Thomas H. Schulman (born October 20, 1950 in Nashville) is an American screenwriter most famous for his screenplay Dead Poets Society which won the Best Screenplay Academy Award for 1989. Other scripts include Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Welcome to Mooseport, What About Bob?, 8 Heads In A Duffel Bag and Medicine Man. In 2009, Schulman was elected vice president of the Writers Guild of America, West. Tom Schulman lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife Miriam and sons Max and Peter.
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Biography from TMDB.
- October 20, 1950 (76)
- Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- Writer, producer and director
- 14 on MovieCove · 17 credits in all
What are Tom Schulman's films like?
Across their 13 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Morality and Self.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 1 · Wry 0 · Earnest 12
A split, not a type: Light 8 · Serious 2 · Dark 3
Grounded 11 · Stylized 2 · Heightened 0
Gentle 5 · Charged 6 · Intense 2
A split, not a type: Steady 7 · Shifting 6 · Whiplash 0
A split, not a type: Straight-faced 5 · Some laughs 3 · Funny 5
A split, not a type: Slow burn 7 · Even-paced 6 · Relentless 0
Casual 9 · Engaged 4 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 8 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 3
Resolved 11 · Open-ended 2 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Happy8
- Bittersweet5
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Tom Schulman's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 10 of their 14 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Tom Schulman's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
17 credits, 14 with a MovieCove page; 1 appearance as themselves is hidden until asked for.
Double Down South(2022)
Midcredits score: 50th percentile of all films
Distant Tales (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)
Welcome to Mooseport(2004)
Midcredits score: 13th percentile of all films
Me, Myself & Irene(2000)
Midcredits score: 64th percentile of all films
Genius(1999)
Midcredits score: 44th percentile of all films
Holy Man(1998)
Midcredits score: 12th percentile of all films
8 Heads in a Duffel Bag(1997)
Midcredits score: 17th percentile of all films
Indecent Proposal(1993)
Midcredits score: 41st percentile of all films
Medicine Man(1992)
Midcredits score: 37th percentile of all films
What About Bob?(1991)
Midcredits score: 81st percentile of all films
Second Sight(1989)
Midcredits score: 11th percentile of all films
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids(1989)
Midcredits score: 59th percentile of all films
Dead Poets Society(1989)
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films
A Father's Revenge(1988)
Midcredits score: 31st percentile of all films
The Gladiator(1986)
Midcredits score: 19th percentile of all films
The Kid from Not-So-Big (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1978)
Joy Ride: An Auto Theft (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1976)
Career shape
A full career of 17 titles from 1976 to 2024.
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do Tom Schulman's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 39th percentile, the median of all 14; across their 13 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 37th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up2
- 50th to 74th3
- 25th to 49th4
- Below 25th5
Shape of the crowd
6 of their 14 titles are Mixed.
- Universally Loved1
- Crowd Pleaser4
- Broadly Agreed3
- Mixed6
Reviewers score the dialogue 50/100 and the plot and story 44/100 in their films, across 13 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a writer.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is Tom Schulman's work okay for kids?
Across up to 8 MovieCove titles with content scores, violence & gore and frightening / intense run lighter than most films.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted. The band's colour is the severity of their median, named beside it.
Who does Tom Schulman work with?
People who share at least 2 of Tom Schulman's MovieCove titles; David Holden shares the most, 2.
- David HoldenShared titles: Welcome to Mooseport (2004), 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag (1997)See all 2 shared titles with David Holden