User:TGoodman

"TGoodman" is the Wikipedia username of Thomas James Goodman. It was established in December 2005 in order for Goodman to garner credit for the numerous contributions he makes to Wikipedia.

Thomas James Goodman (born April 21, 1987 on Staten Island, NY) is an accomplished director, actor, writer and game host. Currently, he lives in Brookline, Massachusetts, having just acquired a Bachelor of Science degree in political science at Northeastern University.

A Perspective on Humanity[edit]

One night, in April 2003, Goodman was chatting online. He felt taunted and betrayed by people he was chatting with. Therefore, he wrote an outline for a piece that would become known as "A Perspective on Humanity". Approximately ten pages, the manuscript entailed Goodman's life and incorporated his experiences with society into his philosophy on society. Essentially, what he states is that society is an evil machine that is against individualism. It resents non-conformity for non-conformity weakens the "machine". Society gains strength when everybody adheres to its standards. Individuality is crushed.

In his manuscript, Goodman categorizes four types of people, although he concedes that there can be more. The four are:

The Grade Fanatic : who stresses grades. This person neglects their individualism by turning all attention toward grades, the measuring stick of an accepted "norm" and of society.

The Populist : who uses the social machine to their own advantage. More often than not, the populist wants attention and drama to ensure public knowledge of and support for him/her.

The Backstabber : who lacks an identity and feeds off the honesty of others.

The Loner : The opposite of the populist. The loner is the best of the four, although even he has his problems.

In May 2004, Goodman released his "Perspective...Addendum A" in hopes of issuing updates every year. This was the first and last Addendum issued.

Match Game[edit]

In the Autumn of 2002, Goodman became increasingly interested in the old game show Match Game and the Richard Dawson-hosted Family Feud. Therefore, he decided to establish a game show of his own.

In December 2002, during lunchtime, Goodman began hosting Match Game 02. The first two games were oddities. The final game of 2002 saw the traditional Match Game return, with a panel of three people and two contestants trying to match them.

Match Game proved so popular that it lasted over a year. In 2003, the game was played on a monthly basis. Match Game 03 had over 20 people play as panelists and just as many play as contestants. The winner of the game would go on to play the next game a month later.

Gameplay resembled that of the show. Two contestants vied to match panelists by filling in a blank in a statement. The one who scored the most matches played an audience match, in which a poll taken had three choices, from the most popular to the third-most popular. The most popular also was the highest in monetary value. Whatever was won there was doubled and played for in a head-to-head match with any of the panelists.

In January 2004, the first game of Match Game 04 was also the last game of Match Game. Lack of interest on Goodman's part contributed to its discontinuation.

Directing[edit]

In March 2004, having just watched an old Charlie Chaplin film on Turner Classic Movies, Goodman was inspired to make his own film. He would use his sister's videocamera, his friends as a cast and type up a comedic short.

Alas, his sister lost her camera after having left it at a friend's cousin's house in Philadelphia. Ergo, he purchased his own camera in April and his first short was underway.

"Foreclosure" took four months to shoot. Cast changes, schedule conflicts, uncooperative weather, script tweaks and small obstacles forced the shooting to be prolonged. Ben and Joe Papapietro assisted Goodman in his movie, oftentimes being referred to as his "Crew".

In Winter, Goodman made another short "The Roommate". Involved almost exclusively indoors to avoid the weather and downsizing his cast to just four, "The Roommate" took exactly one month to complete.

Goodman's short has been "The Employee", completed in the Summer of 2005. This was shot at the most locations and also involved the most characters.

In 2006, he completed "Le Voyage Dans La Lune" (A Trip to the Moon), a comedy satirizing the country-life.

In addition to the short comedy films, Goodman has produced various miscellaneous projects not necessarily intended for credit. He shot, compiled and edited a few scenes emulating those from Koyaanisqatsi. Additionally, he has montaged home footage to produce a philosophical movie on the road of Life.

In 2007, Goodman wrapped up a documentary on Staten Island.

He recently wrapped up a film of the four seasons, set to the Vivaldi concerti.

Currently, Goodman is working on a documentary on Brookline.

The Staten Island documentary, and the Four Seasons film, can be viewed at his youtube, username "Tgoodman".