Shauna Robertson (born December 18, 1975) is a Canadian

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

. From 1999 to 2008, she worked frequently with

Judd Apatow Judd Apatow (; born December 6, 1967) is an American comedian, director, producer, and screenwriter, best known for his work in comedy and drama films. He is the founder of Apatow Productions, through which he produced and directed the films '' ...

, and produced a number of films for

Apatow Productions Apatow Productions (or The Apatow Company) is an American film and television production company founded by Judd Apatow in 1999. The company's first television production was the comedy series ''Freaks and Geeks'' (1999–2000) and its first film ...

, including '' Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy'' (2004), ''

The 40-Year-Old Virgin ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin'' is a 2005 American romantic comedy film directed by Judd Apatow, who produced the film with Clayton Townsend and Shauna Robertson. It features Steve Carell as the titular 40-year-old virgin Andy, an employee at an el ...

'' (2005), ''

Knocked Up ''Knocked Up'' is a 2007 American romantic comedy film written, co-produced and directed by Judd Apatow, and starring Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, and Leslie Mann. It follows the repercussions of a drunken one-night stand between a sl ...

'', '' Superbad'' (both 2007), ''

Forgetting Sarah Marshall ''Forgetting Sarah Marshall'' is a 2008 American comedy film directed by Nicholas Stoller and starring Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis and Russell Brand. The film, which was written by Segel and co-produced by Judd Apatow, was released by ...

'' and ''

Pineapple Express Pineapple Express is a non-technical term for a meteorological phenomenon characterized by a strong and persistent large-scale flow of warm moist air, and the associated heavy precipitation both in the waters immediately northeast of the Hawaii ...

'' (both 2008).

Early life

Robertson was raised in

Markham, Ontario Markham () is a city in the Regional Municipality of York, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately northeast of Downtown Toronto. In the 2021 Census, Markham had a population of 338,503, which ranked it the largest in York Region, fourth largest ...

and moved to Los Angeles as a teenager. She says her biggest preparation for becoming a producer was having laid back parents: "It's good early training to have an incredibly irresponsible family. It forces a young person to take responsibility, to be organized. My mother called me the benevolent dictator because I liked things done in an efficient way." She dropped out of high school at the age of 16 to move to Los Angeles, California.

Career

In Los Angeles, she became an assistant to

Mike Binder Mike Binder (born June 2, 1958) is an American filmmaker, stand-up comedian, and actor. Life and career Binder, descended from Russian-Jewish immigrants, grew up in the Detroit suburb of Birmingham. During the summers of 1966 through 1975, he a ...

, who she had met at Camp Tamakwa in

Algonquin Provincial Park Algonquin Provincial Park is a provincial park located between Georgian Bay and the Ottawa River in Ontario, Canada, mostly within the Unorganized South Part of Nipissing District. Established in 1893, it is the oldest provincial park in Cana ...

, memorialized in his 1993 film ''

Indian Summer An Indian summer is a period of unseasonably warm, dry weather that sometimes occurs in autumn in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Several sources describe a true Indian summer as not occurring until after the first frost, or more s ...

''. She went on to work for

Hart Bochner Hart Matthew Bochner (born October 3, 1956) is a Canadian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer. He has appeared in films such as ''Breaking Away'' (1979), '' Terror Train'' (1980), '' Rich and Famous'' (1981), '' The Wild Life'' (1984) ...

Jay Roach Mathew Jay Roach (born June 14, 1957) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the ''Austin Powers'' film series, '' Meet the Parents'', ''Dinner for Schmucks'', '' The Campaign'', '' Trumbo'', and '' Bombshell''. Roach also ea ...

and Adam McKay. Working with McKay on ''

Elf An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes "ligh ...

'', she met

Will Ferrell John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He first established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', where he performed from 1995 to 200 ...

, who brought her to work on the set of '' Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy'', where she first met director-producer

. With Apatow, she produced

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

's ''

'',

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

's ''

'' and '' Superbad'', and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

's ''

'' and ''

''. While Robertson believes that her role as a female producer is to balance out the male humor in films, Apatow has called her "the rare woman who always wants to take the joke farther than any man wants to go. All nudity in my films is a result of Shauna pushing me and calling me a wimp." Actor

Jonah Hill Jonah Hill Feldstein (born December 20, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is known for his comedic roles in films including ''Superbad (film), Superbad'' (2007), ''Knocked Up'' (2007), ''21 Jump Street (film), 21 Jump Stre ...

has also claimed that Robertson is "way more perverse than any of us", referring to the male writers, directors, producers and actors from Apatow's

production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and ...

Personal life

After six years of dating, Robertson became engaged to American actor

Edward Norton Edward Harrison Norton (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received numerous awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe Award and three Academy Award nominations. Born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised ...

in 2011, and they married in 2012. They have one son, Atlas, born in March 2013.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Shauna 1974 births Canadian expatriates in the United States Place of birth missing (living people) Canadian film producers Living people People from Markham, Ontario Canadian women film producers