Biography
Joel T. Schumacher (August 29, 1939 – June 22, 2020) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and costume designer. He was raised in New York City by his mother and suffered from substance abuse at a young age. He became a fashion designer after graduating from Parsons School of Design, but would continue suffering from substance abuse and high levels of debt until the early 1970s. He first entered film-making as a production and costume designer before gaining writing credits on C...
Known For
Complete Filmography

BRATS
2024
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
In the 1980s, Andrew McCarthy was part of a young generation of actors who were set to take over Hollywood after a string of successful teen movies. H...

Val
2021
as Self (archive footage)
For over 40 years Val Kilmer, one of Hollywood’s most mercurial and/or misunderstood actors has been documenting his own life and craft through film a...

The Binge
2020
In Memory Of
In the not-so-distant future, all drinking and drugs have been made completely illegal by the government, except for one night a year. High school sen...

Very Ralph
2019
as Self
The first documentary portrait of fashion icon Ralph Lauren, reveals the man behind the icon and the creation of one of the most successful brands in ...

Halston
2019
as Self
From Iowa to Studio 54, this investigation into the rags-to-riches story of America’s first superstar designer uncovers the cautionary tale of an arti...

Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to Off the Wall
2016
as Self
Director Spike Lee chronicles Michael Jackson's early rise to fame.

Everything Is Copy
2015
as Self
A candid portrait of writer/director Nora Ephron, directed by her son, journalist Jacob Bernstein.

Radioman
2012
as Self
The extraordinary story of 'Radioman', a New York film set mascot who overcame homelessness and alcoholism to become a fixture of the New York film i...

Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel
2012
as Self
This intimate and loving portrait of the legendary arbiter of fashion, art and culture illustrates the many stages of Vreeland's remarkable life. Born...

Side by Side
2012
as Self
Since the invention of cinema, the standard format for recording moving images has been film. Over the past two decades, a new form of digital filmmak...

The Batmobile
2012
as Self
Witness all five Batmobiles together for the first time in history. Dive deep into every aspect of the most awe-inspiring weapon in Batman’s arsenal a...

Trespass
2011
Director
Kyle and Sarah Miller have it all: a huge gated house on the water, fancy cars, and the potential for romance in their relationship. He's just back fr...

Man in the Mirror
2011
Director
Jason Gutierrez is a Puerto Rican from New York City and the quintessential All-American guy. Status comes at a high price as rumors spread that Jason...

Twelve
2010
Director
A young drug dealer watches as his high-rolling life is dismantled in the wake of his cousin's murder, which sees his best friend arrested for the cri...

Blood Creek
2009
Director
A man and his brother on a mission of revenge become trapped in a harrowing occult experiment dating back to the Third Reich.
Coming Attractions: The History of the Movie Trailer
2009
as Self
A 100 year history of the development of movie marketing, reflecting technical improvements, audience taste and cultural sensibilities.

Shadows of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga of the Dark Knight
2008
as Self
A 6 part documentary of making of Batman franchise.

Heckler
2007
as Self
HECKLER is a comedic feature documentary exploring the increasingly critical world we live in. After starring in a film that was critically bashed, Ja...
Bloodsucking Cinema
2007
as Self
The sound of flapping bat wings, an empty coffin, glistening fangs, tiny punctures on the neck, the sensual taste of blood, a blank reflection, fear o...

The Number 23
2007
Director
Animal control officer Walter Sparrow becomes obsessed with a novel that he believes was written about him, as more and more similarities between hims...

Holy the Sabbath
2006
as Narrator
A chilling portrait of loss and redemption when men create their own gods.

The Phantom of the Opera
2004
Director, Screenplay
A young soprano becomes the obsession of a disfigured and murderous musical genius who lives beneath the Paris Opera House.

Veronica Guerin
2003
Director
In this true story, Veronica Guerin is an investigative reporter for an Irish newspaper. As the drug trade begins to bleed into the mainstream, Guerin...

Phone Booth
2003
Director
A slick New York publicist who picks up a ringing receiver in a phone booth is told that if he hangs up, he'll be killed... and the little red light f...
Making of Phone Booth
2003
as Self
Behind the scenes documentary of the Joel T. Schumacher film Phone Booth.

Stupidity
2003
as Self
An exploration into the nature of stupidity in Western society and its history of our perception of it.

Bad Company
2002
Director
When a Harvard-educated CIA agent is killed during an operation, the secret agency recruits his twin brother.

Welcome to Hollywood
2000
as Joel Schumacher
A film director decides to chart the course of a young actor as he tries to make it in Hollywood...

Tigerland
2000
Director
A group of recruits go through Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Polk, Louisiana's infamous Tigerland, last stop before Vietnam for tens of thousands...

Gossip
2000
Executive Producer
For a class project, three college students decide to invent an unfounded rumor about the most popular girl on campus. But as the rumor spreads, it be...

