Thom Fitzgerald

Thomas "Thom" Fitzgerald (born July 8, 1968) is an American-Canadian film and theatre director, screenwriter, playwright and producer.[1]

Thom Fitzgerald
Born
Thomas Fitzgerald

(1968-07-08) July 8, 1968
New Rochelle, New York, U.S.
OccupationFilm director, film producer, screenwriter, playwright
Years active1997–present

Life

Fitzgerald was born and raised in New Rochelle, New York.[2] His parents divorced when he was five years old. He moved with his mother and brother, Timothy Jr., to Bergenfield, New Jersey, where he was raised and graduated from Bergenfield High School. While pursuing his university degree in Manhattan at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art,[3] he spent a semester as an exchange student at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design,[4] and permanently moved to Halifax after completing his studies.

Fitzgerald continues to reside in Nova Scotia. He has described himself as a "struggling Catholic".[5]

Career

In Canada, Fitzgerald worked extensively as a trio with performance artists Renee Penney and Michael Weir for several years, as the Charlatan Theatre Collective.[6]

The Hanging Garden
Main article: The Hanging Garden (film)

He launched his career in film, releasing his debut feature, The Hanging Garden, in 1997 starring Troy Veinotte, Chris Leavins and Kerry Fox. That film won several Genie Awards, including acting awards for Peter MacNeill and Seana McKenna, and a screenplay award for Fitzgerald. It also garnered Fitzgerald the Claude Jutra Award for best feature film by a first-time director, the FIPRESCI European Critics Prize, Best Canadian Film Prize at the Atlantic Film Festival, Best Canadian Film at the Vancouver Film Festival, Best Screenplay at the Mar del Plata Festival, and a number of other awards.[7] The film made its U.S. debut at the Sundance Film Festival.[8]

Beefcake
Main article: Beefcake (film)

His second project, which was actually in progress prior to The Hanging Garden, was the muscle magazine docu-comedy Beefcake (1999). The story of fitness photographer Bob Mizer (played by Daniel MacIvor) and the wave of fitness magazines in the 1950s, it was commissioned for television by Channel 4 in the UK and Arte in France and Germany. But the movie was too racy for North American television in 1999, and was released theatrically by Strand Releasing instead. The film debuted at Sundance[9] and garnered four Genie Award nominations. Jonathan Torrens won the Best Supporting Actor Award from ACTRA, the Canadian equivalent of SAG.

Wolf Girl
Main article: Wolf Girl (2001 film)

Wolf Girl (2001) was a Halloween special for the USA Network starring Tim Curry, Victoria Sanchez, Lesley Ann Warren, Darlene Cates, Grace Jones, Shelby Fenner and Shawn Ashmore. Penned by novelist Lori Lansens, the story spins the werewolf genre in reverse, as cosmetic treatments render a furry side-show performer (Sanchez) progressively more psychotic.

The Wild Dogs
Main article: The Wild Dogs

The Wild Dogs (2002) is a digital video-shot ensemble drama set in contemporary Bucharest. The stories involve a reluctant dogcatcher (Mihai Calota), a diplomat with prostate cancer (David Hayman), and a touring pornographer (played by Thom Fitzgerald). Rachel Blanchard and Alberta Watson co-star. The Wild Dogs debuted at the Toronto Film Festival. Along with three Genie nominations including Best Supporting Actor for Hayman, The Wild Dogs won the Best Canadian Film Award at the Atlantic Film Festival and the Emerging Master Award at the Seattle International Film Festival.

