Adam Shankman

Adam Michael Shankman (born November 27, 1964) is an American film director, producer, writer, dancer, author, actor, and choreographer.

He was a permanent judge on seasons 6–7 of the television program So You Think You Can Dance.

He began his professional career in musical theater, and was a dancer in music videos for Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson.

Shankman has choreographed dozens of films and directed several feature-length films, including A Walk to Remember, Bringing Down the House, The Pacifier, and the musicals Hairspray and Disenchanted.

His company, Offspring Entertainment (which he co-owns with his sister), produces films and television for various studios and networks.

Shankman is also currently co-writing young adult novels for Simon & Schuster imprint Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

The books, co-written with author Laura Lee Sullivan, follow the story of rags to riches Lucille O'Malley as she becomes Hollywood's "it girl", navigating a murder mystery and meeting her match, Frederick van der Waals.

Shankman was born in Los Angeles to an upper-middle-class Jewish family.

He is the son of Phyllis (née Perper), a licensed practitioner in Gestalt therapy, and Ned Shankman, an entertainment lawyer and manager for such acts as Barry White, the American band X, and Sister Sledge.

His sister Jennifer was born when Shankman was four years old.

He attended Palisades High School before attending Juilliard School.

After graduating from Palisades, Shankman was a performing intern and junior company member of the prestigious Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis.

Having been accepted for both dancing and acting at Juilliard, he chose dance as his major without having any previous formal training.

He dropped out of college to dance in musical theater and at nineteen he was cast in his first professional show, West Side Story, at the esteemed Michigan Opera Theater.

Shankman moved back to Los Angeles and started dancing in music videos.

He was a dancer in Janet Jackson's "Alright" video, as well as in an MC Skat Kat video with Paula Abdul.

Shankman broke into professional choreography in a 1989 music video for rapper MC Shan with director Julien Temple.

When the hired choreographer fell through, Shankman lied and said that he had done choreography for Janet Jackson and Paula Abdul.

He was hired on the spot without his story being verified.

As a choreographer, he worked with acts including Tony! Toni! Toné!, The Time, Whitney Houston and Aaron Neville.

In 1996 he won a Bob Fosse Award for Best Choreography in a Commercial.

On television, he was a go-to choreographer on Friends and The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

He served as a choreographer and dance consultant on dozens of movies including Addams Family Values, Catch Me If You Can, George of the Jungle and Boogie Nights.

In 1998 Shankman wrote and directed Cosmo's Tale, a non-dialogue short film that appeared at the Sundance Film Festival.

Following the short, his sister, Jennifer Gibgot, asked him to read a script that she had already set up with Fine Line Features, entitled The Wedding Planner.

He liked the script and this led to a meeting with execs.

He was hired for the job of director ten minutes into the meeting.

The movie eventually went to Columbia Pictures and was a box office success.

Following The Wedding Planner, Shankman went on to direct seven more studio films: A Walk to Remember, Cheaper by the Dozen 2, Bringing Down the House, The Pacifier, the 2007 award-winning film Hairspray, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures' Bedtime Stories, and the movie based on the musical of the same name, Rock of Ages.

In 2012, Shankman directed a dual campaign to attract young voters for Rock the Vote and Funny or Die.

In June 2017, he directed the pilot for Step Up, a gritty teen drama series produced by Lionsgate Television and YouTube Red.

In addition to directing, Shankman has produced various studio films with his sister Jennifer Gibgot, through their company Offspring Entertainment.

These include Touchstone Pictures' Step Up, which helped launch the careers of Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan; Premonition, starring Sandra Bullock; Bedtime Stories for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures; 17 Again, starring Zac Efron; The Last Song, starring Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth; and Going the Distance, starring Justin Long and Drew Barrymore.

Shankman also served as producer of the Step Up franchise.

In 2019 he directed What Men Want, starring Taraji P. Henson for Paramount Pictures.

Shankman also helmed Walt Disney Pictures' Disenchanted, the sequel to Enchanted, starring Amy Adams.

Shankman has directed commercial campaigns for Macy's, Marshalls and Schick, as well as primetime television pilots and shows, including Being Mary Jane, Glee, AJ and the Queen, Step Up: High Water and Modern Family.

He has directed several shorts for Funny or Die, including "Prop 8 - The Musical" starring Jack Black and written by composer Marc Shaiman.

According to Time magazine, "Prop 8 - The Musical" was Marc Shaiman's attempt to pick apart the anti-gay marriage lobby's logic.

Lending support to the cause were actors Jack Black, John C. Reilly, Maya Rudolph, Craig Robinson, Neil Patrick Harris and Allison Janney.