Biography
The multi-talented Thomas Carter Rochester is a writer, actor, director, producer and musician, who performs under the stage name Tommy Tourettic. He was born on October 1, 1991, in Panama City, Florida. His mother, Kathleen, worked as a caregiver and his father, Dale, has worked in the construction industry since the age of 15. Thomas has one older sibling, Ariana.
From the young age of 4, the Florida Tech graduate (majoring in Civil Engineering) has been hypnotized by the film industry. Throughout a difficult childhood, film and television were the means that Thomas escaped his intense environment. Diving into every special feature home release would provide, he absorbed the information, as only a child with Tourette's and ADHD could - like a sponge. Despite this it would be 20 years between falling in love with cinema and making the leap to create stories children can look to for inspiration in difficult times.
With this goal in mind, in 2016 Thomas booked two small roles in Central Florida thanks to his collegiate improv comedy background. By end of 2016, he had been cast in a local Renaissance Fair as King Arthur, which led to becoming the Sheriff of Nottingham for the 2018 season. Over the course of his career he has enjoyed bringing to life dark antagonistic characters in films such as Certainty (2018), The Trance Bardo (2018) and the Referral (2020) as well as fun comedic characters such as in Blind Date (2019) and Wrong Class (2019).
Thomas directed Lotus in 2018 for the 48 Hour Film Fest in Orlando. He also wrote, directed and starred in Toilet Paper Jesus (2020) for The Quarantine Chronicles Film Challenge for the Gulf Coast area, which went on to win Best Film for the festival and Best Comedy Short for the Quarantini Monthly Film Destival. He began taking acting classes with Darla Briganti and Ann Marie Crouch upon returning to Panama City in 2019 to fine tune his instincts that helped him early in his career.
Outside of acting Thomas co-hosts a weekly podcast (Lights, Thunder, Action!) discussing the latest news in the film industry and nerd culture, and also produces The Has-Beens of Improv Comedy Show for the HWWS Web TV on YouTube. Thomas has a love for cooking with a culinary alter ego of Chef Thorardee. A former personal trainer, he also loves to do yoga and meditate to heal old injuries from years of athletics.
