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Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Marcus Thomas
began work in construction and home remodeling at
age 17. At age 22, after a successful start in Rhode
Island, Mr. Thomas founded Marcus Homes, a residential
construction and home-restoration company.
In 1993, he moved Marcus Homes to Pasadena,
California. After completing his first remodeling
project, Mr. Thomas chose to switch industries and
work for a non-union movie company building sets for
television and music videos.
With his previous building expertise
and his solid experience managing large crews, Mr.
Thomas was able to quickly build a solid reputation
for fast, high-quality workmanship, a reputation that
led him into a foreman’s role on various sets.
Mr. Thomas obtained his Local 44 union
card two years later and began working on small feature
movies and TV pilots, including The Pretender, Profiler,
X-Files, Love Boat, Beverly Hills 90210, Marshall
Law and the Tracy Ullman Show. It was on these projects
that Mr. Thomas learned all aspects of building for
productions -- from conceptual design to finished
sets.
Two more years later, Mr. Thomas was
working with two of the film industry’s most
prominent construction coordinators: Terry Scott and
Marvin Salzburg. It was this experience, combined
with his previous record of accomplishments, that
led him to serve as one of the lead carpenters on
the set of Ron Howard’s blockbuster The Grinch
-- known in the industry as one of the most-challenging
sets ever constructed in Hollywood.
After the Grinch, Mr. Thomas worked
on many other projects, most notably the original
CSI. He later returned to his home state of Rhode
Island, where he would decidedly stay.
Mr. Thomas began seeking opportunities
to do what he loved in his home state. With his mother’s
full support, he sought the advice and aid of lifelong
friend and Rhode Island businessman, Greg Gormley.
The two began laying the groundwork for a full-service
motion-picture company capable of attracting and servicing
Hollywood-scale productions to the Ocean State, a
company that would later be called KAY Studios. |
