SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER: THOMAS SCHLAMME
DIRECTOR/EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, THE WEST WING
the acclaimed NBC hit drama, which has received two consecutive Emmy Awards
for Outstanding Drama Series.

With a long and varied career as a director of television and feature films, Schlamme was honored in 1998 with a DGA Award for his work on the pilot of “Sports Night,” a show which he also helped to create and executive produced. In 1999, he won the DGA award for the “Sports Night,” episode entitled, “Small Town,” as well as an Emmy Award and a DGA nomination for his direction of the pilot for “The West Wing.” That year, he made television history by being the first director ever to be nominated by the DGA for a comedy and a drama category in the same year. He followed in 2000 with a DGA award for his work on the “The West Wing” episode of “Noel” and Emmy and Golden Globe Awards for Outstanding Drama Series for “The West Wing.”

Schlamme began his career directing cutting edge music videos in the 1980s and then moved on to become one of the finest directors of comedy specials for HBO, working with talent such as Whoopi Goldberg, Bette Midler, Robert Klein and John Leguizamo, among others.

Shifting to episodic television, Schlamme produced and directed Tracey Ullman’s critically-acclaimed series, “Tracey Takes On,” for which he received the Emmy Award. He has also directed numerous episodes of such hit television series as “Mad About You,” “Friends,” “The Larry Sanders Show,” “Ally McBeal,” “The Practice,” “Chicago Hope,” and “ER,” for which he won an Emmy nomination for his direction of the live presentation of that show.

Feature film directing credits include: “So I Married An Axe Murderer” starring Mike Meyers, “You So Crazy” starring Martin Lawrence, and “Miss Firecracker” starring Holly Hunter and Tim Robbins. Television movie credits include: “Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long” starring John Goodman, and “Crazy From The Heart” starring Christine Lahti, both for TNT. Remaining a creative force in the world of television, Schlamme is also credited with directing and creating the looks of the hit series, “Spin City,” “The Larry Sanders Show,” and David E. Kelley's, “Boston Public.”

Schlamme is married to actress, Christine Lahti.