Robert Shapiro

Robert Shapiro began his show business career in the mail room of the William Morris Agency. He rose through the ranks becoming Managing Director in charge of William Morris' London Office and Senior Vice-President and Head of their International Motion Picture Department where he represented some of the industry's most prominent stars and filmmakers. After leaving William Morris, Shapiro became President of Warner Bros. Worldwide Theatrical Production Division, a position he held for over six years. Some of the 50 plus films produced during his tenure at Warner Bros. Include: the "Superman" films, "Hooper," "Private Benjamin," "Going in Style," "The In-Laws," "Altered States," "National Lampoon's Vacation," "Time After Time," "Every Which Way But Loose," "The Shining," and "Chariots of Fire." Shapiro produced Tim Burton's highly acclaimed comedy hit, "Pee Wee's Big Adventure." He was Executive Producer of Steven Spielberg's, "Empire of the Sun," starring John Malkovich and Christian Bale. Shapiro produced "Arthur 2: On the Rocks," starring Dudley Moore, Liza Minnelli and John Gielgud directed by Bud Yorkin. He produced "There Goes My Baby," starring Noah Wylie, Dermot Mulroney, Rick Schroder, Keli Williams and Kristen Minter, written and directed by Floyd Mutrux, which was released by Orion. Shapiro produced the critically acclaimed, "Black Beauty," written and directed by Caroline Thompson, which was released by Warner Bros. He produced the comedy, "Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde," directed by David Price, for Savoy Pictures. Shapiro produced Walt Disney Pictures hit comedy, "My Favorite Martian," starring Jeff Daniels, Christopher Lloyd and Elizabeth Hurley, directed by Donald Petrie. Robert Shapiro Productions produced the made-for-television movie, "The Summer My Father Grew Up," starring John Ritter and directed by Michael Tuchner, which aired on NBC. Shapiro produced "Cadet Kelly," starring Hilary Duff, for the Disney Channel that is among their top ten highest rated movies. He produced the successful comedy, "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen," starring Lindsay Lohan and Megan Fox directed by Sara Sugarman and written by Gail Parent based upon Dyan Sheldon's best selling novel for Walt Disney Pictures. Shapiro also directed the second unit on the film. Films Shapiro has been associated with have garnered several Academy Awards and nominations. He has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award and received the prestigious Christopher Award ("Empire of the Sun") as well as the Genesis Award for Best Picture ("Black Beauty"). Shapiro has directed the second unit on several films and directed episodes of Dick Clark and Fox TV Network's, "Beyond Belief." He is producing a film in collaboration with BBC Films entitled "The Children of Willesden Lane" based upon the extraordinary true life memoir written by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen. The screenplay is written by Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse ("Race", "Frankie and Alice") and executive produced by Christine Langan and Ed Wethered for BBC films. Shapiro is preparing a film entitled, "Fig," which was written and will be directed by Will Geiger ("Elvis & Annabelle" starring Blake Lively & Max Minghella). He is preparing a film based upon the 2016 Athena List Award-winning screenplay entitled, "In The Land of Fire & Ice," written by David MacGregor to be directed by Sarah Knight ("Vino Veritas") and co-starring Oscar nominee Shohreh Aghdashloo ("House of Sand & Fog", "24", "House of Saddam"). Shapiro is preparing a film set in Australia written by Sabina Murray ("The Beautiful Country") entitled, "The Way Back," based upon one of the short stories in her Pen/Faulkner Award winning book, "The Caprices." He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences where he serves on the Nicholl Fellowship screenwriting selection committee, The Foreign Language Film Committee, and the Academy Animated Feature Film Committee. Shapiro is a mentor to graduate school filmmakers at the Peter Stark Program at USC. He has taught classes and has been a guest lecturer at USC, UCLA, NYU, Emerson College, University of Nebraska, University of Utah and the Los Angeles Film School.