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IMDbPro

James Schamus

  • Producer
  • Writer
  • Director
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
James Schamus at an event for Jane Eyre (2011)
James Schamus is an American film producer, director and screenwriter who is known for his collaborations with Taiwanese film director Ang Lee, including the films Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Eat Drink Man Woman, Pushing Hands, The Ice Storm, the cult classic Marvel film Hulk, Taking Woodstock and Lust, Caution. He was the co-founder of the Good Machine production company and of Focus Features. He heads the New York-based production company Symbolic Exchange, and teaches at Columbia University.
BornSeptember 7, 1959
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornSeptember 7, 1959
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 3 Oscars
      • 24 wins & 36 nominations total

    Photos68

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    Known for

    Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Chang Chen, and Ziyi Zhang in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
    Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
    7.9
    • Producer
    • 2000
    Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Tang Wei in Lust, Caution (2007)
    Lust, Caution
    7.5
    • Producer
    • 2007
    Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, and Joan Allen in The Ice Storm (1997)
    The Ice Storm
    7.3
    • Producer
    • 1997
    Brokeback Mountain (2005)
    Brokeback Mountain
    7.7
    • Producer
    • 2005

    Credits

    Edit
    IMDbPro

    Producer

    • Thrilla in Manila
      • executive producer, producer
      • In Development
    • The Boroughs
      • consulting producer
      • Post-production
      • TV Series
    • Brightwater
      • executive producer
      • Pre-production
    • College Republicans
      • producer
      • Pre-production
    • Kelly Marie Tran in The Wedding Banquet (2025)
      The Wedding Banquet
      6.5
      • producer
      • 2025
    • McVeigh (2024)
      McVeigh
      4.4
      • executive producer
      • 2024
    • Blake Cameron James in We Grown Now (2023)
      We Grown Now
      6.8
      • executive producer
      • 2023
    • Somos. (2021)
      Somos.
      7.1
      TV Mini Series
      • executive producer
      • 2021
    • Julia Garner in The Assistant (2019)
      The Assistant
      6.3
      • producer
      • 2019
    • Brian Dennehy, Hong Chau, and Lucas Jaye in Driveways (2019)
      Driveways
      7.2
      • producer
      • 2019
    • Blythe Danner and John Lithgow in The Tomorrow Man (2019)
      The Tomorrow Man
      5.9
      • producer
      • 2019
    • Nicholas Alexander, Chloë Levine, Paige Gilbert, Bobbi Salvör Menuez, Dana Aliya Levinson, Maxton Miles Baeza, May Hong, Leo Sheng, and Jari Jones in Adam (2019)
      Adam
      4.3
      • producer
      • 2019
    • Whoopi Goldberg, Melissa Leo, and Tessa Thompson in Furlough (2018)
      Furlough
      5.5
      • executive producer
      • 2018
    • Benji (2018)
      Benji
      6.3
      • executive producer
      • 2018
    • Joe Cole in A Prayer Before Dawn (2017)
      A Prayer Before Dawn
      6.8
      • executive producer
      • 2017
    • Casting JonBenet (2017)
      Casting JonBenet
      6.1
      • producer
      • 2017
    • Dayveon (2017)
      Dayveon
      6.2
      • executive producer
      • 2017
    • Alone in Berlin (2016)
      Alone in Berlin
      6.5
      • producer
      • 2016
    • Tamer Nafar and Samar Qupty in Junction 48 (2016)
      Junction 48
      6.6
      • executive producer
      • 2016

    Writer

    • Kelly Marie Tran in The Wedding Banquet (2025)
      The Wedding Banquet
      6.5
      • based on the screenplay by
      • screenplay by
      • 2025
    • Pierce Brosnan and Kaya Scodelario in The King's Daughter (2022)
      The King's Daughter
      5.2
      • screenplay by
      • 2022
    • Somos. (2021)
      Somos.
      7.1
      TV Mini Series
      • created by
      • written by (creator)
      • 2021
    • Sarah Gadon and Logan Lerman in Indignation (2016)
      Indignation
      6.7
      • written for the screen by
      • 2016
    • That Film About Money (2014)
      That Film About Money
      7.9
      Short
      • writer
      • 2014
    • Taking Woodstock (2009)
      Taking Woodstock
      6.7
      • screenplay
      • 2009
    • Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Tang Wei in Lust, Caution (2007)
      Lust, Caution
      7.5
      • screenplay
      • 2007
    • Hulk (2003)
      Hulk
      5.6
      • screenplay
      • story
      • 2003
    • Hector Elizondo, Elizabeth Peña, Tamara Mello, and Jacqueline Obradors in Tortilla Soup (2001)
      Tortilla Soup
      6.7
      • earlier screenplay
      • 2001
    • Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Chang Chen, and Ziyi Zhang in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
      Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
      7.9
      • screenplay by
      • 2000
    • Skeet Ulrich, Tobey Maguire, Jewel, and Jeffrey Wright in Ride with the Devil (1999)
      Ride with the Devil
      6.7
      • screenplay
      • 1999
    • Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, and Joan Allen in The Ice Storm (1997)
      The Ice Storm
      7.3
      • screenplay by
      • 1997
    • Wang Yu-wen, Chien-Lien Wu, and Kuei-Mei Yang in Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)
      Eat Drink Man Woman
      7.8
      • screenplay
      • 1994
    • Winston Chao, May Chin, and Mitchell Lichtenstein in The Wedding Banquet (1993)
      The Wedding Banquet
      7.6
      • written by
      • 1993
    • Sihung Lung in Pushing Hands (1991)
      Pushing Hands
      7.2
      • Writer
      • 1991

    Director

    • College Republicans
      • Director
      • Pre-production
    • 30/30 Vision: 3 Decades of Strand Releasing (2019)
      30/30 Vision: 3 Decades of Strand Releasing
      5.3
      • Director
      • 2019
    • Sarah Gadon and Logan Lerman in Indignation (2016)
      Indignation
      6.7
      • Director
      • 2016
    • That Film About Money (2014)
      That Film About Money
      7.9
      Short
      • Director
      • 2014
    • We the Economy: 20 Short Films You Can't Afford to Miss (2014)
      We the Economy: 20 Short Films You Can't Afford to Miss
      5.8
      • Director (segments "That Film About Money", "The Second Part of That Film About Money")
      • 2014
    • The Crouching Tiger Concerto
      • Director
      • 2000
    • In-development projects at IMDbPro

    Personal details

    Edit
    • Born
      • September 7, 1959
      • Detroit, Michigan, USA
    • Spouse
      • Nancy Jean Kricorian? - present (2 children)
    • Publicity listings
      • 3 Articles

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Winner of NBC Screenwriter's Tribute from Nantucket Film Festival, in Mass., June, 2002
    • Quotes
      I make as many bad movies as a big studio. But when they make a bad movie they spend forty to sixty million telling everyone about it. When I make a bad one, it gets a round of applause at a film festival.
    • Trademark
        Known for his collaborations with Ang Lee.

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