Born and educated in England, Thwaites moved to Los Angeles in 2000 and after a two-week stint as an intern at Village Roadshow, joined Mike Medavoy as his assistant at Phoenix Pictures. Climbing the executive ladder, Thwaites was promoted from executive assistant to director of development in 2001. He was again promoted in 2004 to vice president of production and has served as co-president of production since 2007 with his colleague Brad Fischer.
Thwaites, together with Fischer, is responsible for choosing, developing and producing Phoenix Pictures’ large and varied slate. A sampling of the projects Thwaites is currently developing includes: the world’s bestselling pregnancy book, What to Expect When You’re Expecting with Lionsgate, which Heather Hach is writing; the international best-selling John Grisham novel, Playing for Pizza; a re-reboot of RoboCop at MGM which David Self is writing; and Once Upon A Time in Hell, a contemporary London set re-imagination of Alexandre Dumas’ classic revenge tale The Count of Monte Cristo.
Thwaites is currently executive producing Black Swan, to be directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Natalie Portman, Winona Ryder and Mila Kunis, which starts principal photography in December 2009.
Thwaites was an executive producer on All the King’s Men, producer on Miss Potter and executive producer on License to Wed and Shanghai (to be released in the US in April 2010).
In 2007, Thwaites was included as one of the 35 executives under 35 in The Hollywood Reporter's Next Generation report.
Thwaites began his career as a child actor in England, appearing in a number of high-profile British television series over a ten year period. Through his acting pursuits, he gained a broader interest in film which drove him, while still attending college, to co-found a small film production company. The company produced a short film in 1998, entitled The Skip, which starred Samuel West and was distributed internationally and broadcast on Channel Four in the UK.
Thwaites graduated from the University of London in 1998 with an Honours Bachelor of Science degree in management studies. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Meghan.
