Tommy Harkness was born and raised in Berkeley, California, and has spent the majority of his life living in the Bay Area. At a young age he began acting, performing and writing, and went on to appear in multiple high school theater productions. He also started writing, directing and editing his own films, eventually winning the Most Improved Filmmaker Award his senior year of high school.

After high school, Tommy went on to study filmmaking for two years at California State University at Monterey Bay with an emphasis on screenwriting and film production. He then continued his training at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, earning an Associates degree in acting. In the years that have followed, he has appeared in both leading and supporting roles in numerous independent films and also earned several credits working on the stage.

In addition to acting, Tommy has written and directed four films of his own. Two of his short films, Infinite Color and Devil in the Dark, were named finalists in the Lift Off Online Film Festival in 2018 and 2019.

Tommy has also written four stage plays and is an active musician and abstract painter. In 2020 he had two public showings of his collaborations with Joel Gerhardsen at the Redstone Creative Space in the Mission, where he sold his first paintings to private collectors. T

Tommy currently lives in the Mission District of San Francisco and is working towards a BFA in Acting at Academy of Art University. He continues to act, direct, and write for the screen and stage; create music, and paint. He looks forward to screening his fifth film, Isabelle’s Dream, later this year.

Tommy’s film work can be found on his website: www.lechatnoircinema.com

Tommy's film credits can be found on: imdb.me/tommyharkness.