Joel Schumacher

Joel Schumacher
Schumacher in Taormina during the Taormina Film Fest in 2003, for the Italian premiere of Phone Booth.
Born	Joel T. Schumacher (1939-08-29) August 29, 1939 (age 77) New York City, New York, U.S.
Nationality	American
Education	Parsons The New School for Design
Alma mater	University of California, Los Angeles
Occupation	Director, screenwriter, producer
Years active	1972–present
Notable work	The Lost Boys, Falling Down, Flatliners, Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, A Time to Kill, 8mm, Tigerland, Phone Booth

Joel T. Schumacher (born August 29, 1939) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer.

Schumacher directed The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981), St. Elmo's Fire (1985), The Lost Boys (1987), Cousins (1989), Flatliners (1990), Falling Down (1993), The Client (1994), Batman Forever (1995), A Time to Kill (1996), Batman & Robin (1997), Flawless (1999), Phone Booth (2002), Veronica Guerin (2003), The Phantom of the Opera (2004) and The Number 23 (2007).

Before he launched his career as a director, Schumacher also wrote the screenplay adaptation of The Wiz (1978).

Schumacher was born in New York City, the son of Marian (née Kantor) and Francis Schumacher. His mother was a Swedish Jew, and his father was a Baptist from Knoxville, Tennessee, who died when Joel was four years old. Schumacher studied at Parsons The New School for Design and The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. After first working in the fashion industry, he realized his true love was in filmmaking. He moved out to Los Angeles, where he began his media work as a costume designer in films such as Woody Allen's Sleeper and Interiors and developed his skills with television work while earning an MFA from UCLA.