C R E A T I V E
Writer | Director
[screen]
Thomas is an award-winning director and screenwriter. He wrote the smash hit series HEARTBREAK HIGH for Netflix which won an International Emmy and was #1 in Australia and top 10 in 45 other countries within a week of its release. HEARTBREAK HIGH won 5 AACTA awards, was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding New Series and Thomas’ episode was shortlisted for the Betty Roland Prize in Scriptwriting at the 2023 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards.
Thomas’s other credits include HEARTBREAK HIGH S2 and Paramount+’s PAPER DOLLS. He is currently writing his second feature film WILDFLOWERS with script editor Anna Seifert-Speck (Ammonite, Supernova, Gods Own Country) and adapting a best-selling novel for TV.
His debut feature film THE GREENHOUSE premiered at BFI: Flare London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival and Frameline. It won Best Direction in a Feature Film (budget under $1M) at the 2021 Australian Directors Guild awards, multiple Best Film awards and the Audience Choice Award at 2021 Mardi Gras Film Festival. The Greenhouse was then acquired by Netflix ANZ.
Thomas is the creator, writer and executive producer of his autobiographical TV series SICK TO DEATH with the support of Screen Australia and Screen NSW and in collaboration with Rhapsody Films.
He is a graduate of the VCA and AFTRS, where he completed his Masters of Screen Arts in 2017, specialising in queer theory and the future of queer stories on screen, something he is wildly passionate about. His short film BACK TO EARTH played at festivals around the world and is currently on ABC iView. ST. AUGUSTINE, a short proof of concept, premiered in competition at MIFF 2019 and can be viewed online at Film Shortage.
TRAINING
Australian Film Television and Radio School
Master of Screen Arts – Film Production
2016 – 2017
Australian Film Television and Radio School
Graduate Diploma in Directing – Film Directing
2014 – 2014
Victorian College of the Arts
Bachelor of Film & Television Production Film/Cinema/Video Studies
2010 – 2012
AWARDS
2023 International Emmy – Best Kid’s Live Action– Heartbreak High – Season 1
2023 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards – Heartbreak High – Season 1 Ep 5 – Nomination
2021 Best Director – Feature Film [Budget under $1m] – ADG – The Greenhouse
2021 Best Australian Film – Melbourne Queer Film Festival – The Greenhouse
2021 Best Independent Film – The Gold Coast Film Festival – The Greenhouse
2021 Audience Choice Award – Best Film – Mardi Gras Film Festival – The Greenhouse
2018 Queer Screen Completion Fund – Mardi Gras Film Festival – The Greenhouse
2016 GoldRemi – Worldfest: Houston – Back to Earth
2012 Most Outstanding Student Film – Byron Bay Queer Fruits Film Festival – The Gay Son