Biography

Jeremy D. Thompson

At twenty-nine years old, Jeremy D. Thompson is already a fifteen-year veteran of political campaigns, having volunteered-for or staffed Democratic candidates and progressive causes since the early nineties – years before he could vote.

As a youth in Colorado, Jeremy volunteered for the presidential campaign of former Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey and the Senate race of Ben Nighthorse Campbell (then a Democrat); working at the grassroots level and developing a passion for and commitment to the political process. He continued to volunteer and advocate throughout his school years, and was an avid activist and State Convention Delegate for populist candidate Gene Nicholl in the 1996 Colorado Senatorial primary, the first election in which he was eligible to vote.

Studies brought Jeremy to California, where he attended the prestigious Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Majoring in film, Jeremy developed production skills that would later translate into a series of successful short documentary productions distributed online by the Westly for Governor Campaign. Viewed thousands of times, these pieces were discussed in major news publications and eventually led to the founding of Reelpolitik Campaign Media.

With the explosion of social video websites onto the political scene, Reelpolitik Campaign Media was born to bring fast, fresh, energetic productions to Democratic candidates and progressive issue campaigns. Reelpolitik specializes in working quickly and light, shooting and editing on the move, and maintaining a release schedule appropriate for the perpetually moving Netroots.

In its first cycle of existence, Reelpolitik created online content for Angelides for Governor, David Roth for Congress (CA-45), House Majority Action (a 527 Committee targeting incumbent Republicans), the Democratic Party of Orange County, and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s Partnership for Better Schools. Aside from its online work, Reelpolitik has created cable television advertising at the Congressional level, and produced installation films to screen for the thousands of attendees of the California Democratic Party Convention.

At the time of founding Reelpolitik, Jeremy was serving as the Deputy Communications Director of Californians for Clean Energy – the campaign to pass California’s Proposition 87, which would tax oil producers to develop alternative sources of energy. On the Yes on 87 campaign, Jeremy was charged with creating online media pieces, including a long form film as the centerpiece of the campaign’s house party program and event clips featuring President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore and many of Hollywood’s biggest names.

Prior to Yes on 87, Jeremy lent his experience to the Westly for Governor Campaign, serving as Compliance Director while moonlighting as the campaign’s in-house video production team/online media creator – bridging the gap between his cinematic education and political profession.

As a staffer or consultant, Jeremy has assisted many campaigns and committees in the areas of Compliance, Vetting, Research, GOTV and Netroots/Online campaigning. Jeremy served as Director of Operations and Compliance with the Governor Gray Davis Committee and Californians AGAINST the Costly Recall of the Governor. His first experience in Compliance came in the 2000 presidential election, at the Democratic National Committee. Others who have tapped his skills include Grassroots Democrats, John Chiang for Controller, Rocky Delgadillo for Attorney General, the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, the Alliance for a Better California, Van Tamom for Assembly, and Tim Kaine for Governor.

Outside of campaigns, Jeremy has worked at two leading firms specializing in election law and campaign finance compliance, Smith Kaufman LLP and Political C.F.O.s. In his time with Kaufman, Jeremy addressed the needs of such clients as Barbara Boxer, Phil Angelides, and many other federal, state, and local candidates and officeholders – including future Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. At Political C.FO.s, Jeremy’s responsibilities included the reporting and compliance for four state Democratic Parties, and one national Political Action Committee, active in twenty states.

In 2005, Jeremy accepted the position of Executive Director of Stop Offshore Oil Drilling, an environmental campaign to prevent the resumption of drilling from Venoco’s Platform Grace off the coast of Oxnard, California. Stop Offshore Oil Drilling successfully pulled together a broad coalition of officeholders, environmentalists and green organizations to dissuade Venoco from restarting drilling from the platform.

Jeremy resides in Southern California, with his wife and their two children. His non-political interests include a lifelong love of music (a multi-instrumentalist) and the more recent indulgence of playing ice hockey.