Tom Garrett is a producer of independent feature films and a founding
partner of Circa Films, a sales and distribution company engaged in
production and international distribution of independent feature films.
Over a 20-year period Tom has been credited as a producer on 14 feature
films. He has intimate knowledge of the legal and financial issues
involved in feature film production, having produced, directed and
delivered films to the international marketplace. He has also served as
a consultant on production issues, budgets, financing, guilds and
unions, and legal affairs on projects ranging from low-budget
independents to studio-level pictures.
Tom's films have screened at many prestigious film festivals worldwide,
including Berlin, Cannes, Florence, Rotterdam and Toronto. For two
decades he has played an active role with Circa Films at the Cannes
Marche du Film at the Cannes Film Festival, MIFED (Milan International
Film Fair of Exhibitors and Distributors) and AFM-American Film Market.
With an M.F.A from New York University, Tisch School of the Arts-
Graduate Film program, Tom has worked as line producer, unit production
manager and executive producer for a number of noted directors,
including Academy Award winner
Jean-Charles Tacchella
(Cousin cousine (1975),
Tous les jours dimanche (1994))
and Alex Cox
(Sid & Nancy (1986),
Repo Man (1984). He has also worked
with such well-known producers as
Daniel Toscan du Plantier and
Art Linson. Tom has been a part of numerous
international co-productions. He has worked with many of the film
industry's noted personalities, including such distinguished
cinematographers as Mario García Joya
(Erdbeer und Schokolade (1993)),
Carlo Varini
(Subway (1985)) and
Jan de Bont
(Stirb langsam (1988),
Jagd auf Roter Oktober (1990),
Black Rain (1989)) and such respected
actors as Rod Steiger,
Gary Oldman and Thierry Lhermitte.
Tom produced and directed
Death Collector (1988), aka "Tin
Star Void", a sci-fi western apocalyptic film from a screenplay by John J. McLaughlin (Black Swan, Hitchcock, Parker, Coma) that has been been called a "cult
classic" by both Variety and The Hollywood Reporter.
In addition to his feature film career, Tom has worked as a producer
and director for such prominent advertising agencies and public
relations firms as Chiat-Day/Mojo, JWT, BBD&O and with such clients as
Chanel, Reebok, Tag Heuer, Publix and Calvin Klien. His clients have
also included Def Jam and Sony Records, where he produced music videos
for the likes of Run-D.M.C. and
U2.
Tom and his late wife, Lee Morse, owned Best West Productions, a production
service company that had brought many feature films to the West Coast
of Florida, among them such notable productions as
Große Erwartungen (1998)
(Ethan Hawke,
Gwyneth Paltrow and
Robert De Niro) and
Palmetto (1998)
(Woody Harrelson,
Elisabeth Shue and
Gina Gershon). Lee Morse (I)' was a producer and production coordinator.
In the summer of 2007 Tom attended a Directors Masters Class taught by
Martin Scorsese at the Cannes Film Festival.
Tom has taught film production at NYU - Tisch School of the Arts, State
College of Florida, University of Tampa and was the founding film program
coordinator at Sam Houston State University's (a Carnegie Doctoral
Research University) College of Fine Arts and Mass Communication where he taught undergraduate and graduate courses. Tom is Chair in the Department of Communication, Film & Media Studies at The University of New Haven. In addition, Tom
continues to coordinate a world class program for students and media
professionals at the Cannes Film Festival annually; 'Business of Film
and the International Market'. Tom lives in Milford, Connecticut and
Sarasota, Florida.
