Michael Schultz
Directing
Schultz was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of Katherine Frances (née Leslie), a factory worker, and German American Leo Schultz, an insurance salesman. After his undergraduate work at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Marquette University, he attended Princeton University, where in 1966 he directed his first play, a production of Waiting for Godot. He joined the Negro Ensemble Company in 1968, which brought him to Broadway in 1969. His breakthrough was directing Lorraine Hansberry's To Be Young, Gifted and Black, which he restaged for television in 1972. Schultz' earliest film projects combined low comedy with profound social comment (Honeybaby, Honeybaby and Cooley High), reaching a peak with the ensemble comedy Car Wash (1976) and Which Way Is Up? (1977), starring Richard Pryor. In 1978, Schultz took the reins of the musical Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band with the largest budget ever entrusted to an African-American film director to that date. However, upon its release, the project was a commercial and critical failure. Schultz would go on to make prominent films such as Scavenger Hunt (1979), Carbon Copy (1981), and Disorderlies (1987). More recently, Schultz has worked in television, piloting episodes of such style-conscious series as The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and Picket Fences, as well as an abundance of made-for-TV movies. In 1991, Schultz was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame.
Known for
Directing94
tvFound
2023
Director
tvAll American: Homecoming
2022
Director
tvThe Wonder Years
2021
Director
tvAll American
2018
Director
tvBlack Lightning
2018
Director
tvNo Tomorrow
2016
Director
tvDead of Summer
2016
Director
tvRecovery Road
2016
Director
tvCrazy Ex-Girlfriend
2015
Director
tvblack-ish
2014
Director
tvThe Tomorrow People
2013
Director
tvArrow
2012
Director
tvOnce Upon a Time
2011
Director
tvHart of Dixie
2011
Director
tvNew Girl
2011
Director
tvSwitched at Birth
2011
Director
tvDrop Dead Diva
2009
Director
tvPrivileged
2008
Director
tvIn Plain Sight
2008
Director
tvEli Stone
2008
Director
tvWomen's Murder Club
2007
Director
tvDirty Sexy Money
2007
Director
tvChuck
2007
Director
tvOctober Road
2007
Director
tvLincoln Heights
2007
Director
tvBrothers and Sisters
2006
Director
tvPepper Dennis
2006
Director
movieWoman Thou Art Loosed
2004
Director
tvJack & Bobby
2004
Director
tvCold Case
2003
Director
tvThe O.C.
2003
Director
tvEverwood
2002
Director
movieL.A. Law: The Movie
2002
Director
tvPhilly
2001
Director
tvBoston Public
2000
Director
tvGilmore Girls
2000
Director
tvCity of Angels
2000
Director
tvWasteland
1999
Director
tvFamily Law
1999
Director
movieMy Last Love
1999
Director
movieKillers in the House
1998
Director
tvCharmed
1998
Director
tvFelicity
1998
Director
tvAlly McBeal
1997
Director
tvThe Practice
1997
Director
tvPromised Land
1996
Director
tvJAG
1995
Director
tvTouched by an Angel
1994
Director
tvChicago Hope
1994
Director
tvDiagnosis: Murder
1993
Director
movieDay-O
1992
Director
movieLivin' Large!
1991
Director
tvSisters
1991
Director
movieJury Duty: The Comedy
1990
Director
movieTarzan in Manhattan
1989
Director
movieRock 'N Roll Mom
1988
Director
movieDisorderlies
1987
Director
movieThe Spirit
1987
Director
movieTimestalkers
1987
Director
tvL.A. Law
1986
Director
movieKrush Groove
1985
Director
movieThe Last Dragon
1985
Director
movieThe Jerk, Too
1984
Director
movieBenny's Place
1982
Director
tvAmerican Playhouse
1982
Director
movieCarbon Copy
1981
Director
movieBustin' Loose
1981
Director
movieScavenger Hunt
1979
Director
movieWhich Way Is Up?
1977
Director
movieGreased Lightning
1977
Director
movieCar Wash
1976
Director
tvStarsky & Hutch
1975
Director
movieCooley High
1975
Director
tvBaretta
1975
Director
movieHoneybaby, Honeybaby
1974
Director
tvThe Rockford Files
1974
Director
tvMovin' On
1974
Director
movieTogether for Days
1972
Director
Acting5
Production3
Writing1
tvNo Tomorrow
2016
Writer