The Event
Main article: The Event (2003 film)

The Event (2003), tells the story of Matt, a New Yorker with AIDS (Don McKellar) who has died mysteriously. Parker Posey plays an attorney who takes her investigation personally, pushing his family (Olympia Dukakis, Sarah Polley, Dick Latessa) and friends (Brent Carver, Rejean Cournoyer, Jane Leeves) into stark confessions about the reality of Matt's demise. Thom appeared in the film as 'Vagimar Director'. The low-budget film debuted at Sundance Film Festival,[10] opening to praise. It received numerous awards, including the Siegessäule Reader's Award, the Teddy Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, an ACTRA Supporting Actor Award for Rejean Cournoyer, the Outfest Jury Prize for Best Actress for Dukakis, a Best Supporting Actress Genie nomination for Dukakis, and Atlantic Film Festival Awards for Fitzgerald, writers Tim Marback and Steven Hillyer, and veteran actress Joan Orenstein.[11]

3 Needles
Main article: 3 Needles

3 Needles (2005) tells three short stories about the global HIV pandemic. In the first, Lucy Liu stars as a Chinese blood smuggler who unleashes havoc on a farmer's family. In the second story, a second rate porn actor in Montreal (Shawn Ashmore), hides his HIV status from his mother (Stockard Channing). In the third story, three Christian missionaries (Chloë Sevigny, Olympia Dukakis and Sandra Oh) barter with a South African plantation owner (Ian Roberts) to help a family of orphans. The film has won awards for cinematographer Tom Harting as well as Fitzgerald's Direction at the Atlantic Film Festival, and garnered Fitzgerald a Director's Guild nomination for Best Direction of a Feature Film. The director received promotional support from the United Nations' Global Media AIDS initiative, and the film was released on December 1 (World AIDS Day), 2006, in selected theaters and on Showtime Network.

Cloudburst
Main article: Cloudburst (2011 film)

In 2010 Fitzgerald's first full-length play Cloudburst debuted in Halifax at Plutonium Playhouse. Critics called the play "a knock-out" and "the best thing to happen to the Halifax theatre scene in a decade"[12] Cloudburst won the 2011 Merritt Award for Best New Play.[13] Fitzgerald shot a film version of Cloudburst in 2011 starring Olympia Dukakis, Brenda Fricker and Ryan Doucette. The film debuted at the 2011 Atlantic Film Festival and won an Atlantic Canada Award for Best Screenplay and the People's Choice Audience Award for Best Film of the Festival.[14] It also won the Audience Award for Best Film at Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival,[15] the Audience Award for Best Canadian Indie Film at Edmonton International Film Festival,[16] Top Ten Canadian Film at Vancouver International Film Festival, and Best Film at Image+Nation Montreal Film Festival.[17] It won a Best Canadian Film Award at Victoria Film Festival.[18] It won a Grand Jury Prize at the Atlanta Film Festival.[19] Cloudburst won film festival prizes worldwide including Audience Awards in Copenhagen, Barcelona, Hannover, Waterloo[20] and other cities.

Splinters
Main article: Splinters (2018 film)

Thom Fitzgerald's 2018 film Splinters, an adaptation of the play by Lee-Anne Poole, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Filmography
YearFilm (Director)
1997 The Hanging Garden
1999 Beefcake
2002 The Wild Dogs
2003 The Event
2005 3 Needles
2011 Cloudburst
2018 Splinters
2020 Stage Mother
YearTelevision
2001 Wolf Girl
2010 The Gospel According to the Blues
2013 Forgive Me
2013 Sex & Violence
YearFilm (As Producer)
2008 Growing Op
2012 Blackbird
2015 North Mountain
2020 Shush
2021 Gnaw

Quotes
  • "Writing and directing is simply about recreating 2,000 little moments from life that you observed."[21]
  • "I'm not at a fork in the road, I'm at an eggbeater in the road."[22]
  • "I see comedy everywhere, that's how I live day to day. I try to laugh and see the ironies and hopefulness in life. Even in the saddest things. They're one and the same, in their extremes. If you've ever seen someone truly happy, ecstatically happy, it is indistinguishable from grief."[23]

