Avia Thomas
Founder, Writer, Director, Producer, Child of God
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Born and raised in Oakland, California, She came out of homelessness and the foster care system. She found her footing through First Place for Youth, a local Oakland nonprofit that still runs today, and spent years in advocacy, mental health, and criminal justice, listening to people in transition, relating to their lived experience, and storing their stories to one day share.
Her father Aurelius Thomas would take her to the movies when she was a child. She watched him watch films, the way his face changed, the way he responded to certain scenes, the way he walked out satisfied. She would sit in those big dark theater rooms and think: if these movies can get my Dad, the quietest person she'd ever known, to speak, to react, to feel, then I want to make something that does this for everyone. She didn't have the language yet. She just had the feeling.
Unfortunately, he passed away in late 2024 after a long battle with dementia and prostate cancer. His favorite film was Gladiator. His name Aurelius inspired ReelRelius, the Instagram handle and creative identity she carries into every project.
I hire nearly everyone myself, and I talk to every person before they come on. Where you're from, what your world looks like, why film pulled you in. We all have something we're carrying and something we want to say, and I want to know what that is before we start.
The work gets handled with tenderness and precision. Small crews, real stories, nobody treated like a body on set.
Empty Words is in post-production. Missing Spoons shoots in Oakland October 2026..