Robert Shaye

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Lore & Background

Shaye formed New Line Cinema in 1967, starting with a package of feature films and shorts rented to colleges. The company expanded to re-releases such as Reefer Madness and first-run domestic distribution of foreign films such as Get Out Your Handkerchiefs. In the 1980s and early 1990s, New Line released blockbuster films such as A Nightmare on Elm Street and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In 1994, New Line was acquired by the Turner Broadcasting System for $500 million, with Shaye earning more than $100 million. In 1996, Turner Broadcasting System became part of Time Warner.

In Their Own Story

In 1998, when New Zealand director Peter Jackson brought his 36-minute pitch reel for a big screen adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy classic The Lord of the Rings to New Line, hoping to turn the three volumes into two films, Shaye suggested that Jackson should make three films instead. Shaye subsequently greenlit a simultaneous production for all three installments. At the box office, the three films are among New Line's highest-grossing and most popular films, earning a combined total of nearly $3 billion worldwide. They were nominated for a total of thirty Academy Awards, winning seventeen, including eleven for The Return of the King at the 76th Academy Awards ceremony.

Reader's Guide

In February 2008, Shaye and New Line co-chairman Michael Lynne were dismissed from the company as part of a significant restructuring ordered by then-Time Warner CEO Jeffrey Bewkes. That June, Shaye and Lynne formed a new independent film company called Unique Features. The company's projects include The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (Sony/Constantin), the TV series Shadowhunters (Freeform Television), When the Bough Breaks (Screen Gems), Ambition, directed by Shaye, The Liberator, their first animated project (Netflix), Night Teeth (Netflix), Space Oddity (Samuel Goldwyn Films), Reunion (Republic Pictures/Lionsgate Films), although Shaye never produced the film, and their upcoming film High in the Clouds (Gaumont).

Did You Know?

• Robert Shaye is the brother of actress Lin Shaye.
• Shaye earned a J.D. degree from Columbia Law School and is a member of the New York State Bar Association.
• He graduated from Stockholm University as a Fulbright scholar.
• Shaye suggested Peter Jackson make three Lord of the Rings films instead of two.
• In 1994, New Line was acquired by Turner Broadcasting System for $500 million, with Shaye earning more than $100 million.