Thom Fitzgerald
Born
Thomas Fitzgerald

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

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

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

He launched his career in film, releasing his debut feature The Hanging Garden in 1997. It starred 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

His second project, which was in progress before 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. However, the movie was too racy for North American television in 1999, and instead was released theatrically by Strand Releasing. 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

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

The Wild Dogs (2002) is a digitally 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

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 actress Joan Orenstein.[11]

3 Needles

3 Needles (2005) tells three short stories about the global HIV pandemic. In the first, Lucy Liu stars as a 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 it 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

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

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

Stage Mother

Filmography

YearFilm (Director)
1997 The Hanging Garden
1999 Beefcake
2001 Wolf Girl
2002 The Wild Dogs
2003 The Event
2005 3 Needles
2011 Cloudburst
2018 Splinters
2020 Stage Mother
YearTelevision
2010 The Gospel According to the Blues
2013 Forgive Me
2013 Sex & Violence
2021 Cam Boy
2022 Sugar Highs
YearFilm (Executive Producer)
2008 Growing Op
2012 Blackbird
2015 North Mountain
2021 Shush

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

  • Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Ribbon of Hope Award, 3 Needles[24]
  • Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television Genie Award (win), Thom Fitzgerald, Best Screenplay, The Hanging Garden[25]
  • Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television Genie Award (nom), T. Fitzgerald, L. Garfield, A. Gelbart, Best Picture, The Hanging Garden[26]
  • Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television Genie Award (nom), Thom Fitzgerald, Best Achievement in Direction, The Hanging Garden[21]
  • Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television Canadian Screen Award (nom), Thom Fitzgerald, Best Writing in a Dramatic Series, Forgive Me[27]
  • Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television Canadian Screen Award (nom), Thom Fitzgerald, Best Direction in a Dramatic Series, Sex & Violence[28]
  • Athens Outview Film Festival, Jury Award, Thom Fitzgerald, Best Film, Cloudburst
  • Atlanta Film Festival Pink Peach Feature Grand Jury Prize, Cloudburst]][19]
  • Atlanta Out on Film Festival Audience Award for Best Overall Feature, Cloudburst[29]
  • Atlanta Out on Film Jury Award for Best Film, Cloudburst[29]
  • Atlanta Out on Film Jury Award for Best Actress, Olympia Dukakis[29]
  • Atlantic Film Festival, Goldstar Award (win), Thom Fitzgerald, Most Promising Filmmaker, The Movie of the Week
  • Atlantic Film Festival, Atlantic Canadian Award (win), Thom Fitzgerald, Best Editing The Movie of the Week
  • Atlantic Film Festival, Atlantic Canadian Award (win), Thom Fitzgerald, Best Special Effects, The Movie of the Week
  • Atlantic Film Festival, Audience Award (win), Thom Fitzgerald, Best Film, The Hanging Garden[26]
  • Atlantic Film Festival, Canadian Award (win), Thom Fitzgerald, Best Canadian Film, The Hanging Garden[26]
  • Atlantic Film Festival, Atlantic Canadian Award (win), Thom Fitzgerald, Best Direction The Hanging Garden[26]
  • Atlantic Film Festival, Best Atlantic Film Award (win), Thom Fitzgerald, The Hanging Garden[26]
  • Atlantic Film Festival, Atlantic Canadian Award (win), Thom Fitzgerald, Best Direction, The Wild Dogs[26]
  • Atlantic Film Festival, Canadian Award (win), Thom Fitzgerald, Best Canadian Film, The Wild Dogs[26]
  • Atlantic Film Festival, Atlantic Canadian Award (win), Thom Fitzgerald, Best Direction, The Event[26]
  • Atlantic Film Festival, Atlantic Canadian Award (win), Thom Fitzgerald, Best Screenplay, The Event[26]
  • Atlantic Film Festival, Atlantic Canadian Award (win), Thom Fitzgerald, Best Direction, 3 Needles[26]
  • Atlantic Film Festival, Atlantic Canadian Award (win), Thom Fitzgerald, Best Screenplay, Cloudburst[26]
  • Atlantic Film Festival, Audience Award (win), Thom Fitzgerald, Best Film, Cloudburst[26]
  • Atlantic Fringe Festival, Fringe Hit! Award, Charlatan Theatre Collective, Bed and (Maybe) Breakfast
  • Atlantic Fringe Festival, Fringe Hit! Hot Ticket Award, Plutonium Playhouse, The Barnacle's Tale
  • Atlantic Fringe Festival, Jury Award for Fringiest Fringe Show, Plutonium Playhouse, The Barnacle's Tale
  • Barcelona International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival Audience Award for Best Film, Cloudburst[30]
  • Berlin International Film Festival, Reader Jury of the "Siegessäule" Award, Thom Fitzgerald, The Event[26]
  • Birmingham UK Shout Festival Audience Award for Best Film, Thom Fitzgerald, Cloudburst
  • Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival, Audience Choice Award for Best Film (win), Thom Fitzgerald, Cloudburst[31]
  • Claude Jutra Award, Thom Fitzgerald, The Hanging Garden
  • CNKY Cincinnati Kentucky BLGT Film Festival Best Feature Film Award, Cloudburst
