Jeremy Thomas

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For the British ecologist, see Jeremy A. Thomas.

Jeremy Thomas
CBE
Thomas at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival
Born (1949-07-26) 26 July 1949 (age 74)
London, England
OccupationFilm producer
Years active1976–present
Spouses
Claudia Frohlich
​
​
(m. 1977; div. 1981)​
Eski Thomas née Vivien Coughman
​
​
(m. 1982)​

Jeremy Jack Thomas,

European Film Award for Outstanding European Achievement in World Cinema. His father was director Ralph Thomas (director of many of the Doctor films), while his uncle Gerald Thomas directed all of the films in the Carry On
franchise.

Life and career

Thomas was born in London, England into a filmmaking family with his father, Ralph Philip Thomas, and uncle, Gerald, both being directors.[1] His childhood ambition was to work in cinema. As soon as he left school, he went to work in various positions, ending up in the cutting rooms working on films such as The Harder They Come, Family Life and The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, and worked through the ranks to become a film editor for Ken Loach on A Misfortune.

After editing Philippe Mora's Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?, he produced his first film Mad Dog Morgan in 1974 in Australia. He then returned to England to produce Jerzy Skolimowski's The Shout, which won the Grand Prix de Jury at the Cannes Film Festival.

Thomas' films are all highly individual and his independence of spirit has paid off both artistically and commercially. His extensive output of over forty films includes three films directed by

Nagisa Oshima's Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, and The Hit directed by Stephen Frears
.

In 1986, Thomas produced Bernardo Bertolucci's epic, The Last Emperor, an independently financed project that was three years in the making. A commercial and critical triumph, the film swept the board at the 1987 Academy Awards, garnering nine Oscars, including Best Picture.

Thomas has since completed many films, including

Rabbit-Proof Fence, David Mackenzie's film of Alexander Trocchi's Young Adam, Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers, Terry Gilliam's Tideland, Wim Wenders' Don't Come Knocking, Richard Linklater's Fast Food Nation and Gerald McMorrow's Franklyn, starring Eva Green, Sam Riley and Ryan Phillippe. His film, Jon Amiel's Creation, about the life of Charles Darwin, with Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly in the leads, was the Opening Gala of the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival
.

In 2010, Thomas premiered

3D
film to show in Competition.

Thomas' recent[

Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. In 2014, Thomas released Jim Jarmusch's vampire opus Only Lovers Left Alive starring Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska and John Hurt, and Richard Shepard's black comedy Dom Hemingway starring Jude Law, Richard E. Grant, Demián Bichir and Emilia Clarke
.

Recent[

Luke Evans and Elisabeth Moss, and Tale of Tales directed by Matteo Garrone starring Salma Hayek, Vincent Cassel, John C. Reilly and Toby Jones
.

Thomas has said of his ethos:

An entrepreneurial spirit is an important element of being a producer, some sort of inner workings that is pushing you forward. Because there are a lot of knockbacks and you have to wear a sort of armour so you can continue believing in your films when everybody around you is telling you: "Don't do that."[2]

In 1998, Thomas founded his international sales arm, HanWay Films, to service his own productions. HanWay has since expanded to sell third party projects, as well as handling the libraries of many of the world's best-known filmmakers.

Thomas was Chairman of the

San Sebastian Film Festival, Berlin Film Festival[3] and Cannes Film Festival (Un Certain Regard) and has also served on the main jury at Cannes. He was made a Life Fellow of the British Film Institute
in 2000.

Thomas was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours.[4] He was also made Honorary Associate of London Film School
.

Filmography

As producer

Executive producer

References

  1. ^ "Jeremy Thomas Biography". Film Reference. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
  2. Berlinale Talent Campus. Archived from the original
    on 24 May 2010. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
  3. ^ "Berlinale: 1994 Juries". berlinale.de. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  4. ^ "No. 58929". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2008. p. 8.

External links

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