Jerry Thompson

Jerry Thompson earned a bachelor’s degree in film studies from UNLV in 2001.  While there, he wrote and illustrated a bi-weekly comic strip called Primal Squat for the university newspaper, and had illustrations published in a variety of local newspapers and magazines.  He self published a collection of his works, and sold several dozen copies.  Mostly to family.  He’s got a couple boxes left in his garage if you want one.  He worked his way through college drawing caricatures at various hotels on the Strip, including the Excalibur, New York New York,  MGM, and Venetian.  He was a full time artist for almost seven years and was a manager for most of that time, drawing over 35,000 people from live sittings, and helping to train dozens of artists who worked with him.

A couple years after completing college, Jerry founded Light Forge Studios, a full service videography company in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Since then he has been working full time as a writer, director, cinematographer, and editor.  He has shot dozens of commercials and television shows, as well as corporate, instructional and promotional videos for shows and entertainers on the strip.   Jerry was honored as the UNLV College of Fine Arts Alumni of the Year in 2009.

Jerry recently finished writing, directing, shooting and editing Thor at the Bus Stop, his first feature film with brother and long time creative partner Mike Thompson.  Their film was accepted into several prestigious international film festivals, including two packed screenings at Cinevegas in 2009, the Singapore International Film Festival, the World Comedy Festival in Bangkok, Thailand, the Festivus Film Festival in Denver, Colorado, and the Austin International Film Festival, where they were given a Special Jury Mention for Independent Filmmaking.  Thor at the Bus Stop also enjoyed a limited Theatrical Release.

Mike and Jerry have also written and directed over a dozen award winning short films together. The short version of Thor at the Bus Stop won Best Film at the 2003 Spring Flicks short film competition and the Audience Choice Award at the Mercury Film Festival that same year.  Their short film Passenger Seat won eight awards at Spring Flicks in 2008, including Best Film, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Sound Design, and Best Screenplay.   It also won Best Nevada Filmmaker at the Dam Short Film Festival in Boulder City, Nevada, as well as the Overall Audience Choice Award.  They have entered various 48 hour film competitions and have won multiple awards every time they’ve entered.

Jerry can be reached at jerry@lightforgestudios.com