Peggy Thompson (screenwriter)

Peggy Thompson
Born1952 (age 71–72)
OccupationScreenwriter and professor
CitizenshipCanadian
Notable works
Website
www.peggythompson.ca

Peggy Thompson is a Canadian screenwriter, producer, playwright, and professor. She is known for her films The Lotus Eaters and Better Than Chocolate.

Career

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Thompson's 1989 short film In Search of the Last Good Man won the Genie Award for Best Live Action Short Drama at the 11th Genie Awards in 1990.[1] She won the award for Best Screenplay at the 14th Genie Awards in 1993 for The Lotus Eaters.[2]

Thompson wrote the screenplay and co-produced the 2000 film, Better Than Chocolate.[3] She began conceiving the film in 1993, shortly after finishing The Lotus Eaters, while on a retreat with Better Than Chocolate's other producer, Sharon McGowan.The two dared each other to create a lesbian coming out comedy.[4] Thompson was committed to not having Better Than Chocolate be in "the tradition of the celluloid closet" and thus gave the lesbian characters in the film a happy ending.[5]

Her other credits include the films Saint Monica[6] and Bearded Ladies: The Photography of Rosamond Norbury,[7] the television series The Beachcombers,[8] Da Vinci's Inquest and Big Sound, and stage plays including Brides in Space[9] and The Last Will and Testament of Lolita.[10] She was also coauthor, with Saeko Usukawa, of two coffee table books on film history, Hard Boiled: Great Lines from Film Noir and Tall in the Saddle: Great Lines from Classic Westerns.[11]

Thompson is currently an associate professor of screenwriting at the University of British Columbia.

Personal life

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Saeko Usukawa, an art book writer and editor with Douglas & McIntyre, was Thompson's partner from 1978 until her death in 2009.[12]

References

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  1. ^ "Jesus of Montreal in near sweep". Vancouver Sun, March 21, 1990.
  2. ^ "Film about Glenn Gould wins four Genie Awards; Best director, picture honors for dramatic tale". Ottawa Citizen, December 13, 1993.
  3. ^ "Romance given a gay twist". Vancouver Sun, August 27, 1999.
  4. ^ Tulchinsky, Karen X (2000). "Making Chocolate". Herizons. 13 (4): 22 – via ProQuest.
  5. ^ Tulchinsky, Karen X. (2000). "Books into movies: Part 1". Lambda Book Report. 8 (6). Washington: 9–11 – via ProQuest.
  6. ^ "Ararat triumphs at Genies". Victoria Times-Colonist, February 14, 2003.
  7. ^ "About Face; Documentary follows Vancouver photographer Rosamond Norbury as she plays with the boundaries of gender identity". Vancouver Sun, August 13, 2015.
  8. ^ "Drama workshop helps develop creative skills". The Globe and Mail, June 6, 1985.
  9. ^ "Feminist fantasy in space". Vancouver Sun, January 13, 1987.
  10. ^ "Lolita grows up to get last laughs". Toronto Star, May 29, 1987.
  11. ^ "Peggy Thompson: Better than chocolate. Healthier, too". Vancouver Sun, March 4, 2000.
  12. ^ "A behind-the-scenes force guiding books onto shelves". The Globe and Mail, July 31, 2009.
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