ACTOR / PAINTER / FILMMAKER
Tommy Harkness
BIO
Tommy Harkness is a writer, director, actor, and painter. Raised in the culturally rich San Francisco Bay Area, he developed an early passion for storytelling and visual expression. His work is driven by a fascination with the psychology of characters and emotional undercurrents, explored through both narrative filmmaking and abstract visual art.
His short films "The Green Glass Door" (2025) and "After Midnight" (2023) won Best Personal Project and the Audience Award for Best Picture, respectively, at Academy of Art University's NXTUP Fest, where between 2020 and 2025, while completing his BFA and MFA degrees, he received 15 nominations for acting, writing, and directing. His short "Isabelle’s Dream" (2024) won the Audience Award for Best Local Featurette at the Another Hole in the Head Film Festival in San Francisco.
As a painter, he has had multiple exhibitions of his work in San Francisco, including an exclusive show at Laszlo SF with his frequent collaborator Joel Gerhardson in October of 2022.
Tommy lives in the Mission district of San Francisco and has a BFA and MFA in Acting from the Academy of Art. When not being creative, he spends his time obsessing over his cat Chloe.
ACTING DEMO REEL 2023
ACTING DEMO REEL 2020
WORK as a PAINTER
SOLO WORK
COLLAB WORK
FILMS as WRITER / DIRECTOR
Isabelle's Dream
After Midnight
Infinite Color
Devil in the Dark
Desdemona
SELECTED WORKS as an ACTOR
True West
Hurlyburly
Kin
You
Glass Unicorn
(Also Writer)
Animal Boys
100 Proof
Reversal Rehearsal
ACTING RESUME
TOMMY HARKNESS
Height: 6’0”
Eyes: Green
Hair: Black
FILMOGRAPHY
* The Green Glass Door - Aaron - Le Chat Noir Cinéma
* How to Disappear Completely - Danny - Le Chat Noir Cinéma
* The Garden - Jeremy - In Lehman's Terms Films
* After Midnight - Vincent - Le Chat Noir Cinéma
* The Unfinished Artist - Rico - In Lehman's Terms Films
* 100 Proof - Georgi - Openin' Doors Productions
THEATER
*Doomers (SF Premiere) - Jeff - The Brooklyn Center for Theater Research
*Clark Kent Gets His Suit Cleaned and other plays - Nathan / Detective / Gunman - The Hothouse Theater Company
*The Seagull - (Staged Reading) - Konstantin - The Hothouse Theater Company
* The Speed of Gravity - (Staged Reading) - Keanu Reeves - The Hothouse Theater Theater Company
* Tony N' Tina's Wedding -- Michael / Barry / Tony - Tony N' Tina's SF
AWARDS
* WINNER Best Personal Project (The Green Glass Door) @ NXTUP Fest @ Academy of Art University (2025)
* WINNER Audience Award for Best Local Featurette (Isabelle's Dream) @ Another Hole in the Head SF (2024)
* WINNER Audience Award for Best Picture Under 12 Minutes (After Midnight) @ NXTUP Fest (2023)
* NOMINATED 8x for Best Actor @ NXTUP Fest (2020-25)
* NOMINATED Best Picture, Best Director & Best Screenplay (After Midnight) & (How to Disappear Completely) @ NXTUP Fest (2023-24)
EDUCATION
* MFA, Academy of Art University, Acting / Filmmaking, 2024
* BFA, Academy of Art University, Acting, 2022
* Private coaching with Lena Hart 2021 - Present
* Private scene study with Melissa Gray (3 years)
SKILLS
Improvisation, multiple accents / character voices, guitar / piano, juggling, basic training in clown / mime work, abstract / silkscreen painting, California Driver's License.
EXTERNAL LINKS
Infinite Color
EXTERNAL LINKS
Let's Collaborate!
