Adam Shankman was born on November 27, 1964 in Los Angeles, California. He is an American film director, dancer, actor, and choreographer.
He began his professional career in musical theatre, and was a dancer in music videos for Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson. He directed feature-length films, including "A Walk to Remember", "Bringing Down the House", "The Pacifier", "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" and "Hairspray". He also danced in videos for Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson. He officiated the wedding of Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar, who he worked with while choreographing Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Shankman attended The Juilliard School, but dropped out to dance in musical theater.
He was a dancer in Janet Jackson's “Escapade” video, as well as in a 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 choregraphy for Janet Jackson and Paula Abdul. He was hired on the spot without his story being verified. Shankman began choreographing movies that included actors such as Marlon Brando, Sarah Jessica Parker, Antonio Banderas, and the cast of Boogie Nights. He is Brendan Fraser's exclusive choreographer.
In 1996, Shankman was represented by the newly formed Sauce Entertainment, a production company for music videos and commercial production. In 1998, he was a choreographer for the program "Win Ben Stein's Money".
Shankman's first directing gig was for a short film called Cosmo's Tale, which appeared at the Sundance Film Festival. He then helped his sister, Jennifer Gibgot, on a script, which led to a meeting with the studio producing The Wedding Planner. He was hired for the job ten minutes into the meeting. In May 2003, Shankman filed a $5 million lawsuit against Jennifer Lopez, asserting that he came up with the idea for her adaptation of the opera Carmen.
Prior to directing Hairspray, Shankman was known in Hollywood primarily as a fixer of lowbrow films—a director who could take charge of lackluster productions that were expected to flop and turn them into box-office hits. His trademarks in his films often features a singing/dancing sequence and a character getting sent to do community service. "I've done so many things I'm not super-proud of," he admitted in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. Having finally received a plum directing role in Hairspray, he added, "Now that I'm finally really proud of something, if [critics] say this one isn't good either, it will be kind of...taxing."[8] In August 2008, Box office Mojo reported that Hairspray had become the fourth-largest grossing American movie musical within the previous 30 years.
Shankman, in affiliation with ABC, worked on a TV pilot called Harmony about a musical town.[10] "A new series about the female mayor of a small town has jumped from the back burner to the front, thanks to [Governor] Sarah Palin. The proposed show, tentatively titled "Cadillac Ranch," comes with a big-name director attached - Adam Shankman...".
He has just been announced to be directing the film adaptation of the musical "Rock of Ages" from New Line Cinema. The film will begin production in Summer of 2010.
On October 20, 2009, it was announced he will be one of the two producers of the 82nd Academy Awards on March 7, 2010 .
