Joel Schumacher was an American director, writer, and producer.

A graduate of Parsons School of Design, Schumacher was a fashion designer before entering the world of film and television as a costume designer.

He made his directorial debut on the Harvey Keitel telefilm Virginia Hill (1974) and penned The Wiz (1978) before directing his first feature, The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981), starring Lily Tomlin.

Schumacher went on to write and direct St. Elmo's Fire (1985) and The Phantom of the Opera (2004), and direct The Lost Boys (1987), Flatliners (1990), Falling Down (1993), The Client (1994), Batman Forever (1995), A Time to Kill (1996), 8MM (1999), and The Number 23 (2007).

In television, he directed multiple episodes of 2000 Malibu Road and Netflix's House of Cards.

Schumacher also shared a Daytime Emmy nomination in 2011 for his contributions to the television docu-series Half of Us.

Schumacher died June 22, 2020, in New York City, New York. He was 80.