Early career 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, 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. a non-dialogue short film that appeared at the
Sundance Film Festival.
Directing career 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 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. 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.
Producing career 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 2009, Shankman produced
Carrie Underwood: An All-Star Holiday Special, with Executive Producer
Nigel Lythgoe. With
Bill Mechanic, Shankman was one of the two producers of the 82nd Academy Awards, which took place on March 7, 2010. The telecast earned a record 12
Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including two for Shankman, for Best Choreography and Co-Producing. Offspring Entertainment, in addition to having several feature films on the development slate, has a deal with
Warner Bros. Television and Warner Horizon, and is currently developing television series and events for both network and cable. Shankman also serves as an executive producer on
YouTube Premium and
Lionsgate Television series
Step Up. He also directed the pilot episode. The third season of the series aired on
Starz Encore in 2022. In May 2021, Shankman announced that he would serve as an executive producer for
Hocus Pocus 2.
Theater and stage In August 2014, Shankman directed and choreographed a production of
Hair at the
Hollywood Bowl.
Zach Woodlee assisted Shankman in choreography and Lon Hoyt served as music director. The show presented an all-star cast including
Benjamin Walker as Berger,
Kristen Bell as Sheila and
Hunter Parrish as Claude. Other cast members included
Sarah Hyland,
Jenna Ushkowitz,
Mario,
Kevin Chamberlin,
Beverly D'Angelo and
Amber Riley. As is customary with the annual Bowl musicals, the
Hair cast had fewer than 14 days to get the semi-staged show up and running.Shankman and his team had the task of teaching dialogue, choreography, music and lyrics for over forty numbers to a cast of thirty, in just ten days before going on to dress rehearsals. The cast and crew had only two dress rehearsals before going live to a crowd of 11,000 people. The show garnered positive reviews, including one from BroadwayWorld.com: "Overall, Shankman's production of HAIR for the Hollywood Bowl is definitely a must-see event this weekend. Steeped in dazzling visuals, fun music, high-energy choreography, and a cast of talented, staggeringly gorgeous youngsters with giddiness coming out of every pore, this musical celebration of peace, love, and happiness deserves your attention." In 2015, Warner Bros. Theater Ventures started developing a musical version of the 2009 movie
17 Again, which was directed by
Burr Steers and produced by Shankman and Gibgot. The show was workshopped in New York's theater district, with a run planned for the near future. The musical is being produced by Warner Bros. Theater Ventures, Mark Kaufman and Adam Shankman.
So You Think You Can Dance Shankman was a judge and choreographer on seasons 3–10 of the
Fox Broadcasting reality show
So You Think You Can Dance. He used the term "
lyrical hip-hop" to describe the dance style associated with the choreography duo of
Napoleon and Tabitha D'umo. The term is popularly credited to him, as reported in the May/June 2009 issue of
Dance Spirit magazine. ==Charitable work==