Awards

References
  1. Thom Fitzgerald at the Canadian Film Encyclopedia.
  2. "Thom Fitzgerald Bio". Tribute. Tribute Entertainment Media Group. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  3. Lucas, Ralph. "Thom Fitzgerald". Canadian Movie Database. Northern Stars. Archived from the original on 2012-11-15. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  4. "Thom Fitzgerald". Canadian Film Encyclopedia. Toronto International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 22 February 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  5. Wearring, Myles (2006-11-30). "The Other Side of AIDS". Sydney Star Observer. Archived from the original on September 3, 2007. Retrieved 2006-11-30.
  6. Melnyk, George (2007). Great Canadian Film Directors. University of Alberta Press. pp. 330. charlatan theatre collective.
  7. "internet movie database". Retrieved 26 Sep 2011.
  8. "The Hanging Garden". Sundance Archives. Sundance Institute. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
  9. "Beefcake". Sundance Archives. Sundance Institute. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
  10. "The Event". Sundance Archives. Sundance Institute. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
  11. "The Event". imdb.com. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
  12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-03-05. Retrieved 2013-09-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-11-05. Retrieved 2011-04-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. Kuburas, Melita. "Cloudburst rakes in the festival love". Playback Daily. Playback. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  15. "Cloudburst on Winning Streak". Canadian Movie News. Northern Stars. Archived from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  16. Knegt, Peter. "Thom Fitzgerald's "Cloudburst" Wins Awards Across Canadian Festival Circuit". Indiewire. Indiewire. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  17. Hawrysh, Michael. "Cloudburst and acclaimed docs snag prizes at Image + Nation". 2B Online. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  18. "Behind the Scenes: Victoria". Victoria Film Festival Official Website. Victoria Film Festival. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  19. "ATLFF Grand Jury Winners". Atlanta Film Festival Official Website. Atlanta Film Festival. Archived from the original on 2012-04-26. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  20. "Peoples' Choice Awards". Rainbow Reels Festival Official Website. Rainbow Reels Festival. Archived from the original on 2013-02-17. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  21. Swedko, Pam (17 November 1997). "The 1997 Genie Awards: Fitzgerald honored with Jutra Award". Playback. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  22. http://www.catsquotes.com/F.htm
  23. Nash, Cara. "Road Trip Romance". Film Ink. Film Ink. Archived from the original on 2012-03-30. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
  24. "Ribbon of Hope Honors HIV/AIDS Awareness Work". Official Website. Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  25. Wise, Wyndham. "The Hanging Garden". The Canadian Encyclopedia. The Historica Dominion. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  26. "Awards for Thom Fitzgerald". Internet Movie Database. imdb.com. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  27. "Canadian Screen Awards 2015 Nominees and Winners" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-02-24.
  28. "2015 Canadian Screen Awards Television Nominations" (PDF). Official Website Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 February 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  29. Eldridge, Richard. "Ron Gant's Good Day Atlanta debut, Cee Lo spotted!, Out on Film winners". Atlanta Magazine. Out on Film. Archived from the original on 28 October 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  30. "Official Website". Festival Internacional de Cinema Gai i Lesbic de Barcelona. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  31. Reid, Michael D. "Belgian crime thriller takes top honours at Victoria Film Festival". The Victoria Times Colonist. Canwest Publishing. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  32. Soares, Andre. "Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival Awards: Elderly Lesbian Lovers on the Run, Interracial Gay Romantic Comedy". Alt Film Guide. Alt Film Guide. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  33. "Finalists named for Provincial Arts Prizes". Canada Views. Archived from the original on 2016-01-16. Retrieved 23 Oct 2011.
  34. "emerging masters". Official Website. Seattle International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 2011-01-06. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  35. "Screen Nova Scotia announces nominees". The Chronicle Herald. The Chronicle Herald. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  36. "10TH ANNUAL SOUTHWEST GAY AND LESBIAN FILM FESTIVAL AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS!". Official Website Southwest Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. Closet Cinema. Archived from the original on 2013-12-02. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  37. "WGC SCREENWRITING AWARD NOMINEES ANNOUNCED". TV, eh?. TV, eh?. Retrieved 3 May 2015.

Further reading
  • Padva, Gilad. Nostalgic Physique: Displaying Foucauldian Muscles and Celebrating the Male Body in Beefcake. In Padva, Gilad, Queer Nostalgia in Cinema and Pop Culture, pp. 35–57 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014, ISBN 978-1-137-26633-0).
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