“That’s where I come from”: Legendary producer Jeremy Thomas opens up about his decades-spanning career

British film producer Jeremy Thomas opens up about the drastic changes in the film industry as he reflects upon his long career spanning over five decades. Thomas began working in the early 1970s as an assistant editor for films by Ken Loach, Perry Henzell, and Peter Crane, among others.

A few years later, he started producing feature films. Nagisa Ôshima's Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence and Jerzy Skolimowski's The Shout are among his earliest projects. It led him to collaborations with legendary directors like Bernardo Bertolucci and David Cronenberg.

Bertolucci's 1987 film, The Last Emperor, earned him an Academy Award, as the film itself won nine Oscars. However, four decades later, he is struggling to find projects that satisfy him creatively to that extent. Thomas spoke in detail about this cultural shift during his conversation with Irish director Mark Cousins at the 2025 Edinburgh International Film Festival. As per The Hollywood Reporter, he stated:

“I was at the tail end of the golden age of cinema, when films made money in the cinema before VHS was even thought about. That’s where I come from.”

The veteran film producer spoke about the change in business models, which compels him to adapt to keep working:

“And to continue working, to continue being relevant, I have to mutate. And that’s a fact, and I accept it.”

Producer Jeremy Thomas looks back at his career; shares his opinion on the current state of cinema

In the 1980s and 90s, Jeremy Thomas produced some of the boldest and ambitious projects, which were deemed controversial upon their release. David Cronenberg's 1996 film, Crash, was one of them. Years later, it is fondly remembered as one of the most audacious genre affairs by the master of body horror. However, that wasn't the case upon its release. Thomas said:

"I was heavily attacked.”

The producer described his experience of dealing with people after this heavily-banned film was released in theaters. It didn't deter him from working on similarly boundary-pushing projects. However, in recent years, he has been struggling to find projects with creative aspirations like his early-career projects. He said:

“I’m having difficulties finding work that satisfies me, principally. I’m still making films, and I will continue making films, but the scale that I make films at — the size and the lack of responsibility, which was encouraged by those around who gave me money… I couldn’t make Naked Lunch today.”

Jeremy Thomas looked back at a time when he could have had creative control over his project as a producer. He said:

“I was trusted for 30 years… by a group of people who wanted to make money out of me. So I got freedom. [They thought], ‘Jeremy knows something we don’t know. We’ll give him 30 million bucks.”

Thomas further added:

“I’m satisfied when I get one over on everybody, when I make a film, and I did it, I got it, I own it. It’s mine. I’m in charge of it.”

Back then, a producer of Jeremy Thomas' calibre could have autonomy over his work. That has severely changed over the years. Still, he seems as curious about cinema as ever. Toward the end of this conversation, He said:

“I don’t like cultural domination of things. I like a big mixture, somehow being on the outside, and the counter culture’s on the outside… I’m continuing making films, economically for myself, but I still believe in the importance of this craft and art, because everybody in this room got their knowledge pretty much through the cinema. About the world, love and emotions, and parents and sisters and brothers and hardships and poverty and everything, you didn’t get it through personal experience. You didn’t get it through the papers… You got it through movies.”

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