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,
Life and career
Schamus was born in Detroit, Michigan, to a
Jewish family.
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.
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.
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.
He was president of the jury for the 64th Berlin International Film Festival.
He is a signatory of the Film Workers for Palestine boycott pledge that was published in September 2025.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
|
|
| 1997 | The Ice Storm | Prix du Scénario (Best Screenplay Award)
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
Independent Spirit Award for Best Film
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 |
|
Career recognition and honors
-
Galway Film Festival Award for Outstanding Achievement, June 2019
-
AACTA Awards, Best Feature Length Documentary, "Casting JonBenet," December 201719th Annual GLAAD (Gay Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination) Media Awards, Golden Gate Award, May 2008
-
Golden Horse Award, Best Film, Best Screenplay Adaptation (James Schamus and Wang Hui-ling), "Lust, Caution," 2007
-
Producers Guild of America, Darryl Zanuck Award for Producer of the Year, 2005
-
Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Best Picture of the Year, "Brokeback Mountain," 2005
-
New York Film Critics Circle, Best Picture, "Brokeback Mountain," 2005
-
Out Magazine, Out 100 Award, 2005
-
Grammy Award Nomination, Best Song Written For A Motion Picture, Television, Or Other Media, "A Love Before Time" from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, 2002
-
Hugo Award, Best Dramatic Presentation for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, 2001
-
The Philip and Ruth Hettleman Award, Columbia University School of General Studies, 1996
-
Independent Spirit Brian Greenbaum Memorial Award for Producing, 1994
Writing
Books
-
Taking Woodstock. New York: Newmarket Press, 2009. Screenplay and Introduction.
-
Carl Theodor Dryer's Gertrud: The Moving Word. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2008.
-
Lust, Caution. New York: Pantheon, 2007. Screenplay (with Wang Hui-Ling) and Introduction.
-
The Hulk. New York: Newmarket Press, 2003. Screenplay and Introduction.
-
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Portrait of the Ang Lee Film. New York: Newmarket Press, 2000. Screenplay (with Wang Hui-Ling) and Notes.
-
Ride With the Devil. London: Faber & Faber, 1999. Screenplay, Introduction, and Notes.
-
The Ice Storm. New York: Newmarket Press, 1997. Screenplay, Introduction, and Notes.
-
Two Films By Ang Lee: "Eat Drink Man Woman" and "The Wedding Banquet". New York: The Overlook Press, 1994. Introduction and Screenplays (with Ang Lee, Neal Peng, and Wang Hui-Ling).
Essays and articles
-
"The 'Blurred Lines' of Columbia University's Task Force on Antisemitism", Mondoweiss, May 28, 2024.
-
“Hollywood thinks it can divide and conquer the writers’ strike: It won’t work", The Guardian, May 5, 2023.
-
“Rewriting Trauma: The Business of Storytelling in the Age of the Algorithm”, Literary Hub, December 12, 2018.
-
“42 Directors Pick Their Favorite Movies of 2017", IndieWire, December 29, 2017.
-
“Rise of the Machines: Cathy O’Neil and James Schamus on How Algorithms are Changing Society — and Filmmaking”, Filmmaker (magazine), September 14, 2017.
-
"23 Fragments on the Future of Cinema", Filmmaker (magazine) , Winter 2015.
-
"Hollywood is Not American", The Hollywood Reporter, October 17, 2014.
-
"James Schamus Reveals Secrets of the Oscar Voting System", Variety (magazine), January 8, 2014.
-
"Raul Ruiz Remembered by James Schamus", Filmmaker (magazine), August 19, 2011.
-
"The Apartment", The New York Times, November 4, 2007.
-
"'Brokeback Mountain': An Exchange", The New York Review of Books, April 6, 2006.
-
"Oy", Filmmaker, March 24, 2006.
-
"Aesthetic Identities: A Response to Kenneth Chan and Christina Klein", Cinema Journal, Summer 2004, Volume 43, Number 4.
-
"Sing to Us, Muse, of the Rage of the Hulk", The New York Times, May 11, 2003.
-
"Talking Pictures", Filmmaker, Winter, 2001.
-
"HOLIDAY FILMS; The Polyglot Task of Writing the Global Film", The New York Times, November 5, 2000.
-
"IFP Rant", Filmmaker, Spring, 2000.
-
"The Pursuit of Happiness: Making an Art of Marketing an Explosive Film", The Nation, April 5–12, 1999.
-
"Long Live Indie Film", Filmmaker, Fall, 1995.
Profiles and interviews
-
“This is Who We Are: James Schamus” Columbia University School of the Arts, December 1, 2023.
-
“Hollywood On Strike!” Film Quarterly Webinar, 4 August 2023.
-
“Writers Strikes Throughout History” Let’s Talk Film podcast, Woodstock Film Festival, July 13, 2023.
-
“In the Footsteps of Giants: James Schamus - A Banquet of Inclusion,” Produced By: The Official Magazine of the Producers Guild of America, June/July 2023, p. 62.
-
“ The Ice Storm: Interview with James Schamus and Ted Hope,” Hollywood Gold Podcast, March 1, 2023.
-
“Entertainment Educators of the Year: Entertainment Educators Discuss Teaching Cinema’s Next Gen and the Importance of Diverse and Impactful Storytellers” Variety, April 28, 2022.
-
"The Aesthetics of Cinema: Interview with James Schamus" Gadfly Magazine, March 1, 2021.
-
"James Schamus: financial models of SVoD giants cannot be sustained" Screen Daily, October 12, 2020.
-
"James Schamus' New Short Film Explains the 124-Year-Old History of Cinema in 3 Minutes" IndieWire, November 27, 2019.
-
“Filmmaker James Schamus Slams ‘Predator’ Harvey Weinstein and His ‘Factory of Abuse" The Hollywood Reporter, October 11, 2017
-
“Berlin: Kitty Green and James Schamus on doc Casting JonBenet” Screen Daily, February 14, 2017.
-
“James Schamus Interview: There are Two Kinds of Asshole Directors” The Independent, November 15, 2016.
-
“Ang Lee, James Schamus, and Sony Pictures Classics’ Michael Barker Reminisce About Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” The Playlist, October 20, 2016.
-
“Interview: James Schamus ( Indignation)” OnWriting, WGA East, September 13, 2016.
-
" Indignation director James Schamus: Film is Dead, And That's Okay" Indiewire. August 1, 2016.
-
" Indignation Interview" Indiewire. February, 2016.
-
"James Schamus Directing Debut Indignation Wins Over Sundance Audience" The Wrap. January 24, 2016.
-
" Indignation: Sundance Review" The Hollywood Reporter. January 25, 2016.
-
"Accidental CEO The College. Summer 2014.
-
"Case Study: James Schamus" , Produced By. October 2014.
-
"James Schamus: 'The job is an ego crushing ass-kick to the soul. I love it!'", The Guardian. January 28, 2014.
-
"On James Schamus and Focus Features", Filmmaker. October 3, 2013.
-
"The Professor of Micropopularity", The New York Times. November 26, 2010.
-
"Ang Lee + James Schamus: A Pinewood Dialogue", Museum of the Moving Image. November 9, 2007.
-
"The Professor in the Back Lot", The New York Times. September 17, 2006.
-
"A Conversation with Tony Kushner," On Writing (Writers Guild of America, East): New York. Fall, 2005.
External links