  • Copenhagen MIX Copenhagen Film Festival Audience Award for Best Film, Cloudburst
  • Directors Guild of Canada Award (nom, Thom Fitzgerald, Outstanding Direction Feature, 3 Needles
  • Edmonton International Film Festival, Audience Choice Award for Best Canadian Film (win), Thom Fitzgerald, Cloudburst
  • Golden Trailer Awards (nom), Golden Trailer, Best Independent, The Event
  • GLAAD Media Awards (nom), Outstanding Film (Limited Release), The Hanging Garden
  • Hannover, Germany Queer Film Festival, Audience Award for Best Film, Cloudburst
  • Image+Nation Montreal GLBT Film Festival, Best Feature Film Award, Thom Fitzgerald, Cloudburst
  • Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival, Audience Award, Best Overall Film, Thom Fitzgerald, The Event
  • Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival, Audience Award for Best Lesbian Film, Thom Fitzgerald, Cloudburst[32]
  • Kingston Reelout Film Festival, Audience Award, Best Narrative Feature, Thom Fitzgerald, Cloudburst
  • Mar del Plata Film Festival Best Screenplay, Thom Fitzgerald, The Hanging Garden
  • Mix Milano Film Festival Grand Jury Award for Best Film, Thom Fitzgerald, Cloudburst
  • New York AIDS Film Festival, Bertha Meka's Award, 3 Needles
  • New Zealand Out Takes Film Festival, Audience Award for Best Feature, Thom Fitzgerald, Cloudburst
  • North Carolina Gay and Lesbian Film Festival Audience Award for Best Feature, Thom Fitzgerald, Cloudburst
  • Philadelphia QFest Audience Award for Best Feature Film, Thom Fitzgerald, Cloudburst
  • Portia White Prize Shortlist, 2011[33]
  • Portia White Prize, 2012
  • Rainbow Reels Film Festival People's Choice Award for Best Feature, Thom Fitzgerald, Cloudburst
  • Robert Merritt Award for Best New Play, Thom Fitzgerald, Cloudburst
  • Robert Merritt Award (nom) for Outstanding Production, Plutonium Playhouse, Cloudburst
  • Robert Merritt Award (nom) for Outstanding Set Design, Thom Fitzgerald, Cloudburst
  • Sacramento Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, Audience Award for Best Film, Thom Fitzgerald, Cloudburst
  • San Diego FilmOut, Audience Award for Best Feature Film, Thom Fitzgerald, Cloudburst
  • San Diego FilmOut, Jury Award for Best Feature Film, Thom Fitzgerald, Cloudburst
  • San Diego FilmOut, Jury Award for Best Direction, Thom Fitzgerald, Cloudburst
  • San Francisco Frameline Festival Audience Award for Best Film, Thom Fitzgerald, Cloudburst[26]
  • Seattle International Film Festival Emerging Master Showcase Award, The Event and The Wild Dogs[34]
  • Screen Nova Scotia Award nomination for Best TV Series, Thom Fitzgerald, Doug Pettigrew, Forgive Me[35]
  • Southwest Gay and Lesbian Film Festival Audience Award for Best Feature, Thom Fitzgerald, Cloudburst[36]
  • St. Louis QFest, Audience Award for Best Film, Thom Fitzgerald, Cloudburst
  • Sudbury Cinefest Best Canadian Film Award, Thom Fitzgerald, The Hanging Garden[26]
  • Taos Talking Pictures Film Festival, Taos Land Grant Award (nom), Thom Fitzgerald, The Wild Dogs
  • Toronto International Film Festival, People's Choice Award, Thom Fitzgerald, The Hanging Garden[26]
  • Toronto International Film Festival, Best Canadian Feature Film, Thom Fitzgerald, The Hanging Garden[26]
  • Troia International Film Festival, FIPRESCI Prize, Thom Fitzgerald, The Hanging Garden
  • Troia International Film Festival, Prize of the City of Grandola, Thom Fitzgerald, The Hanging Garden
  • Vancouver International Film Festival, Most Popular Canadian Film, Thom Fitzgerald, The Hanging Garden[26]
  • Vancouver International Film Festival Best Canadian Screenplay, Thom Fitzgerald, The Hanging Garden[26]
  • Vancouver International Film Festival Audience Choice Top Ten Canadian Films, Thom Fitzgerald, Cloudburst
  • Verzaubert International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, Rosebud (nom), Thom Fitzgerald, Beefcake[26]
  • Victoria Film Festival, Best Canadian Film, Thom Fitzgerald, Cloudburst[26]
  • Writers Guild of Canada, award nomination, Thom Fitzgerald, Sex & Violence for the episode "Surface Scars"[37]

References

  1. ↑ Thom Fitzgerald Archived 2018-08-03 at the Wayback Machine 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. ISBN 9780888644794. charlatan theatre collective.
  7. ↑ "internet movie database". IMDb. 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. ↑ "Theatre Review: Cloudburst, A Knockout". Archived from the original on 2012-03-05. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
  13. ↑ "Halifax's theatre community throws a Merritt party | Art Attack". Archived from the original on 2011-11-05. Retrieved 2011-04-05.
  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 (4 October 2011). "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. 1 2 "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. 1 2 Swedko, Pam (17 November 1997). "The 1997 Genie Awards: Fitzgerald honored with Jutra Award". Playback. Archived from the original on June 4, 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  22. ↑ "F".
  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. Archived from the original on June 4, 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  26. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 "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. 1 2 3 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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