| Anyone that reads the Atlanta chat boards knows the name Kreg Thornley
(pronounced like Craig) or his production company ThunderBubble. Since he is always
working on a project, the boards are filled with post wanting cast and crew, or
announcements of his newly released short films.
But the man behind projects like "Pizza Pain Epiphany", "Chaos Monster and
the Sun-God" and "Faith Healer's Manual for the Slightly Inebriated" is
just as interesting as his films.
Born in Tampa Florida in 1969, Kreg was "raised by hippies". He remembers his
parents sitting around and smoking weed until their divorce at the age of three. "I
was poor, and it made me a liberal" he remarks. His mother settled down and made a
more stable environment for Kreg. She currently runs a Buddhist meditation center. His
father was a writer, and still has an underground following, even after his death.
"2001" was the first film Kreg remembers seeing around the age of 5. But he
remarks that he mostly remembers that he was taken to the movie by his mother's boyfriend
that looked like Jesus, and that was much more interesting than a movie.
Kreg admits that he was a handful and that it was probably the cause of his mother having
white hair at the age of 30. "My friend and I used to have this game where we would
run out in front of cars and see who could get the closest without getting hit." Says
Kreg, " and one time a friend of mine and I got in trouble because my mom caught us
plotting to give some neighborhood kid a couple of her marijuana brownies."
In high school Kreg made a couple short films and was inspired to attend Georgia
State's Film/Video program. After Georgia State he ran a local music news website and sang
in a couple very short-lived punk and avant-garde bands. Describing his musical skills as
" limited at best" he went back to his first love of filmmaking and founded
ThunderBubble.
ThunderBubble has made a variety of short films, all with innovative and witty plots.
"Pizza Pain Epiphany" is one of the best know. Written, produced, and directed
by Kreg it's a surreal short about a hen-pecked husband who tries to order a pizza from
Dominos, but gets a dominatrix. It's just that type of original idea that has given
ThunderBubble a cult following.
Scene from "Pizza Pain
Epiphany"
Courtesy of ThunderBubble
Currently Kreg lives in Reynoldstown (Right
between Cabbagetown and East Atlanta.) with his wife that he met at the Buddhist
Meditation Center. "She was a theatrical set designer at the time, so we had a lot to talk
about" says Kreg, "We have similar skewed views of the world".
When he's not making his films for ThunderBubble, the filmmaker does freelance film and
video work and states "I've done everything from being a P.A. on cheesy reality TV
shows to directing a training video for MARTA."
Today Kreg is working on more projects for Thunderbubble and welcomes anyone that wants to
help to contact him.
Questions posed to Kreg
Thornley:
What's Your Favorite Movie(s)?
Wild Strawberries (Bergman - strange and beautiful film)
Where the Buffalo Roam (Bill Murray plays Hunter S. Thompson)
Igby Goes Down (punk version of the Graduate, dark black humor)
Aguirre the Wrath of God (Herzog - very moving portrait of madness)
Sullivan's Travels (Preston Sturges - funny and smart at the same time)
The Big Lebowski (I've got that Lebowski disease. The one where you watch
the movie over and over and...)
Discreet Charm of the Bourgoisie (Bunuel - very dry satire, funnier each
time you watch it)
What movie do you really like that most other people
hate?
"KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park". A really guilty pleasure.
I've got that KISS disease. You either have it or you don't.
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