Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Thomas Walter Booker. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Thomas Walter, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

When I was five years old, one morning en route to school, I turned to my mother and said “Mommy, I think I want to be a doctor”, to which she replied “Okay”. I went on to attend school like any other day studying reading, writing, and arithmetic. Although, on this day, we had our rotating art elective, which happened to be drama. It was here where I was exposed to a myriad of quirky theatre games, and a freedom for the expression of self, which was not explored in our daily routine. The next morning, much like the day before, I turned to my mother and said “Mommy, I think I want to be an actor. I could play a doctor.” From then on, my mother, and sister, made it their business to ensure that I was enrolled in any, and every, artistic program they could find in D.C. When high school applications came around, I was informed of a famed educational institution for artists, called the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. After researching, and visiting the school during their open houses, I was resolute on becoming a professional actor and full time artist.

Thomas Walter, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

After graduating from the Duke Ellington School of the Arts’ Theatre department, and subsequently SUNY Purchase’s Acting Conservatory, I signed with a New York based boutique talent agency and began auditioning for professional projects in Theatre, TV, and Film. My dream of performing on stages, and in front of the camera had come true; most notably on CBS’ Blue Bloods and FBI, and at New York Theatre Workshop. Simultaneously, the pandemic, and subsequent WGA strike, had forced my artistry to expand into a multi-disciplinary space; now consisting of writing, filmmaking, in addition to performance.

Poetry was my entry point to my voice as a writer. My experiences as an actor in work that predominantly centered Black people inspired me to create spaces of my own imagination. Highlighting Black joy is central to my artistry. I investigate all aspects of fulfillment found in Black people, in spite of a media landscape where we are led to believe this does not exist. I am interested in an exploration of the mundane. I honor the legacy of everyday Black people, without exploiting our trauma, by creating portraits of fully realized human beings. My work contains elements of absurdism that make the worlds I create familiar as they are unfamiliar. My first endeavor was Bruh & Slim, a sketch comedy web series co-created by myself, and collaborator, Diata Coleman. As a Washington D.C. native, I am also committed to telling stories about my hometown. An excellent example is the film Residue by Merawi Gerima. It follows a DC native and his return to Washington after 10 years of drastic gentrification. It was a film about DC, made by someone from DC. While seemingly insignificant, there is an extremely sparse canon of films written by DC natives about the city beyond the federal government. This film inspired me to develop my debut screenplay Absent. It, like Residue, is a DC tale, but follows a teens path to reconciliation with his father. Considering the scale, production value, and frequency I envisioned for my projects, I decided to file the paperwork for my LLC, Purp Door Productionz.

Our mission at PDP is to create and amplify new, authentic stories from underrepresented communities across the African Diaspora in the world of Film and TV. We believe in diverse, open, and inclusive sets, ones that reflect the vast range of the human experience. We give work to overlooked collaborators and combat the inherent inequities of the TV and Film world.

I am a proud recipient of the Panavision New Filmmaker Program Equipment Grant for Absent. I am one of the few Black, DC native, filmmakers with their own production company, under 30. Not to mention, successfully wrapping production of said screenplay, shot entirely in DC, with a professional, union-sanctioned, 35 BIPOC person crew, and a budget of almost $40,000. We partnered with approximately 10 organizations, including, but not limited to, Panavision, Underhill Productions, The Dad Gang, and Miss Toya’s Creole House to support the production of Absent.

My ultimate goal is to raise the efficacy of BIPOC communities in the world of filmmaking; to demonstrate that everyone’s story has weight, is valuable, and should be produced, regardless of wealth, fame, or access.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I was more aware of grants to make life as an artist sustainable, and fellowships to deepen my artistic practice. As with artists, and many citizens of the working class, financial resources are few, but they are out there, and applying for one can lead to applying for more. Like with acting, there is a relentless pursuit of applying until something hits. A resource I wish I knew earlier on was the existence of corporate matching gifts. It’s a simple easy way to double your donation. If your fiscal sponsor offers corporate matching gifts and you know someone who works at a corresponding company (ex: Apple, Google) you can turn $1,000 into $2,000, $5,000 into $10,000.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I would say that, at this time, it is a very dismal time to be an artist and there is not a “thriving” creative ecosystem. With commercial film production at an all time low in 2024 due to COVID, and the 2023 Writer and Actor Strikes. Major corporations have opted into, almost exclusively, using celebrity, and/or reboots to keep the industry afloat. Not realizing that original ideas are what create phenomena. I think about the story of Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, and how he pitched the show for almost 10 years before Netflix finally picked it up. A key part that show’s, or any show’s for that matter, success is tied to the fact that it is a new, fresh story.

I believe that as major studios rally behind reboots, we will see a sharp influx in independently produced films and T.V. To accommodate the great surge of artists who are finding power in their own voices, efforts, and abilities, there needs to be adequate federal funding allocated to arts, and arts programs. These funds need to be accessible to smaller companies, and early career artists. To quote a famous anime character, “everyone has their turn”; independent creators, our turn is now.

Contact Info:

• Website: thomaswalterbooker.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/purpdoorproductionz/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-walter-booker-87a67587/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCncU7yGIJMUyK4_dmukwezQ

Image Credits
Absent BTS 90, 103, 202 Photographer: Dwayne “Dj” Fralin Absent (2025) Still: Bradley Credit Blue Bloods Still: Don Thorin, Jr. ASC On Sugarland Photographer: Joan Marcus Fat Ham Photographer: Margot Schulman Illmatic Photographer: Terrence Jennings