Ernest Thompson, the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of the 1981 film “On Golden Pond,” has spent his career moving between stage, screen and page.
Now, he brings that range to the Mechanics’ Institute for an evening devoted to his work across media.
Thompson is scheduled to be in conversation with Chronicle arts and culture columnist Tony Bravo on Friday, June 5, about his latest book, the detective mystery “Out Clause.” The program also includes a screening of Thompson’s 2025 short film “The Constituent,” which he wrote, directed and co-starred in.
The event will be hosted by Movies at Mechanics’ emcee, film curator and author Lara Gabrielle.
Beyond “On Golden Pond,” the evening offers a look at the breadth of Thompson’s career. He is also the author of the play “The West Side Waltz” and the one-man show “Archie Parish’s Parting Words.” He wrote the lyrics for “The Father Daughter Dance,” a song with Carly Simon scheduled for release later this year, and, with his wife, writer Kerrin Thompson, founded Rescind Recidivism, a prison education program that uses writing to help inmates “feel creative as well as human, capable and worthy.”
For fans of Thompson’s work, the event is a chance to hear him reflect on a body of work that spans theater, film, fiction and song.