One of the major players of the American independent film scene in the early 1990s, James Schamus has gradually been moving toward the mainstream through a series of collaborations with Taiwanese director Ang Lee. The California native, who is on faculty at Columbia University, entered the films as a producer on Raul Ruiz's short "The Golden Boat" (1990). He became involved with Apparatus, a production company founded by indie filmmakers Christine Vachon, Todd Haynes and Barry Elsworth and served as executive producer of Haynes' acclaimed "Poison" (1991). He and Vachon have collaborated on
