Thomas Schlesinger

Owner at Storytellers Academy
Screenwriter and Script Consultant

Santa Monica, California

Member Since:
February 2021

Last online:
> 2 weeks ago

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About Thomas

Tom Schlesinger is a Santa Monica screenwriter and story producer who specializes in adapting true stories for feature films, documentaries and television series.. He has currently written two scripts for filmmaker Paul Saltzman’s Sunrise Films in Toronto: “Thief River,” the "Hoosiers" of hockey; and “2nd Line West,” a triumph of the spirit family drama.

Tom was the Story Producer on the HBO documentaries "Prom Night in Mississippi" with Morgan Freeman and "A Small Act," both premiering at Sundance. He was the script consultant on Caroline Link’s "Nowhere in Africa," Academy Award-winner for Best Foreign Film, and on her feature "Beyond Silence," which was nominated for an Academy Award.

Tom facilitates story development seminars for Pixar Animation Studios, Disney’s Maker Studios, Red Bull Media House in Santa Monica, and Shopify in Toronto. He also facilitates human potential seminars: “The Heroine’s Journey for Everyone,” internationally; "Art as Transformation" at UCLA; "Myths, Dreams and Movies" at the Esalen Institute; and "Creative Flow: the Inner Reaches of Outer Space," at the Academy of Art in Munich.

Unique traits: Specializing in Heroine's Journey, Hero's Journey and Aristotelian structure and the parallel emotional journeys of writer/filmmaker, characters and audience.

Gender:
Male

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Credits

Meeting the Beatles in India (2020)
Documentary by Sunrise Films/Paul Saltzman Executive Producer Director Paul Saltzman returns to India as he reminiscences his time with the Beatles while they were on a spiritual retreat under the mentorship of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1968.
Sands of Silence (2016 - 2017)
Documentary by Chelo Aleverz-Stehle Story Consultant A 15-year quest to expose the underworld of sexual exploitation and trafficking from Asia to the Americas leads world-reporter Chelo Alvarez-Stehle to the windswept beach where her childhood ended and family secrets began.
I Will Dance (2015)
by Joseph East Co-writer Follows the young people of Selma Alabama's RATCo as they journey to New York City to share their story of hope, resilience, and overcoming.
The Rugby Player (2013 - 2014)
Documentary by Scott Gracheff Story Consultant THE RUGBY PLAYER is an uplifting and stereotype-shattering documentary that tells the story of a mother, a son, and what it takes to be a hero. The film explores the lives of Mark Bingham, one of the passengers of United Flight 93 on 9/11, and his mother, Alice Hoagland, a former United Airlines flight attendant. THE RUGBY PLAYER is an intimate portrait of how a son's heroism can inspire a nation, and how a mother's love can turn profound loss into unshakable resolve. Utilizing footage shot by Bingham himself, this timely film provides keen insights for the national debates on LGBT rights, marriage equality and gay athletes in sports.
The Last White Knight (2012)
Documentary by Paul Saltzman co-writer, co-executive producer In 1965, 21-year-old Torontonian, Paul Saltzman drove to Mississippi, volunteering as a civil rights worker with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. He was arrested, spending 10 days in jail. He smuggled letters out of jail to the Toronto Star. Canadian Foreign Affairs requested his release but Saltzman declined. Posted to one of the toughest segregationist towns, Greenwood, he helped disadvantaged sharecroppers register to vote. He was assaulted by a young Klansman. In 2007, Saltzman returned to find the KKK member who had punched him in the head, to explore if individual reconciliation was possible. He found him and a 5 year dialogue has ensued. His assailant was, Byron de la Beckwith Jr., whose father, Byron de la Beckwith Sr. murdered NAACP Field Secretary Medgar Evers.
A Small Act (2010)
Documentary by Jennifer Arnold Story Consultant A young Kenyan's life changes drastically when his education is sponsored by a Swedish stranger. Years later, he founds his own scholarship program to replicate the kindness he once received.
Prom Night in Mississippi (2010)
by Paul Saltzman writer-consultant A high school in a small-town in Mississippi prepares for its first integrated senior prom.
Nowhere in Africa (2002 - 2003)
Film by Caroline Link story consultant A German Jewish refugee family moves to and adjusts to a farm life in 1930s Kenya.