Anna Thomas (born July 12, 1948) is a German-born American author, screenwriter, and film producer. She is best known as the author of the 1972 vegetarian cookbook, ''The Vegetarian Epicure'', which contributed to the rise of the vegetarian movement of the 1970s. She is currently Discipline Head of the Screenwriting department at the
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.
Leade ...
.
Education
While at the
film school
A film school is an educational institution dedicated to teaching aspects of filmmaking, including such subjects as film production, film theory, digital media production, and screenwriting. Film history courses and hands-on technical training ...
at
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
Thomas wrote, produced and directed her master's
thesis film, a dramatic feature titled ''
The Haunting of M'', a turn of the century ghost story, shot in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. It was well received by
film critics
Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outlets ...
and shown at
festivals
A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival co ...
and art houses.
The Vegetarian Epicure
She wrote her first cookbook ''The Vegetarian Epicure'' (1972) while still a film student at UCLA. It had a strong impact on the
natural foods movement within the
American counterculture. As noted in ''
The Roanoke Times
''The Roanoke Times'' is the primary newspaper in Southwestern Virginia and is based in Roanoke, Virginia, United States. It is published by Lee Enterprises. In addition to its headquarters in Roanoke, it maintains a bureau in Christiansburg, ...
'', "for many of the young people turning to vegetarianism in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Anna Thomas was the guru in their kitchens." Thomas later said that while she was a student at UCLA, she "wasn't eating much meat," and thus was focusing on vegetarian cooking. However, she states that there "weren't any good vegetarian cookbooks then. So I was just making things up in 1968 and '69, and somebody said, `Gee, Anna, you're such a good cook, you should write a cookbook.' And when you are 19 or 20 you say, `Yeah, OK, I think I will,' and then you do."
[Revisiting the `Vegetarian Epicure']
/ref> The success of the book was due to the fact that it turned away from the ascetic approach found in American vegetarian cookbooks,[ and its ability to introduce pleasure to American vegetarian meals.
]
Additional cookbooks
Thomas has also published four additional cookbooks. Her next two books were also vegetarian: ''The Vegetarian Epicure, Book Two'' (1978) and ''The New Vegetarian Epicure'' (1996). However, her final two books included a mix of vegetarian and vegan recipes: ''Love Soup,'' and the ''Vegan Vegetarian Omnivore'' (which also included meat-based dishes).
Film work
In 1973, Thomas worked with fellow film student Gregory Nava
Gregory James Nava (born April 10, 1949) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter.
Personal life
Nava was born in San Diego, of Mexican and Basque heritage. Nava graduated from St. Augustine High School (San Diego), St. Augustine ...
on his master's thesis film, a dramatic feature set in the Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, '' The Confessions of Amans''. It was the beginning of a writing collaboration that has spanned more than two decades.
In 1984, Thomas co-wrote and produced '' El Norte'' with Nava directing. The film was a critical success. Thomas and Nava were nominated for an Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
and the film collected honors at various film festivals. In 1995, it was elected to the National Film Registry
The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception i ...
for the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
.
Thomas produced ''A Time of Destiny
''A Time of Destiny'' is a 1988 American drama war film directed by Gregory Nava and written by Nava and Anna Thomas. The story is based on the opera '' La forza del destino'' by Giuseppe Verdi. The motion picture was executive produced by Shep G ...
'' for Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
in 1988 and worked for the studio on a few writing jobs.
She returned to the independent film
An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...
world in 1995 with ''My Family
''My Family'' is a British sitcom created and initially co-written by Fred Barron, which was produced by DLT Entertainment and Rude Boy Productions, and broadcast by BBC One for eleven series between 2000 and 2011, with Christmas specials broadc ...
'', a multi-generational Mexican-American
Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...
family story set in East Los Angeles
East Los Angeles ( es, Este de Los Ángeles), or East L.A., is an unincorporated area in Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 118,786, a drop of 6.1% from 2010, when it was 126,496. For statistical purpo ...
which Thomas co-wrote and produced.
Today
Thomas lives in Ojai, California
Ojai ( ; Chumash: ''’Awhaỳ'') is a city in Ventura County, California. Located in the Ojai Valley, it is northwest of Los Angeles and east of Santa Barbara. The valley is part of the east–west trending Western Transverse Ranges and is ...
and Los Angeles, where she continues to write screenplays and other fiction. She is the Screenwriting Discipline head at the American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.
Leade ...
.AFI
faculty biographical information page.
Cookbooks
Vegetarian
* ''The Vegetarian Epicure'' Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...
, 1972, 305 pages. .
* ''The Vegetarian Epicure, Book Two'' Alfred A. Knopf, 1978, 401 pages. .
* ''The New Vegetarian Epicure'' Alfred A. Knopf, 1996, 450 pages. .
Vegetarian and Vegan
* ''Love Soup'' W. W. Norton & Company, 2009, 528 pages. .
*''Vegan Vegetarian Omnivore: Dinner for Everyone at the Table.'' W. W. Norton & Company, 2016, 496 pages. .
Screenwriting filmography
* '' The Confessions of Amans'' (1977)
* '' The Haunting of M'' (1981), also produced
* ''The End of August'' (1982)
* '' El Norte'' (1983), also produced
* ''A Time of Destiny
''A Time of Destiny'' is a 1988 American drama war film directed by Gregory Nava and written by Nava and Anna Thomas. The story is based on the opera '' La forza del destino'' by Giuseppe Verdi. The motion picture was executive produced by Shep G ...
'' (1988), also produced
* '' My Family/Mi Familia'' (1995), also produced
* ''Frida
''Frida'' is a 2002 American biographical drama film directed by Julie Taymor which depicts the professional and private life of the surrealist Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.
Starring Salma Hayek in an Academy Award–nominated portrayal as Kahl ...
'' (2002)
Awards and nominations
Nominated
* Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
: Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Beginning with th ...
, for '' El Norte'' (1983).[IMDB Awards and Nominations]
/ref>
* Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers:
* The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO
* The Writers Guil ...
: Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, for ''El Norte'' (1983).[
]
Won
* James Beard Foundation Award
The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media award ...
: Best Healthy Focus Cookbook, for ''Love Soup'' (2010).[James Beard Foundation Award]
/ref>
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Anna
1948 births
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American women writers
20th-century American women writers
American cookbook writers
American film producers
American screenwriters
American vegetarianism activists
American women screenwriters
German emigrants to the United States
American women film producers
American women non-fiction writers
Living people
Vegetarian cookbook writers
Vegetarian cookbooks