Adam Shankman is a real Hollywood man band. He is known not only as a successful director of the highest budget films, but also as an actor, producer, dancer, television judge and choreographer. His biography is quite unusual for a person born in a Jewish family belonging to the cream of the American middle class. However, despite all the fears of relatives, Shankman managed to achieve success, which can only be envied. However, he never hid his sexual orientation and was seen in fleeting relationships with half of the "blue" Hollywood.
Adam Shankman: biography, the early years
The future director was born in Los Angeles in 1964. His mother, Phyllis (nee Pepper), had a private practice as a psychotherapist, and his father, Ned Schenkman, was a lawyer and manager in the entertainment industry. Adam was the first child in the family, and when he was 4 years old, his sister Jennifer was born.
He graduated from Palisides High School and enrolled in one of the largest US higher education institutions in the field of art and music - the New York Juilliard School.
The beginning of a career in show business
While still a schoolboy, Adam Shankman began to dance in the prestigious Children's Theater Company. This hobby soon became the main thing for him in life, and after a short training at Juilliard College, he decided to leave him to perform in his first professional show - the musical West Side Story on the stage of the famous Michigan Opera House.
Choreographer career
After completing his first contract, Adam Shankman returned to Los Angeles and became a member of the dance group in the filming of video clips of famous artists of the 80s, such as Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson.
An interesting story happened to the director in 1989, when he took a risky step: he proposed choreography for the first clip of rapper MC Shan, directed by Julien Temple. At the same time, he lied, saying that he had already worked in this field for Jackson and Abdul. As you know, the winners are not judged, therefore, after a successful debut, they began to invite him as a choreographer for the shows and videos of Whitney Houston, Aaron Neville and many others.
On TV
In 1996, Adam Shankman won the Bob Foss Award for Best Advertising Choreography. His television career began to take shape. In particular, he worked on the famous television series Friends and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Following this, Shankman was invited to work in dozens of paintings as a choreographer, including The Adams Family, George from the Jungle, Catch Me If You Can, and Boogie Nights.
Director debut
In 1998, Adam Shankman (director) wrote his first script and made a short film based on it without dialogue, called the Cosmo Tale. The painting was presented at the Sundance Festival and was a success.
By then, Adam's sister, Jennifer Gibgot, was already the head of the Tapestry production company. She invited him to direct the film "Wedding Planner" with Matthew Mack Konahi and Jennifer Lopez, which was very warmly received by the audience.
Further career
Successful cooperation with his sister led to the fact that Adam Shankman, whose films are watched with pleasure in different parts of the world, decided to start creating pictures for family leisure. The next successful joint work of this sister tandem was the paintings “Bedtime Stories”, “Pope Again 17” and “Step Forward”.
In 2003, Shankman and Gibgot founded their own company, Offspring Entertainment. Soon, Disney Studios signed an agreement with her. As a result, there were such films as “The Bald Nanny: Special Mission”, in which the main role went to Vin Diesel, as well as the family comedy “Wholesale Cheaper 2” with Bonnie Hunt and Steve Martin.
"Step forward"
Jennifer Gibgot's production flair told her that it was a sin to neglect her brother's choreographic capabilities. In this regard, in the mid-2000s, Adam Shankman (photo above) again began to create dance hits. His first projects in this area were the musical youth melodrama "Step Forward" and its sequel.
In 2007, Adam and Jennifer produced the musical hit Hairspray. The main roles were played by John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Queen Latif, Christopher Walken, Nikki Blonsky and Zac Efron.
The picture was nominated for several awards, including a nomination for the prestigious Golden Globe Award for the best musical film. In addition, in March 2008, Hairspray took 3rd place in the list of highest grossing American musicals in the previous 30 years.
The musical "Hair"
In 2014, the director took up the implementation of a new project. It was the production of a remake of the psychedelic musical "Hair", written more than half a century ago by G. McDermott, J. Redo and J. Ragni. This is one of the most famous hippie products of the 1960s. The premiere of the new version took place at the Hollywood Bowl Concert Hall. Hollywood stars such as Benjamin Walker, Kristen Bell, Parrish Hunter and others were invited to leading roles.
The film "Papa is 17 again"
This picture, shot in 2009, is another joint producer work of Shankman and Gibgot. It was directed by Burr Steers, and Zac Efron, Leslie Mann, Matthew Perry, Michelle Trachtenberg, Thomas Lennon and others were invited to play the main roles. In 2015, Warner Brosers and Theater Ventures implemented a joint project to create a musical version of the film “Papa 17 Again, ” for work on which Shankman was invited. His work was again praised by the audience.
Adam Shankman: filmography
The most successful films of the director include:
- "Wedding Planner" (2001);
- “Hurry to love” (2002);
- “Detective Monk” (11 episodes) and “House Upside Down” (2003);
- “Wholesale is cheaper than 2” (2005);
- “Worst weekend of my life” (2006);
- “Hairspray” (2007);
- Prop 8: The Musical and Bedtime Stories (2008);
- “American Family” (episode 36), “Chorus”, “Rock for Ages” (2010), etc.
In addition, Schenkman acted as director of the 82nd Academy Awards.
As for his production activities, then among his works it should be noted:
- “Step Forward" (2006);
- “Premonition” (2007);
- “Step Forward 2: Streets” (2008);
- “The Pope is Again 17” (2009);
- “Step Forward 3D”, “Last Song” and “At a Distance of Love” (2010);
- “Rock for centuries” (2012);
- “All or Nothing (A Step Forward)” (2014).
