th Berlin International Film Festival.[5] He has also been on the jury of theNew York International Children's Film Festival,[6] and has served on the editorial boards ofFilm Quarterly andCinema Journal, as well as on the board ofCreative Capital and the Heyman Center for the Humanities.[7] In 2016,Outfest established the James Schamus Ally Award to honor individuals who give prominence to LGBTQ narratives, with winners includingJames Franco,[8]Rita Moreno,[9]Sandra Oh,[10]Octavia Spencer,[11]Andra Day,[12]Melissa McCarthy andBen Falcone,[13] andShirley MacLaine.[14]
He is a signatory of theFilm Workers for Palestine boycott pledge that was published in September 2025.[15]
| Year | Title | Producer | Writer | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | The Golden Boat | Yes | No | Raúl Ruiz | |
| 1991 | Pushing Hands | Yes | Yes | Ang Lee | Also additional scenes |
| Poison | Executive | No | Todd Haynes | ||
| Keep It For Yourself | Yes | No | Claire Denis | ||
| Angry | Yes | No | Nicole Holofcener | Short film | |
| Homage By Assassination | Yes | No | Elia Suleiman | ||
| Thank You and Good Night | Co-producer | No | Jan Oxenberg | Documentary | |
| I Was on Mars | Co-producer | No | Dani Levi | Also line producer | |
| Chicken Delight | Yes | No | Adam Isidore | Short film | |
| Warrior: The Life of Leonard Peltier | Executive | No | Suzie Baer | Documentary | |
| 1992 | Swoon | Executive | No | Tom Kalin | |
| Punch and Judy Get Divorced[16] | Yes | No | David Gordon and Mark Pellington | ||
| Ambition[17] | Yes | No | Hal Hartley | Short film | |
| Surviving Desire | Executive | No | |||
| In the Soup | Associate | No | Alexandre Rockwell | ||
| 1993 | Terminal USA | Executive | No | Jon Moritsugu | |
| Dottie Gets Spanked | Executive | No | Todd Haynes | Also line producer | |
| Night Ride | Executive | No | Andy Garrison | Also line producer | |
| The Secret Life of Houses[18] | Executive | No | Adrian Velicescu | ||
| A Psychic Mom | Executive | No | Steve Busa | ||
| Love Potion | Executive | No | Ayoka Chenzira | ||
| Family Remains | Executive | No | Tamara Jenkins | ||
| The Wedding Banquet | Yes | Yes | Ang Lee | ||
| 1994 | Eat Drink Man Woman | Associate | Yes | ||
| Dark Waters | Yes | No | Kutluğ Ataman | ||
| Roy Cohn/Jack Smith | Yes | No | Jill Godmilow | ||
| What Happened Was | Executive | No | Tom Noonan | ||
| 1995 | Sense and Sensibility | Co-producer | No | Ang Lee | |
| Greetings from Africa | Yes | No | Cheryl Dunye | ||
| Safe | Executive | No | Todd Haynes | ||
| The Brothers McMullen | Executive | No | Edward Burns | ||
| 1996 | She's the One | Yes | No | ||
| Walking and Talking | Yes | No | Nicole Holofcener | ||
| 1997 | Love God | Executive | No | Frank Grow | |
| The Myth of Fingerprints | Executive | No | Bart Freundlich | ||
| Arresting Gena | Executive | No | Hannah Weyer | ||
| Wonderland | Executive | No | John O'Hagan | Documentary | |
| Office Killer | Executive | No | Cindy Sherman | ||
| The Ice Storm | Yes | Yes | Ang Lee | ||
| 1998 | Happiness | Executive | No | Todd Solondz | |
| 1999 | Lola and Billy the Kid | Executive | No | Kutluğ Ataman | |
| The Lifestyle | Executive | No | David Schisgall | Documentary | |
| Ride with the Devil | Yes | Yes | Ang Lee | ||
| 2000 | Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon | Executive | Yes | Also songwriter | |
| 2001 | Buffalo Soldiers | Executive | No | Gregor Jordan | |
| 2002 | Auto Focus | Executive | No | Paul Schrader | |
| 2003 | Hulk | Yes | Yes | Ang Lee | |
| 2005 | Brokeback Mountain | Yes | No | ||
| 2007 | Lust, Caution | Yes | Yes | Also songwriter | |
| 2009 | Taking Woodstock | Yes | Yes | ||
| 2014 | That Film About Money[19] | Yes | Yes | Himself | Short film |
| 2015 | Alone in Berlin | Yes | No | Vincent Perez | |
| Suffragette | Executive | No | Sarah Gavron | ||
| Junction 48 | Executive | No | Udi Aloni | ||
| 2016 | Indignation | Yes | Yes | Himself | Directorial debut |
| 2017 | Casting JonBenet[20] | Yes | No | Kitty Green | Documentary |
| Dayveon[21] | Executive | No | Amman Abasi | ||
| A Prayer Before Dawn[22] | Executive | No | Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire | ||
| 2018 | Benji | Executive | No | Brandon Camp | |
| Furlough | Executive | No | Laurie Collyer | ||
| 2019 | Adam | Yes | No | Rhys Ernst | |
| The Tomorrow Man | Yes | No | Noble Jones | ||
| Driveways | Yes | No | Andrew Ahn | ||
| The Assistant | Yes | No | Kitty Green | ||
| Frames[23] | Yes | Yes | Himself | Short film | |
| 2022 | The King's Daughter | No | Yes | Sean McNamara | |
| 2024 | We Grown Now | Executive | No | Minhal Baig | |
| McVeigh | Executive | No | Mike Ott | ||
| 2025 | The Wedding Banquet | Yes | Yes | Andrew Ahn |
| Year | Title | Awards/Nominations |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | The Ice Storm | Prix du Scénario (Best Screenplay Award)[24] 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 Nominated –Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television, or Other Visual Media |
| 2005 | Brokeback Mountain | BAFTA Award for Best Film Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama[25] Independent Spirit Award for Best Film[26] Nominated –Academy Award for Best Picture |
| 2007 | Lust, Caution | Nominated –Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film |
| 2016 | Indignation | Nominated –Berlin International Film Festival Best First Feature Award |
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.
