JOEL SCHUMACHER (Directed by) has become one of America’s most vigorous, talented and successful filmmakers. In 1995, he brought moviegoers the biggest domestic box office hit of the year, "Batman Forever." The epic adventure-fantasy amassed a worldwide gross of more than $330 million. He next directed its successful fourth installment, "Batman and Robin," starring George Clooney as Batman and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze.
Previous to "Batman Forever," Schumacher directed the critically-acclaimed hit version of the John Grisham novel, "The Client," starring Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones. In 1996, he directed the highly successful adaptation of another Grisham novel, "A Time to Kill," starring Matthew McConaughey, Samuel L. Jackson, Sandra Bullock and Kevin Spacey.
Schumacher’s features, such as "St. Elmo’s Fire," "The Lost Boys," "Cousins" and "Flatliners" starring Julia Roberts, have displayed the filmmaker’s versatility and close attention to performance, nuance and atmosphere. "Dying Young" reunited Schumacher with Julia Roberts. He followed this up with the gritty, controversial "Falling Down," starring Michael Douglas.
In 1999, Schumacher directed the thriller "8MM," starring Nicolas Cage. Also, in 1999, he wrote and directed "Flawless," starring Robert De Niro and Philip Seymour Hoffman. He also directed the military drama, "Tigerland," about young men training for Vietnam in 1971.
Most recently, Schumacher completed the forthcoming "Phone Booth" before re-teaming with "Bad Company" producer Jerry Bruckheimer to direct the forthcoming "Veronica Guerin," the true story of the Dublin journalist who was assassinated while reporting on Irish organized crime, with Cate Blanchett starring as Guerin.
Schumacher was born and raised in New York City, where he studied design and display at Parsons School of Design. He began his career in the entertainment industry as an art director for television commercials before becoming costume designer for such notable films as Woody Allen’s "Sleeper" and "Interiors," Herbert Ross’ "The Last of Sheila" and Paul Mazursky’s "Blume In Love." He then wrote the screenplays for "Sparkle" and the hit comedy "Car Wash."
He made his directing debut with the television movie, "The Virginia Hill Story," starring Dyan Cannon in the title role and Harvey Keitel as the mobster, "Bugsy Siegel." This was followed by his award-winning telefilm, "Amateur Night at the Dixie Bar and Grill." "The Incredible Shrinking Woman," starring Lily Tomlin, marked his feature film directing debut, followed by "D.C. Cab" for which he also wrote the screenplay. Schumacher also wrote the script for "St. Elmo’s Fire" with Carl Kurlander.
In 1988, he directed the successful Chicago theatrical run of David Mamet’s scorching Hollywood satire, "Speed the Plow."
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