Earlier this week, I blogged about the upcoming gay themed film Taking Woodstock and its director, Ang Lee. Ang's partner on the project, James Schamus, is about to receive the Golden Gate award from GLAAD, and is one of the most influential gay allies in Hollywood.

As head of Focus Features (a division of Universal), he's collaborated three times with Ang on gay-themed projects: the aforementioned Taking Woodstock, 1993's The Wedding Banquet (which he also co-wrote), and of course Brokeback Mountain. He also greenlit out director Todd Haynes' Far From Heaven, and the film 8 Women from queer director Francois Ozon. Most recently, he's responsible for getting Milk, by out director Gus Van Sant, out of the gate after years of delays.

Variety interviewed him to find out why he gives the go ahead to such potentially non-blockbuster projects:

"Schamus doesn't consider movies with gay themes particularly risky enterprises. After all, he says, any film -- even a horror pic -- faces its own challenges in the theatrical marketplace. "A lot of movies bomb every weekend," he points out. He says if he wanted to play it safe, he would only make movies with gay Chinese cowboys since he has had the most success with "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Brokeback." But he's found that deviating from the norm often works best. "When we've parted ways with formula, we've done pretty well," he says. Schamus admits homophobia is an issue, but says it shouldn't be a deterrent. The problem, he asserts, is not the homophobia itself but "the assumption that homophobia has an effect."

Obviously, Hollywood would be a better place with more men like him in charge.

I’m still waiting for his critically lauded experimental Bob Dylan biopic, I'm Not There, to open in my neck of the woods, but that isn’t stopping me from celebrating the birth of visionary gay director Todd Haynes today.

From the eerie sterility of Safe to the gender-bending antics of the vastly underrated 70s glam-rock epic Velvet Goldmine, Haynes’ films are always overflowing with inventive ideas. Now how often can you say that about the crap that gets released these days?

After the jump, check out a lengthy clip from one of my favorites, the gorgeously shot ode to Douglas Sirk-stye melodrama, Far From Heaven, as well as one of the wacky music videos from Velvet Goldmine.