Robert Schwartzman

Robert Coppola Schwartzman (born December 24, 1982) is an American filmmaker, director, screenwriter, actor and musician. Schwartzman is best known for directing Dreamland, The Unicorn, and The Argument, acting in his cousin Sofia Coppola's projects Lick the Star and The Virgin Suicides, as well as starring in The Princess Diaries and as the lead vocalist of the rock/pop band Rooney.

Personal life
Schwartzman was born in Los Angeles to Talia Shire (née Coppola) and the late producer Jack Schwartzman. Schwartzman's filmmaker family also includes his uncle Francis Ford Coppola, cousins Nicolas Cage, Sofia Coppola, Roman Coppola and Christopher Coppola, grandparents Italia Coppola (née Pennino) and Carmine Coppola and his uncle Francis' granddaughter, Gia Coppola. His brother is Jason Schwartzman, actor and lead singer of the band Coconut Records and former drummer of the band Phantom Planet, and half-siblings are Matthew Shire, Stephanie Schwartzman and cinematographer John Schwartzman. Schwartzman is of Jewish descent on his father's side and his mother is from a Catholic family of Italian descent.

Career
Schwartzman attended Windward School in Los Angeles, California and formed his band Rooney in his junior year of school in 1999. He left the band temporarily when he attended Eugene Lang College in New York City in 2001. Schwartzman wrote songs in his dorm room and flew home every month to perform new material for Rooney in his first semester at college. Most of the songs on the first Rooney album were written while in college. It was during this time that he realized that he wanted to go back to Los Angeles and pursue a professional career in music with Rooney.

Shortly after he left school, he was signed to Geffen/Interscope records in early 2002. Rooney recorded their debut self-titled album in June 2002. They also were selected by Schwartzman's friend, Johnny Ramone, for the Ramones tribute album entitled We're A Happy Family, which was released in early 2003. Rooney opened for Weezer during their headlining tour in the summer of 2002, it was their first national support slot. The next tour the band landed was with the band The Strokes. Rooney's album was finally released in May 2003 and has since sold approximately 500,000 copies. The band had a cameo appearance in an episode of The O.C., "The Third Wheel". Their song "Blueside" was featured on the Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 soundtrack, and their song "I'm Shakin'" was featured on an episode of the daytime soap opera All My Children.

On November 16, 2004, the band issued their first DVD, Spit & Sweat. The hour-long documentary features interviews with the band and live performances from Los Angeles. The DVD also includes the videos for "Blueside", "I'm Shakin'", "If It Were Up to Me", and "Popstars", which was released as a never-before-seen video. Following their 2006 summer tour, the band began the recording sessions for their second album. Three songs from previous sessions ("Don't Come Around Again", "Paralyzed", and "Tell Me Soon"), were kept for their new album, Calling the World. On March 6, 2007, the single "When Did Your Heart Go Missing?" was released on their MySpace account. The single also was used in commercials for the TV show Beauty and the Geek. The album was released to stores July 17, 2007, and debuted at #42 on the Billboard Top 100 Albums chart.

Robert Schwartzman released his first solo album, Double Capricorn, on October 25, 2011. All profits from the sale of the album will be donated to the Tibetan Healing Fund, to help build a new birthing center. He scored the 2013 film Palo Alto with Dev Hynes of Blood Orange.

In 2016, Schwarzmann wrote and directed Dreamland, starring Johnny Simmons and Amy Landecker. It had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 14, 2016. It was released in a limited release and through video on demand on November 11, 2016. In 2018, Schwartzman directed The Unicorn starring Lauren Lapkus and Nick Rutherford. It had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 10, 2018.

In 2018, Robert co-founded Utopia Media, a company that supports the entire life cycle of the filmmaking and distribution process, from production and acquisitions to marketing and sales. Utopia was created as a filmmaker-first company that offers an extended array of services through a growing team and extensive roster of partnerships.

In 2020, Utopia Media announced the launch of Altavod, a platform created by filmmakers for filmmakers to distribute their movies how they want, where they want, when they want. Altavod provides the technology and the tools for any filmmaker to quickly launch a marketing page where they can build their brand, convert customers, stream their content and make money. Altavod puts the power of digital distribution in the hands of filmmakers and supports outreach to global audiences.

Altavod originally launched in partnership with Unanimous Media’s documentary Jump Shot, a documentary that uncovers the inspiring true story of the forgotten basketball legend who developed, pioneered, and popularized what we now know as the modern-day jump shot. The film, executive produced by Stephen Curry, Jim Hamilton, Dave Beathard, Melissa Neugebauer, Ryan Munson, and Brenda Robinson and distributed by Aspiration Media.

In 2020, Utopia Media also released a 4K restoration of the 1980s cult-classic Rad by acclaimed director Hal Needham and executive producer Jack Schwartzman, Robert’s late father. The film will make its belated Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD debut in May 2020, from Vinegar Syndrome and Utopia Distribution. The film features an award-winning supporting cast, including Robert’s mother, two-time Oscar nominee Talia Shire, Golden Globe nominee Jack Weston, Lori Loughlin, and character actor Ray Walston.

Director

 * Dreamland (2016)
 * The Unicorn (2018)
 * The Argument (2020)

Composer

 * Rooney - Rooney (released May 20, 2003)
 * Rooney - Calling the World (released July 17, 2007)
 * Ben Lee - Ripe co-writer (song "Sex Without Love", 2007)
 * Demi Lovato - Don't Forget co-writer (song "Party", 2008)
 * Rooney - Iron Man: Armored Adventures Theme Song (released March 29, 2009)
 * Rooney - Wild One EP (released November 27, 2009 only through private band distribution but later released on Amazon.com February 3, 2010 and was soon available at other online-only media outlets; iTunes, Zune)
 * Rooney - Eureka, excluding track 4 (released June 8, 2010)
 * SoloBob - Fantastic 15 (released via Amazon.com July 27, 2010)
 * Robert Schwartzman - Double Capricorn (released October 25, 2011)
 * We the Kings - Sunshine State of Mind co-writer (song "Friday is Forever", 2011)
 * StarSystem -Pleasure District EP (released October 8, 2013)
 * Rooney - Washed Away (released May 6, 2016)

Misc

 * Rooney: Spit and Sweat as Himself
 * A New Princess (The Making of the Princess Diaries) as Himself
 * Solobob as Himself

Producer

 * Clique Girls "Incredible" - 2008
 * Clique Girls "Clique Girlz EP" - 2008
 * Clique Girls "Then I Woke Up/Heaven Is Place on Earth" - 2008