Jeannie Thomas is an artist and educator based in Athens, Georgia. She has served as the Executive Director of The Stage Oconee since 2025. She is a PhD student at the University of Georgia studying Theatre & Performance Studies with a Certificate in Film and Media Scoring. She received her bachelor's degrees from UGA in May 2019, majoring in Film Studies and French. She graduated in May 2023 with her Master of Fine Arts in Theatre (Dramatic Media) from UGA. 

Jeannie has worked on various projects at The Stage Oconee since 2018, including The Music Man (actor, 2018), Puffs (sound design, 2024), Charlotte’s Web (sound design, 2024) and A Christmas Story (sound design, 2024). Her favorite show she’s worked at The Stage Oconee is Newsies (sound design, 2023) because it was the first show she designed for The Stage, an experience she was fortunate enough to share with her partner Jacob, a regular lighting designer for The Stage. 

Jeannie has written scores and worked as sound designer for many projects outside The Stage, including Alcestis (2021), Mission: STEAM (2023), "a ghost called Vicky" (short film, 2020), and CreepWalk Hall (video game, 2022). She was also nominated for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Region IV Award for Sound Design for her work on The Comedy of Errors, Mother Courage, and John Proctor is the Villain for UGA Theatre. 

She has written and directed many short films and plays, such as Alcestis (playwright, 2021), "One Smart Cookie" (playwright, 2022), "Don't Go." (writer and director, 2021), “Drink Your Milk” (director, 2022), and "a ghost called Vicky" (writer and director, 2020). She directed an excerpt of I, Banquo for UGA (2024) as well as the world premiere production of Cheer! for Town & Gown Players (2025). 

Jeannie's academic research encompasses many aspects of film and theatre production, including sound design and performance studies. Jeannie is a contributing author to an upcoming anthology of essays on the Disney musical Newsies, and she delivered a conference paper at Southeastern Theatre Conference in April 2023 on tabletop role playing games and players' use of performance objects. Jeannie has presented elements of her dissertation research at symposia and conferences, including Comparative Drama in 2024.

When she's not working or studying, Jeannie enjoys playing video games, listening to new musicals, playing D&D, and watching movies with her cat Molly.