Art House Convergence 2017

James Schamus joins us for dinner as our featured keynote speaker.

James Schamus has taken on numerous roles in the world of Hollywood filmmaking throughout his prolific career. He is most well-known as an award-winning screenwriter (The Ice Storm), producer (Brokeback Mountain), and the former CEO of Focus Features, the motion picture production, financing, and worldwide distribution company whose films have included Moonrise Kingdom, Milk, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Kids are All Right, The Pianist, and The Dallas Buyers Club.

This past summer, Schamus released his feature directorial debut with Roadside Attractions, an adaptation of Philip Roth's Indignation, starring Logan Lerman, Sarah Gadon and Tracy Letts, after its premieres at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and the Berlin Film Festival. Through his production company, Symbolic Exchange, Schamus is involved in a number of upcoming independent films, including Kitty Green's Casting JonBenet and Amman Abbasi's Dayveon.  He is also a Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia University’s School of the Arts, where he teaches film history and theory.