Thom Fitzgerald
About
Biography
Biography
Although born in the USA, Thom Fitzgerald made his mark in the cinema of his adopted homeland of Canada. Born in Westchester County, New York and raised primarily in New Jersey, he settled in NYC to attend Cooper Union on scholarship. While on an exchange program at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Fitzgerald decided to stay. His 1990 student film "The Movie of the Week" received a prize at the Atlantic Film Festival and after graduating, the neophyte divided his time between making short films (including several experimental ones) and performing with the Charlatan Theatre Collective in production like "Bed & (maybe) Breakfast." Fitzgerald began writing the script for his first feature, the superb gem-like "The Hanging Garden" in 1994 and spent several years securing the financing. The film is a surreal examination of a dysfunctional family centering on Sweet William, the once overweight now thin and openly gay son who returns after ten-years for his sister's wedding. As Fitzgerald explained to Ted Loos in THE NEW YORK TIMES (May 10, 1998), "It's about a family that got cruelly and ironically stuck together on this planet, and figuring out how to love one another." After its debut at the Toronto Film Festival (where it nabbed the People's Choice award), "The Hanging Garden" proved to be a mainstream hit in Canada, earning 11 Genie nominations and taking home four awards, including Best Screenplay and the Claude Jutra Prize for its debuting director. It premiered in the USA at the Sundance Film Festival where it earned favorable attention and was picked up for distribution by MGM. Fitzgerald followed with the quasi-documentary "Beefcake" (1999), which interwove real and fictional accounts of men who posed for muscle magazines in the 1950s and 60s.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Cast (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Special Thanks (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Life Events
1987
At age 19, moved to Canada to attend the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design
1990
Student film "The Movie of the Week" won award at the Atlantic Film Festival
1997
Feature screenwriting and directing debut, "The Hanging Garden"; received 11 Genie nominations including Best Picture; won for Best Screenplay (1998 U.S. release)
1999
Helmed the pseudo-documentary "Beefcake", premiered at Sundance Film Festival
2001
Directed "Wolf Girl" a Halloween special for the USA Network about a teenage wolf-girl who is a circus attraction
2002
Helmed "The Wild Dogs," a digital video-shot ensemble drama set in contemporary Bucharest; debuted at the Toronto Film Festival
2003
Directed the low budget feature, "The Event" an AIDS themed film which debuted at Sundance
2006
Helmed "3 Needles," three short stories about the global HIV pandemic, starring Lucy Liu, Stockard Channing and Olympia Dukakis; released on World AIDS Day (December 1st)
