Lauren Shuler Donner

Lauren Shuler Donner has, in the past four decades, established herself as one of the most successful and versatile producers in Hollywood.

Shuler Donner was bound for success from the beginning, as the first feature film she produced was the smash hit comedy Mr. Mom. She then went on to produce Ladyhawke starring Matthew Broderick, Michelle Pfeiffer and Rutger Hauer, and St. Elmo’s Fire and Pretty in Pink, both enormous hits.

In the early 1990s, Shuler Donner produced Dave and Free Willy, two of the top ten films of 1993.The critically acclaimed Dave was also nominated for both an Academy Award® (Best Original Screenplay) and a Golden Globe® (Best Picture-Comedy). Shuler Donner went on to produce You’ve Got Mail with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, Any Given Sunday, Radio Flyer, 3 Fugitives, the sequel to Free Willy and Constantine with Keanu Reeves and Rachel Weisz.

As head of The Donners’ Company, she has executive-produced Volcano, Bulworth and Just Married. Her other productions include Timeline with Paul Walker and Gerard Butler, She’s The Man with Amanda Bynes, and Hotel For Dogs starring Emma Roberts.

In 2000, Shuler Donner began a new franchise with X-Men and followed up in 2003 with X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men: Origins, The Wolverine, X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and Deadpool. Shuler Donner also produced The Secret Life of Bees for Fox Searchlight, which was written and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and stars Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, and Alicia Keys. This film won multiple People’s Choice Awards including “Favorite Film” and “Best Dramatic Film.” It also won Best Picture from the NAACP Image Awards.

In Television and streaming, Shuler Donner is an executive producer on three seasons of Legion from Noah Hawley, for FX, and two seasons of The Gifted for FOX with Matt Nix. Next up: Broadway musicals based on her films Dave and Secret Life of Bees.

Shuler Donner has been honored and given multiple awards both for her career and for her philanthropic work.

In October 2008, both Shuler Donner and her husband Richard Donner were awarded stars next to each other on Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame. She and Richard were also honored by The American Cancer Society in June of 2006 and by Lupus L.A. in 2008, Lifetime Achievement Awards at the Ojai Film Festival in November of 2008, A Global Green Environmental Leadership Award and The Women’s Guild of Cedars Sinai Hospital Award in 2013. Shuler Donner was recognized for her body of work in 2001 by Premiere magazine with the Producer Icon Award, and was recognized by Daily Variety with a “Billion Dollar Producer” special issue. In June 2006, she received the prestigious Crystal Award from Women in Film, and received another Crystal Award in 2016. In 2018 Shuler Donner gave the commencement speech at her College at Boston University and received an Honorary Doctor's degree from Boston University. In 2019 The Editor's Guild presented her with their ACE award.

Shuler Donner is a dedicated philanthropist who thrives on giving back to the community. She was on the board of directors for Hollygrove Children’s Home for six years until it merged with EMQ in 2006. She has been on the advisory board of Women in Film, was a long-time member of the advisory board of TreePeople, and is a past Board member of Planned Parenthood Los Angeles. She has been serving on the advisory board of Lupus L.A. for the past ten years; was on the Executive Committee of the Producer’s Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for ten years; has served as the Treasurer for the Producers Guild and is currently on the Board of The PGA as Vice President.