What the Folk?... Behind the Scenes of 'Queer as Folk'
2000
as Himself
Behind the scenes of the filming of the sequel to the ground breaking drama Queer As Folk.

Flawless
1999
Director, Producer, Screenplay
An ultraconservative police officer suffers a debilitating stroke and is assigned to a rehabilitative program that includes singing lessons - with the...

8MM
1999
Producer, Director
A small, seemingly innocuous plastic reel of film leads surveillance specialist Tom Welles down an increasingly dark and frightening path. With the he...

Batman & Robin
1997
Director
Batman and Robin deal with relationship issues while preventing Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy from attacking Gotham City.

A Time to Kill
1996
Director
A young lawyer defends a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his 10-year-old daughter, sparking a rebirth of the KKK.

The Babysitter
1995
Executive Producer
Jennifer (Alicia Silverstone) is a lovely teen who has been hired to baby-sit the kids of Harry Tucker (J.T. Walsh) and his wife, Dolly (Lee Garlingto...

Batman Forever
1995
Director
In the looming shadows of Gotham City, two villainous souls devise twin schemes of revenge against the city's dark guardian. Two-Face, disfigured by c...

Riddle Me This: Why Is Batman Forever?
1995
as Self - Director
How a new director and cast created a new version of Gotham's classic good and bad guys.

The Client
1994
Director
A street-wise kid, Mark Sway, sees the suicide of Jerome Clifford, a prominent Louisiana lawyer, whose current client is Barry 'The Blade' Muldano, a ...

Falling Down
1993
Director
An ordinary man frustrated with the various flaws he sees in society begins to psychotically and violently lash out against them.

Dying Young
1991
Director
After she discovers that her boyfriend has betrayed her, Hilary O'Neil is looking for a new start and a new job. She begins to work as a private nurse...

Flatliners
1990
Director
Five medical students want to find out if there is life after death. They plan to stop one of their hearts for a few seconds, thus simulating death, a...

Cousins
1989
Director
Two couples go to a mutual friend's wedding and end up swapping partners.

The Lost Boys
1987
Director
When an unsuspecting town newcomer is drawn to local blood fiends, the Frog brothers and other unlikely heroes gear up to rescue him.

Slow Burn
1986
Executive Producer
Jacob Asch is hired by Gerald McMurty to find his ex-wife Laine and their son in Palm Springs. Jacob finds Laine and a teenager named Donnie who may o...

St. Elmo's Fire
1985
Director, Screenplay
A group of friends graduates from the halls of Georgetown University into lives that revolve around sex and career aspirations. Kirby waits tables to ...

D.C. Cab
1983
Director, Writer
The tale of a hapless group of cabbies and a rundown cab company owned by Harold. Albert comes to town with a dream of starting his own cab company bu...

The Incredible Shrinking Woman
1981
Director
After being exposed to a bizarre mixture of household chemicals, Pat Kramer begins to shrink. This baffles scientists, makes parenting difficult, warm...

Amateur Night at the Dixie Bar and Grill
1979
Director, Teleplay
A variety of people are drawn together through their participation in an amateur talent contest in a country roadhouse.

The Wiz
1978
Screenplay
Dorothy Gale, a shy kindergarten teacher, is swept away to the magic land of Oz where she embarks on a quest to return home.

Interiors
1978
Costume Design
When Eve, an interior designer, is deserted by her husband of many years, Arthur, the emotionally glacial relationships of the three grown-up daughter...

Car Wash
1976
Writer
This day-in-the-life cult comedy focuses on a group of friends working at Sully Boyar's Car Wash in the Los Angeles ghetto. The team meets dozens of e...

Sparkle
1976
Screenplay, Story
Three sisters start out singing in their church choir in Harlem in the late 1950s and become a successful girl group in the 1960s.

The Prisoner of Second Avenue
1975
Costume Design
Mel Edison has just lost his job after many years and now has to cope with being unemployed at middle age during an intense NYC heat wave.

Virginia Hill
1974
Director, Writer
The story of Virginia Hill, a former prostitute who was the girlfriend of '40s killer and gangster Bugsy Siegel.

Killer Bees
1974
Production Design
A strong-willed woman not only dominates her family of California winegrowers, but also has a strange hold on a colony of bees in her vineyard.

Sleeper
1973
Costume Designer
Miles Monroe, a clarinet-playing health food store proprietor, is revived out of cryostasis 200 years into a future world in order to help rebels figh...

Blume in Love
1973
Costume Design
Lawyer Stephen Blume, who specializes in divorces, lives a paradoxical situation when, having his own marriage break up, is still in love with his ex-...

The Last of Sheila
1973
Costume Design
A year after Sheila is killed in a hit-and-run, her multimillionaire husband invites a group of friends to spend a week on his yacht playing a scaveng...

Play It as It Lays
1972
Costume Design
Burned-out B-movie actress Maria, depressed and frustrated with her loveless marriage to an ambitious film director, Carter Lang, who would rather wor...