James Schamus

James Schamus serves as Professor of Professional Practice in Film and Media Studies within the Arts and Culture faculty at Columbia University’s School of the Arts, where he has taught film history and theory for over three decades. He earned his BA, MA, and PhD in English from the University of California, Berkeley. Renowned for bridging academia and the film industry, Schamus emphasizes non-instrumental engagement with cinema, fostering critical exploration free from careerist pressures. His teaching philosophy prioritizes film history, criticism, and theory, encouraging students to reflect deeply on media's cultural and ethical dimensions, including interactions with AI tools. Named Variety’s Entertainment Educator of the Year, he maintains a rigorous commitment to classroom presence, even amidst industry demands.

An award-winning screenwriter for The Ice Storm (1997) and Hulk (2003), producer on the Academy Award-winning Brokeback Mountain (2005), and director of the feature adaptation Indignation (2016) from Philip Roth’s novel—which premiered at Sundance and Berlin Film Festivals—Schamus previously led Focus Features as CEO, championing films such as Lost in Translation, Milk, The Pianist, Dallas Buyers Club, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Moonrise Kingdom, and Coraline. Through his production company Symbolic Exchange, he has executive produced We Grown Now starring Jurnee Smollett, The Assistant starring Julia Garner (nominated for Best Feature at the 2020 Gotham Awards), Driveways starring Hong Chau and Brian Dennehy, the trans comedy Adam starring Margaret Qualley, McVeigh starring Alfie Allen and Tracy Letts (Tribeca premiere), and the reboot of Ang Lee’s The Wedding Banquet starring Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, and others (Sundance premiere). He created, executive produced, and showran the Netflix Mexican series Somos, collaborates with composer Huang Ruo on a Metropolitan Opera production, and serves as consulting producer for a Duffer Brothers television series. Schamus authored Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Gertrud: The Moving Word (University of Washington Press) and represented writers on the negotiating committee during the Writers Guild of America’s successful 148-day strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.