Today we’d like to introduce you to Tammy Thomas.
Hi Tammy, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
I was born and raised in Dallas TX. and grew up an only child with a very lively, colorful imagination. From the time I popped out of my mother’s womb, she would read a bedtime story to me every night, and this sent my imagination into overdrive. Even though a tomboy, I especially loved dressing up in costumes, holding the brush in front of the mirror, singing, dancing, reading my favorite books out loud, and reciting lines from various TV shows, I was always playing pretend. At the age of 5, I started acting in my church plays, then at 8 years old, I auditioned and was cast in my school play in a production called Kids Sing Praises as Risky Rat – a role originally intended for a boy. This set an artistic fire in me that could not be contained. I started auditioning, and landing roles in various community theaters around town, which turned to paid gigs, then onto various indie films and television roles! I booked my first television role on Walker Tx. Ranger, then Prison Break and it was just a trickle effect. I attended The American Broadcasting School, graduated in 2000, and was immediately hired on with Metro Traffic as a traffic reporter. I loved that gig because it allowed me to do radio and acting gigs at the same time. I relocated to New York City in 2010 and booked a few live theater and indie film roles, then moved back to Dallas in 2012 and wrote, produced, financed, and starred in my first feature film – Paradise House. Several short films followed that, including Return to Sender in 2015, which aired on Badami TV ~ African American Short Films. In 2017, I bought a home in Atlanta and started splitting my time between Dallas & Atlanta, continuing to write produce, & finance indie films of all genres – comedy, horror, sci-fi, drama, and everything in between. In the summer of 2021, I along with my amazing Dallas crew filmed our second feature film called The Rings That Bind Us, which was shot in Dallas and will premier in the summer of 2022!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Oh Lord NO!!! The biggest struggle, I believe is what most people have to deal with, “The No’s”. When you are in the business of entertaining, there is a ton of rejection and you have to keep a stiff upper lip. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone out for auditions and didn’t get the role. Or, how many times I’ve asked for help with making my own films and told “NO”. BUT it is the NOs that have also fueled me and helped lead me to the YESes. It has created the aggressiveness in me that some may find flattering, and then some may find downright annoying!!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am an actress, filmmaker, writer, producer, traffic reporter…I think you get the point!! I wrote, produced, starred in, and financed my first feature film, a 1950’s period piece called “Paradise House” in the summer of 2013, then in 2015, my short film “Return To Sender” followed. We are in post-production for my second feature called “The Rings That Bind Us” which is another period piece. This one is set in the 1970s and stars Yarbrough & Peoples, Shuckey Duckey, Bob Carter, and myself, just to name of very few. it’s filled with DFW homegrown talent, and we are so excited for its release this summer! I am most proud of being able to have an amazing production team whom I love, that help put these films into full production on a shoestring budget.
We love surprises, fun facts, and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I am obsessed with fountains! I build them, and also have a collection of about 500 or so…lol
Contact Info:
- Email: edewemesey@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tammythomas5833
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100015319237734
Image Credits
Haigwood Studios
Michael Lindsey
David Velick
Thaddeus “Sonny” Jefferson
