Dead Poets Society is a 1989 English-language Comedy Drama film written by Tom Schulman and directed by Peter Weir and produced by .mw-parser-output .plainlist Ol, .mw-parser-output .plainlist Ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist Ol Li, .mw-parser-output .plainlist Ul Li{margin-bottom:0}steven Haft, Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas under the banner of Touchstone Pictures in collaboration with Silver Screen Partners IV. Set in 1959 at the fictional elite conservative boarding school Welton Academy, it tells the story of an English teacher who inspires his students through his teaching of poetry. Dead poets society features Robin Williams in the lead role along with an ensemble cast including Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke, Josh Charles, Gale Hansen, Dylan Kussman and Allelon Ruggiero. The music was composed by Maurice Jarre. Cinematography was done by John Seale and editing by William Anderson. The movie has a running time of 128 minutes. It was released on 9th June 1989. The Film was successful at box office. Dead Poets Society was made on a budget of $16 million and it was a super hit at box office gross of $235 million. Distribution rights for the motion picture were acquired by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. At the 1990 Oscar Awards It won an award for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. Set in 1959 at the fictional elite conservative boarding school Welton Academy, it tells the story of an English teacher who inspires his students through his teaching of poetry.