Born in Vienna, Schein was a founder of the Swedish Film Institute and acted as its first Managing Director from 1963 to 1978.

This system guaranteed continuous production of Swedish films for several decades.

Schein was often engaged in public debates and demonstrated a distinctive understanding of the use of media.

Schein was also a columnist in Dagens Nyheter for more than 20 years, and wrote several books on current issues.

He also published several largely autobiographical books, including Schein (1980) and Sluten (1995).