James Allan Schamus is an American
Academy Award nominated,
BAFTA Award winning
film producer and
screenwriter, noted for his work on critically acclaimed independent films such as
Safe,
The Brothers McMullen and the
Academy Award winning film
Brokeback Mountain. He is perhaps best known, however, for his longtime collaboration with writer/director
Ang Lee, with whom he co-wrote and produced such films as
Eat Drink Man Woman,
The Ice Storm, and
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. This partnership is notable for having produced eight feature films, no two of which are alike in terms of story.
Schamus is also a published film historian, and currently holds a faculty position at
Columbia University. He is currently the head of the film company
Focus Features.