James Schamus

Who is James Schamus?

James Schamus is an American award-winning screenwriter, co-founder of Good Machine production company, and the CEO of Focus Features until its merging with FilmDistrict, the motion picture production, financing, and worldwide distribution company. His output includes as screenwriter The Ice Storm, Eat, Drink, Man, Woman and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and as producer Brokeback Mountain, Lost in Translation, Milk, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Pianist, Coraline, The Kids Are All Right, and the upcoming The Moon and the Sun. He is Professor of Professional Practice in Columbia University’s School of the Arts, where he teaches film history and theory. 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 participates as a member of the Jury for the NYICFF, a local New York City Film Festival dedicated to screening films for children between the ages of 3 and 18. He was president of the jury for the 64th Berlin International Film Festival.