Tom Greene(I)
- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Tom Greene began making films in High School, and won several international awards. One of them was seen at a festival in San Francisco by Universal Studio's Christopher Wood, who in turn purchased it for their Independent Film Series. Wood, along with other Studio Executives were impressed with Tom and allowed him to "roam the lot" to observe the numerous TV and Motion Picture productions. Tom subsequently sequestered an abandon office and began sending memos and notes to various producers about their productions. He was quickly noticed and then mentored by producers William Sackheim and Harve Bennett, as well as award-winning writer-director Joel Oliansky. After Tom had presented Sackheim and Oliansky with half a dozen stories for their Emmy© Award winning series THE LAW, they secured a writer's contract at Universal for him when he was nineteen years old. He was soon hired by renowned Directors Robert Wise and Mark Robson to be their Director of Project Development, working closely with them on numerous motion pictures including EARTHQUAKE and THE HINDENBURG. He also worked with Robert Wise on his production of the first STAR TREK motion picture as a special effects consultant. For Harve Bennett he worked on various projects including writing for the hit series THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN and creating THE BIONIC BOY. In the ensuing years, Tom has worked at all the major Hollywood studios, having written over one hundred and fifty scripts for feature films, pilots, and TV series and movies, as well as producing over one hundred hours of TV. Many of the television series he worked on became the launching pads for some of the top careers in Hollywood, among them: THE LAW (Judd Hirsch's first series), MAN FROM ATLANTIS (Patrick Duffy's first series), and DOG AND CAT (Kim Bassinger's first series). Tom continued writing and producing such popular series as MAGNUM P.I., TALES OF THE GOLD MONKEY, and KNIGHT RIDER and was writer, creator, and Executive Producer of the ABC/WALT DISNEY STUDIOS Western Mini-Series WILDSIDE. It starred Academy Award© nominated Howard Rollins and Meg Ryan. WILDSIDE was actress Meg Ryan's first prime time television series and Tom was so taken by her after watching a home-made video interview that her agent sent him, that he insisted that Disney's CEO Michael Eisner let him use her over several well established actresses who Eisner had screen-tested for the role. Tom was Executive Producer on the MCA Entertainment series SWAMP THING and then became Supervising Producer on the BSB Productions/Rysher Entertainment action-adventure series THUNDER IN PARADISE. Besides producing the series, Tom also directed episodes of the series, as well as wrote two spin-off motion pictures, and the first interactive CD-i game based on a television series. He wrote, directed and co-Executive Produced the pilot "Jason and the Argonauts" for the French production company Gaumont; the feature "Cabin Pressure" for Lion's Gate; and several features for Frankfort Filmproduktionen in Germany. He is working on the screenplay, LITTLE VICTORIES, an autobiographical feature about his experiences living with twenty-four hour FBI surveillance when he was a child, which he will also direct. His childhood experiences have propelled Tom to a lifetime of activism and progressive causes especially after experiencing how his father, who was an award-winning writer, was being persecuted for his never ending fight against oppression and false accusations during the nightmare of McCarthyism. Besides being an actor and accomplished musician, Tom is involved in saving horses from slaughter houses. Working with various horse-rescue organizations, he has helped save hundreds of horses, as well as taking in horses himself. To help raise money for horse sanctuaries, Tom has competed in numerous charity rodeos throughout the country, having been taught by the Academy Award© winning actor Ben Johnson and "King of the Cowboy's", Roy Rogers. He has also jousted at Renaissance Fairs, and performed in the ancient equestrian skills of Keyhole, Serpentine and Quintain. He was trained as a fencer by legendary Hollywood swashbuckling icon, Master Ralph Faulkner, at his famed Falcon Studios, and has used his experiences in many of his productions, as well as having appeared in several books on the art of the sword. He is also a lecturer and historian on Hollywood, and is an accomplished authenticator of Movie and TV props and costumes, having brought his knowledge and expertise to museums, auction houses and collectors around the world. He is also the author of two books, the adult fable "A Snowball In Hell", as well as having co-authored "Off The Boss: A Survival Manual". Tom also has developed a pioneering literacy program, THE WORD FIRST©, which was sponsored by both the Writers Guild of America Foundation, as well as CAA and Universal Studios. He travels to High Schools and works with "at risk" students, many of whom have been erroneously deemed "functionally illiterate", and supervises them to write an one-act play which in turn is then performed for the student body in their auditorium by professional actors.