Gordon (Don) Thomas, was born in December, 1967, the fifth of six
children. He grew up in the western suburbs of Chicago. His devotion to
diversity, acceptance, and tolerance was a high priority, and is
evident in his work.
After graduating magna cum laude from Northwestern University, Don
moved to California in 1991 to pursue an advanced degree and a career
in film making. After a number of jobs in Los Angeles and San Jose in
and around the film industry, he settled in San Francisco.
In June 2001, he became the first to earn a Master of Fine Arts in
Cinema with an Animation emphasis at San Francisco State University. He
designed his own program, incorporating 2d and 3d computer animation
and stop motion. He also taught animation classes at SFSU, and helped
research and set up facilities to improve the animation program.
Throughout this, Don continued to make films and enter them in
competitions and festivals. His final film,
Pedro + Tony? (2002), was shown at more
than fifty film festivals in the United States, South America, Europe
and Asia. It won the Best Animation Prize at the Chicago Gay and
Lesbian International Film Festival.