Peggy Thompson (screenwriter)

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

Peggy Thompson
Born1952 (age 68–69)
OccupationScreenwriter and professor
CitizenshipCanadian
Notable works
Website
www.peggythompson.ca

Career

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

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

References
  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. Washington. 8 (6): 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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