NIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR; DIRECTOR'S SIXTH SENSE IS AS FAMILY MAN.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Writer

Six months ago, M. Night Shyamalan's name wasn't exactly on the tip of most people's tongues in Hollywood. Shyamalan (pronounced the easy way, sha-ma-lan) had written and directed two movies that had more or less disappeared without a trace. His new film, ``The Sixth Sense,'' did boast Bruce Willis as a star, but Disney was so unsure of its prospects that they kept the press from seeing it until the very last minute.

Half a billion dollars later, Shyamalan still isn't exactly a household name (people have to learn how to pronounce it first), but every studio certainly would like to be in business with him.

``It just shows that you never know in this business,'' says Laurence Mark, a veteran Hollywood producer (``Jerry Maguire,'' ``As Good as It Gets''), who has also worked as a studio executive at Fox and Paramount.

``What I find really interesting is that his other movie (``Wide Awake'') was just awful. You never would have hired him based on that movie. You just wouldn't have. He wouldn't have. And then he comes out of nowhere with this phenomenal film.''

Shyamalan would probably take exception to that assessment, particularly the part about ``Wide Awake,'' a warm parable about a 10-year-old's search for meaning that received generally good reviews when it opened two years ago. But he certainly wouldn't contest the fact that his life has changed immeasurably since ``The Sixth Sense'' opened last August.

``It has almost been too much of a good thing,'' Shyamalan says. ``I wish it could be spread out. I haven't had enough time to take it all in.''

There has been much for Shyamalan to absorb. Last month, he sold his latest script, a supernatural fantasy titled ``Unbreakable,'' to Disney for $5 million. It's the biggest spec script sale in Hollywood history, and Shyamalan's payday doesn't end there. Disney is giving him another $5 million to direct the film, which will begin filming in March for a Thanksgiving release.

Beyond the financial rewards, Shyamalan has received several accolades, including a recent Directors Guild nomination, a Golden Globe nod for his ``Sixth Sense'' script and the Visionary Award at the Palm Springs Film Festival. The fact that he co-wrote the holiday family hit ``Stuart Little'' hasn't hurt his standing, either.

The attention - and the avalanche of studio offers - has been head-turning, but Shyamalan seems committed to working in Hollywood on his own terms. That means he makes all his films in his hometown of Philadelphia, where he can go home at night and be with his wife of seven years (they met at college) and two daughters. He says he won't film on location until his children are older.

It's a big concession, and a bit of a surprise given Shyamalan's huge ambitions for himself and his work. Shyamalan, 29, has been making movies since the age of 10. Inspired by ``Star Wars,'' Shyamalan would round up his friends and neighbors for the short films he made with his father's 8mm camera. By the time he was 15, he already had 45 shorts under his belt.

He bucked his family's tradition of medicine (12 relatives, including his mother and father, are physicians) and went to New York University's film school. The goals were always the same: write and direct his own movies. And be the highest-paid professional in his field.

``My target audience is everyone,'' Shyamalan says. ``I make movies for 13-year-olds and 70-year-olds, which can be a pretty big burden when you have to make decisions that won't exclude anyone from that age range. But I want my movies to be seen. I want my name to be like (Steven) Spielberg's, so when people see it, they will come to the theater with excitement and anticipation that there will be a high level of entertainment.''

Generally, a filmmaker with Shyamalan's lofty goals would take up residence in Los Angeles, set up a production deal with a studio and spend the majority of his time schmoozing, taking meetings and reading about himself in the trade papers. But Shyamalan's resolve to put family first keeps him in Philadelphia, and his selmposed exile makes him a mystery to many in Hollywood.

``He's a father and a husband before being a filmmaker,'' says actor Eugene Osment, whose son, Haley Joel, memorably played the boy who could see dead people in ``The Sixth Sense.''

Indeed, at the Palm Springs Film Festival, Shyamalan delivered a speech that gave the audience the same mix of goose bumps and sniffles that ``The Sixth Sense'' produced. Shyamalan told of being kept in a waiting room for three hours by the head of a company. If he waited longer, he would break a promise to his wife that he be home by 6 p.m. to help care for their baby daughter.

So Shyamalan put on his coat and prepared to leave. The surprised receptionist snapped, ``Who do you think you are?'' Shyamalan says he thought long about the woman's question, eventually determining to drastically reorder his priorities.

``I decided to be a husband to my wife, a father to my children, a son to my parents, a brother to my sister and a friend to my friends, and then I'll be the filmmaker I want to be and reach my audience,'' Shyamalan told the appreciative audience, who greeted his address with a rousing ovation.

``He has a big heart,'' says Haley Joel Osment, the actor whom Garry Shandling insists is ``43 and can play 8.''

``When I met him, I thought he'd be some really old guy because the things he writes are just so wise,'' Osment continues. ``He may be very young, but he has a deep understanding of people and life.''

Shyamalan cites his parents' high expectations (``an A- was bad news'') and his Indian background (he was born in India and moved to Philadelphia when he was an infant) as important factors contributing to his early success. Shyamalan attended Catholic schools but calls himself a Hindu, and as such, believes that ghosts and spirits are a normal part of life.

Such beliefs informed the spirituality that pervades ``The Sixth Sense'' and his next film ``Unbreakable,'' which tells the story of a train wreck survivor who learns that the accident has a deeper meaning. Shyamalan says it's ``the best screenplay I've ever written.'' Not surprisingly, Bruce Willis will star again.

``I want to take people to the edge; that's why I named my production company `Blinding Edge Pictures,' '' Shyamalan says. ``I want to take people to the place where they see that bright light and get scared, but there's something beyond that light. And I want to show them that something. Those are the stories that I'm going to tell, and that's the challenge I'm going to issue for my audience.''

CAPTION(S):

4 PHOTOS

Photo: (1) `My target audience is everyone. ... I want my movies to be seen,'' says director M. Shyamalan.'

(2) Haley Joel Osment, the young star of the film ``The Sixth Sense,'' describes Shyamalan as big-hearted with ``a deep understanding of people and life.''

(3) Writer/director M. Night Shyamalan, left, chose Bruce Willis to star again in one of his films. The new movie, ``Unbreakable,'' tells the story of a train wreck survivor's spiritual awakening.

(4 -- 5 -- color -- cover) I see success