James Schamus in Göteborg 2026

Göteborg Film Festival is honoured to welcome James Schamus as a special industry guest, joining us on stage on January 28 during Nordic Film Market and TV Drama Vision.

A leading voice in global cinema, Schamus is an Academy Award–nominated producer, award-winning screenwriter, and former CEO of Focus Features, where he oversaw titles including Brokeback Mountain, Lost in Translation, Milk, Dallas Buyers Club, and The Pianist.

Through his New York-based company Symbolic Exchange, he has produced acclaimed films such as The Assistant, Driveways, Adam, We Grown Now, and McVeigh. He is currently collaborating on an opera for The Metropolitan Opera, serving as Consulting Producer and writer on The Boroughs, the forthcoming series from the creators of Stranger Things, and completing a new Netflix comedy filmed in Mexico. He is also Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia University’s School of the Arts.

Schamus will join the Nordic Film Market stage for a moderated conversation with Wendy Mitchell, reflecting on his creative visions and expansive career as a producer, writer, showrunner, educator, and thinker, as well as his perspective on the current state of the audiovisual industry.

Schamus will also serve as Head of the Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award Jury at this year’s Göteborg Film Festival.