Michael Thomason: Director & Musician

Other Creative Talents 

• He is a musician with over 35 years of jazz, blues, R&B and gospel experience performing on stage, clubs and churches. 
• As of now, the easiest way to get a hold of us for The Gag Date is via the Facebook page: 
• https://www.facebook.com/TheGagDate  

Michael Thomason

Michael Thomason was originally born in Nashville, TN but raised on the south side of Chicago in the Englewood Community.

In most of his early writing it was technical. He started pursuing creative expressions much later in life out of necessity.  After eight years of live stage camera and production experience working for others, he decided to pursue stuff on his own. There is a lot to telling a compelling story.  The four years of film school and countless attempts with writing and producing shorts provided opportunities to explore and collaborate with others.  The growth has been exponential.  The experiences continue.  However, he finds that being an older guy, he has come to the table with a wealth of life experiences to draw upon.

He is pleased to say that he has begun to receive the appreciation and respect from his peers.  He simply believes this is directly because he plays well with others.  The Gag Date is a story that he originally wrote and later collaborated with Co-Writer, Michael Chyba.  He gave Michael tremendous credit for being able to be open and honest enough to listen and trust each other's creative instincts.

The Gag Date story is about a guy who decides to get back into the dating scene after being out of it for a while.  It’s considered a quintessential “fish out of water” tale.  In the story He blindly trusts people that don’t deserve it and he dishonestly conceals his vulnerabilities from those who love him most.  The audience roots for this guy because his intentions are pure.  He still does bonehead stuff.  It’s a love story for just about all ages, cultures and creeds.

The inspiration comes in many different forms. But, if he could collaborate with any Major name Director of today it would be: JJ Abrams.  He’s a thriller action film junky.  If there was an unlimited budget and imagination, he would love to explore presentations that continue to push the action genre envelope yet at the same time, keep the focus on character relations and objectives.  His number two guy is James Cameron.  He has paid his dues and has done everyone’s job.  He’s technical and courageous.  "He's not afraid to take on worlds above and beyond our own," shares Thomason.

He has completed three movie shorts and The Gag Date will be his first feature. Although, not yet completed, his most favorite project would have to be The Gag Date. The Gag Date has taken approximately three and half years to write, develop and now produce. What is most memorable about this experience is that he has had exposure to a lot of talented people who have contributed greatly to help make this project be the best! It's exciting!  Even with all of his many mistakes, he would do this all over again in a heartbeat.  He is encouraged by the level of passion and dedication. It is also kind of personal because the story is a presentation of actual events that took place in his life.

The Gag Date is expected be finished with filming the Summer of 2018! After that they will enter post-production! And they all know that can take some time! But hopefully later this year you all will be able to see the hard work we have put in! He is also developing a story about a bus driver who helps a woman being caught in an interesting set of circumstances. It will be his first solo feature screenplay and although it has captured the attention of many; it still needs work. He is also working with other writers collaboratively to help develop their masterpieces.