Tom Shadyac: March 15, 2024

Tom Shadyac is one of Hollywood’s all-time leading writer/directors with his films, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Nutty Professor, Liar, Liar, Patch Adams, Bruce Almighty, and Evan Almighty, grossing nearly 2 billion dollars at the box office. Tom also produced the documentary Happy, and wrote and directed the documentary, I AM, which explores two fundamental questions – What’s wrong with our world, and what can we do about it? I AM has won numerous national and international awards and was one of the highest grossing documentaries of 2011. Tom is also a New York Time’s best-selling author, with the 2012 publication of his first book, Life’s Operating Manual. Of Lebanese descent, Tom comes from a unique and diverse background; he’s been an actor, screenwriter, and standup comic, while studying in depth the monastic traditions, ancient philosophy, mystic poetry, myth, and storytelling. What sets Tom apart is his rare ability to blend humor and heart. In 2013, after teaching at Pepperdine for 8 years, Tom became filmmaker in residence at the University of Memphis and taught at LeMoyne-Owen college where his students introduced him to the pulsing promise of the Soulsville neighborhood. Soon after he purchased two bankrupt buildings that became the Memphis Rox Campus, housing the world’s largest non-profit climbing gym, as well as numerous multi-faceted programs that serve the local community.