This article is about the writer Rob Thomas. For other people with this name see Rob Thomas (disambiguation).
Rob Thomas (born August 15, 1965 in
Sunnyside, Washington) is an American author, producer, and
screenwriter, best known as the author of the 1996 novel
Rats Saw God and creator of the television program
Veronica Mars.
Education and early career
Thomas graduated from
San Marcos High School in 1983, and from the
University of Texas at Austin in 1987 with a BA in History.
Before he began writing novels for young adults, Thomas taught high-school
journalism at John Marshall High School in
San Antonio,
Texas, and advised the University of Texas at Austin student magazine. From August 1993 to June 1995 he worked for
Channel One News, an experience which informed his novel 1998
Satellite Down. Thomas was a member of three
Austin, Texas bands — Public Bulletin, Hey Zeus, and Black Irish — from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s.
Entertainment career
Thomas's first television writing credit came on a 1996 episode of
Cartoon Network's
Space Ghost Coast to Coast. He next wrote the script that would eventually become the 1999 film
Fortune Cookie. Based on the script, he was offered a job on the writing staff of
Dawson's Creek during the show's first season. After reading the same script, then-president of
Sony Entertainment Jeff Sagansky suggested Thomas create a romantic comedy pilot. That show soon developed into
Cupid, a critically-acclaimed 1998
dramedy series canceled after 14 episodes in 1999. This led to Thomas being asked to run
ABC's 1999 series
Snoops, although he left due to creative differences with
David E. Kelley before the show aired. After
Snoops, Thomas got pilot orders for his US adaptation of the British
Metropolis and original script
The Sticks, but neither went to series.
Thomas got his second show picked up in 2004 — the critically successful but again low-rated
Veronica Mars, which battled low ratings until it was canceled after the third season in 2007. He was offered the
showrunner position on
NBC's
Friday Night Lights in 2006, which he declined in favor of the possibility (and eventual reality) of a third season of
Veronica Mars. Thomas was also offered and declined
CBS's
Viva Laughlin in 2007; he joined ABC's
Miss/Guided in May 2007 before leaving in July of the same year, again due to creative differences.
Thomas worked as a writer on ABC's short-lived primetime series
Big Shots from 2007 to 2008, co-wrote and shot the comedy pilot
Party Down (picked up by
Starz to air in 2009), and had three pilots ordered for the 2008-2009 television season: a remake of
Cupid for ABC, since picked up to air midseason;
Good Behavior, a US adaptation of New Zealand series
Outrageous Fortune also for ABC, and a
modern spinoff of
Beverly Hills, 90210 for
The CW, which he departed early in favor of his other projects. As of February 2009, according to
Entertainment Weekly, Thomas has fueled rumors of a possible
Veronica Mars film.
He has also adapted the screenplay for
Drive Me Crazy, and directed
On Air, a twenty-minute film adaptation of a story from
Doing Time.
Works
Books
Television programs
- Good Behavior (writer, executive producer)
- Space Ghost Coast to Coast (1996) (writer, episode Explode)
- Dawson's Creek (1998) (writer, season one, episodes Prelude to a Kiss aka Kiss and In the Company of Men aka Roadtrip)
- Cupid (1998) (creator, writer, executive producer)
- Veronica Mars (2004) (creator, writer, executive producer)
- 90210 (TV series) (2008) (creator, writer)
- Party Down (2009) (creator, writer, executive producer)
- Plymouth Rock (2010) (creator, writer, executive producer)
[www.cinemablend.com/television/Veronica-Mars-And-One-Tree-Hill-Creators-Back-To-Work-On-CW-20484.html]
Films
Awards and nominations
Thomas has been nominated for several
Golden Satellite Awards.
