James Schamus News

January 21, 2010
"Suicidally Depressing" Ang Lee Project in the Works
Sitting down for a chat with the Hollywood Reporter to accept their Indie Icon of the Year Award, Focus Features CEO James Schamus let slip that he's working on a new project with Ang Lee -- and that it'll take us back to "good old, tragic, suicidally depressing Ang." More...

November 13, 2009
James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
James Schamus might be a workaholic. If it's not enough that he's the head of Focus Features -- the independent imprint of Universal -- he's also an established producer and screenwriter best known for his collaborations with Ang Lee. This week sees the release of the pair's latest, Taking Woodstock, a comedy about a family integral to the birth of the infamous Woodstock concert of 1969. And if that isn't enough, he's an associate professor of film at Columbia University and just delivered a politically-charged lecture to a rapt London Film Festival audience. While in town, he sat down with RT to talk about the release of Taking Woodstock, his work at Focus and his thoughts on the Tomatometer... More...

May 17, 2009
Cannes 2009: RT Chats to Ang Lee and team Taking Woodstock
It's not every day you get to have lunch with Ang Lee, so when RT were invited to do just that today in Cannes we couldn't refuse. Also joining us, James Schamus, Demetri Martin, Emile Hirsch and Imelda Staunton, and over a three-course meal at the Carlton Hotel on the Croisette we talked cinema, music and, of course, Woodstock. Lee's latest film, Taking Woodstock, which premiered Last Night at the festival, is the tale of Elliot Tibor, the man with the permit that made Woodstock happen, and of his experience of the event coming to terms with his own identity while trying to hold onto his roots. More...

April 22, 2008
Ang Lee Planning on Taking Woodstock
Ang Lee is working on an adaptation of Elliot Tiber's memoir, Taking Woodstock: A True Story of a Riot, a Concert, and a Life, for Focus Features. More...

October 6, 2006
The Weekly Ketchup: Robert Downey Jr. As "Iron Man," George Lucas In The News, And More!
In this week's Ketchup, Robert Downey Jr. finally gets cast as "Iron Man," and George Lucas discusses many things, including "Indiana Jones 4." More...

October 4, 2006
Jim Carrey & Cameron Diaz Quit "A Little Game"
Not long ago we shared the news that Jim Carrey and Cameron Diaz would be reuniting to star in a comedy called "A Little Game," which focuses on a couple who pretend to split up ... just to see how people react. And yesterday both actors bailed on the movie. More...

January 5, 2006
Writers' & Producers' Guilds Deliver Their '05 Noms
As usual we rely on Movie City News to bring us the "best of 2005" picks from the critics, and now come the year-end nominations from the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Producers Guild of America (PGA). More...