Anna Thomas

Infobox_Celebrity
name = Anna Thomas


birth_date = birth date and age|1948|7|12.
birth_place = Stuttgart, Germany.
death_date =
death_place =
occupation = Screenwriter, Film Producer,
and Writer.
spouse = Gregory Nava,
1975-today.
website = [http://www.vegetarianepicure.com/ Anna Thomas]
footnotes =
children = Christopher and Tedy.

Anna Thomas (born July 12, 1948 in Stuttgart, Germany) is a film screenwriter, film producer and writer. [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0858482/ Anna Thomas] at the Internet Movie Database.] She was born in Poland and came to the United States as an infant. She grew up in Michigan and California.

Thomas met her future husband Gregory Nava while working on her master's degree at University of California, Los Angeles. They married in 1975 and have collaborated on many projects. They have two sons: Christopher (born 1984) and Tedy (born 1985).

Biography

Education

While at the film school at UCLA Thomas wrote, produced and directed her master's thesis film, a dramatic feature titled "The Haunting of M," a turn of the century ghost story, shot in Scotland. It was well received by film critics and shown at festivals and art houses. [ [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19831215/REVIEWS/3121503011 Ebert, Roger] . "Chicago Sun-Times," film article, December 15, 1983.]

Career

While at college, she also wrote her first cookbook, "The Vegetarian Epicure" (Knopf, 1972). The book became a success and is acknowledged as the book that brought pleasure to vegetarian cooking. [ [http://www.deliciousindia.com/Articles/anna.htm "Delicious India"] . "Vegetarianism Is Here To Stay," interview with Anna Thomas.] A few years later she wrote her second book, "The Vegetarian Epicure, Book Two" (Knopf, 1978). Both books have been translated into several languages, sold in the millions in their various editions, and have remained in print.

Film work

In 1973, Thomas worked with fellow film student Gregory Nava on his master's thesis film, a dramatic feature set in the Middle Ages, "The Confessions of Amans". It was the beginning of a writing collaboration that has spanned more than two decades.

In 1984, Thomas co-wrote and produced "El Norte" with Nava directing. The film was a critical success. Thomas and Nava were nominated for an Academy Award and the film collected honors at various film festivals. In 1995, it was elected to the National Film Registry for the Library of Congress.

Thomas produced "A Time of Destiny" for Columbia Pictures in 1988 and worked for the studio on a few writing jobs.

She returned to the independent film world in 1995 with "My Family", a multi-generational Mexican-American family story set in East Los Angeles which Thomas co-wrote and produced.

In 1996, Thomas wrote "The New Vegetarian Epicure", a menu-based cookbook with a new collection of recipes.

Today

Thomas lives in Ojai, California where she continues to write screenplays and other fiction. She also teaches at the American Film Institute as a senior lecturer. [ [http://www.afi.com/education/conservatory/faculty.aspx AFI] faculty biographical information page.]

Books written

* "The Vegetarian Epicure" Alfred A. Knopf, 1972, 305 pages. ISBN 0394717848.
* "The Vegetarian Epicure, Book Two" Alfred A. Knopf, 1978, 401 pages. ISBN 0394734157.
* "The New Vegetarian Epicure" Alfred A. Knopf, 1996, 450 pages. ISBN 0679765883.

Gallery of book covers

creenwriting filmography

* "The Confessions of Amans" (1977).
* "The Haunting of M" (1981), also produced.
* "The End of August" (1982).
* "El Norte" (1983), also produced.
* "A Time of Destiny" (1988), also produced.
* "My Family/Mi Familia" (1995), also produced.
* "Frida" (2002).

Award nominations

* Academy Awards: Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, for "El Norte" (1983).
* Writers Guild of America: Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, for "El Norte" (1983).

References

Notes

External links

*
*
* [http://www.vegetarianepicure.com/ Anna Thomas] web site
* [http://www.vegetarianepicure.com/about/ebert.html Anna Thomas] interview with film critic Roger Ebert