Joel Schumacher

Joel T. Schumacher (; August 29, 1939 – June 22, 2020) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Raised in New York City by his mother, Schumacher graduated from Parsons School of Design and originally became a fashion designer. He first entered filmmaking as a production and costume designer before gaining writing credits on Car Wash, Sparkle, and The Wiz. Schumacher received little attention for his first theatrically released films, The Incredible Shrinking Woman and D.C. Cab, but rose to prominence after directing St. Elmo's Fire, The Lost Boys, The Client and Falling Down. Schumacher was selected to replace Tim Burton as director of the Batman film franchise, and oversaw two of the series's most commercially oriented entries, Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997). The latter's failure foresaw a steep career decline, although Schumacher continued directing work on smaller-budget films, such as Tigerland and Phone Booth. In 2004, he directed The Phantom of the Opera, which was released to mixed reviews. His final directorial work was two episodes of House of Cards.