Thomas Schühly is an international film producer. He was born in Karlsruhe on September 20th, 1951. Later, the family moved to Bochum, where Schühly finished gymnasium and began studying law.

In 1974 he made acquaintance with the Stage Theatre in Bochum. Head of the Theatre was the famous Peter Zadek. Under Zadek worked directors like Fassbinder, Schroeter, Savary etc. Schühly made there a professionell education as assistant director, mainly with Peter Zadek.

In 1980 he moved to the Bavaria Filmstudios in Munich to work with Germany’s most acclaimed and famous director, Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

Fassbinder and Schühly immediately got along perfectly and formed a strong bond over the years. Schühly was instantly impressed by Fassbinder’s way of life and attitude. He would work initially as Fassbinder’s assistant director but would soon become his production manager on the TV series “Berlin Alexanderplatz”.

Together with Fassbinder he produced “Lola” (1981), “Theater in Trance” and “Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss” (1982). It was “Veronica Voss” which won him the “Golden Bear” at the Berlin Film Festival. After Fassbinder’s tragic death Schühly was devastated and no longer wanted to work in the movie business. A friend of Schühly’s, tycoon producer Horst Wendlandt, persuaded Schühly to work with him on the Jean-Paul Belmondo movie “Ass der Asse” (1982) as executive producer.

With this movie Schühly produced his first international success: 6 million entrances in Germany, 7 million entrances in France, and so on.

In 1983 another success and another corporate experience was waiting for Schühly.

Dr. Leo Kirch offered him a job in his company. Schühly became managing director of Kirch’s IDUNA Film. In his 3 years with Dr. Kirch Schühly produced, among others, the international TV – series “Via Mala“ starring Mario Adorf , Maruschka Detmers, and others.

In late 1985 Schühly decided to leave the Kirch company and return to independent producing.

“Out of Order” (aka, “Abwärts“) by Carl Schenkel became his next film. With Götz George and Wolfgang Kieling he produced a smashing success. This film became an artistic success (winning the Gold in German Film award) as well as a box office hit.

In the meantime Neue Constantin, Germany’s top film production and distribution company cast an eye at Schühly. Bernd Eichinger offered him a joint partnership in running Neue Constantin Produktion. From these years it was above all “The Name of the Rose” starring Sean Connery and Christian Slater that stood out. This film was the result of Schühly’s multi-lingual gift. With his talent he constructed a German – French – Italian production with Germany as the lead. The film became a worldwide success.

In 1988 it was time for a new adventure.

In Rome Schühly met the US director Terry Gilliam.  Together they planned to produce the movie “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen”.

Starring John Neville, Valentina Cortese, Robin Williams, Uma Thurman and Sting, the film was nominated for 4 Academy Awards.

1989 he co-produced  the “French Revolution” with directors Robert Enrico and Robert Heffron. In the cast were Klaus – Maria Brandauer, Jane Seymour, Sam Neill, Peter Ustinov and Claudia Cardinale.

In 1995 followed the film “Der Totmacher”. This film was highly acclaimed by the International press. It won the German Film Award in Gold and the Cup Volpi at the Venice Film Festival. Romuald Karmakar directed and Götz George starred.

In-between together with the former US Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen he developed the novel  “Dragon Fire“. It became a bestseller all over the world.

The 2001 film “Triumph of Love” led to a collaboration with Bernardo Bertolucci. Together they produced this dramatization of a play by Pierre Marivaux starring Mira Sorvino and Ben Kingsley.

2004 was the year of “Alexander”. With Oliver Stone directing he produced this epic tale. The film starred Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer, Anthony Hopkins and Rosario Dawson.

After the year 2004 Schühly took a time-out of movie making.

In collaboration with his son and producer Mario Schühly he is currently working on three major movie projects and a high-end-series which are in development and meant to hit the screen in 2024.