He's already an acclaimed actor, writer and director and now Ernest Thompson is adding a new item to his resume: Community builder.

In the woods of New Hampton, far from the hurly-burly of Hollywood, Thompson — who wrote and won an Academy Award for "On Golden Pond" — is building, along with partners Lori Gigliotti Murphy and Morgan Murphy, a community of like-minded people in the form of Whitebridge Farm Productions.

A year and a half old, Whitebridge Farm Productions produces "socially-conscious independent films and theater projects, offers performing arts-related educational programs and workshops and embraces theater arts and filmmaking in the New Hampshire community while speaking to a worldwide audience."

Currently the trio is working on "Elysian Farm," which Thompson wrote and is directing and which is described as "a story of heartbreak and cruelty, courage and redemption when a man rescues a little girl from her abusive home and finds himself accused of kidnapping her."

Another ongoing effort is "Time and Charges," a web series in which Thompson plays Jeremiah Ward, who goes on "a time-bending adventure through the parallel universes of money and love."

The common denominator in both is that they're conceived and crafted right here in the Lakes Region and Thompson wouldn't have it any other way.

"I love living here. I've been a commuter to Los Angeles and the more I commuted the more I missed New Hampshire," said Thompson, who decided that the ideal thing would be to bring the best of the West Coast to the East Coast while preserving the latter's charm.

"Time and Charges" is ramping up to begin production and Thompson and the Murphys, who are husband and wife, set a goal of not only shooting it locally, but also having locals actively involved in its production both in front of and behind the camera.

Whitebridge Farm Productions is currently looking for volunteers to be extras, to assist behind the scenes and also to have their business products or services promoted in cameos.

"There is room for all takers at some level," Morgan Murphy said, "and there's certainly opportunities" to appear in something that might be a steppingstone to bigger things or that at the minimum, will be something that, courtesy of the Internet, may live on in near perpetuity.

"A lot of what we're doing is giving access to the community" to learn how to act, direct and write, said Murphy, while also increasing the pool of talent in the Granite State and having friends and neighbors be part of the process.

In Whitebridge Farm, Thompson is hoping to recreate the sense of pride of place in the Lakes Region that "On Golden Pond" engendered. He noted that 28 years after the film was released, it's still a big topic of conversation as locals and visitors alike compare notes about where and how it was filmed.

"I just like that people want to own it," said Thompson, which is what his goal is with both Whitebridge Farm and the web series. He added that the web series is an exciting opportunity for everyone involved with it.

"We look at it as the early days of TV," he said, and the Lakes Region and its residents are invited to come in on the ground floor.

Asked about his artistic philosophy, Thompson replied that "I don't see a point in telling a story unless there's a story" and he knows there are many stories here locally just waiting to be teased out of the lakes and mountains. He explained that humor is and always will be an element of good storytelling because "if you can make an audience laugh, you can take it anywhere."

As to defining success, Thompson recalled what a college professor once told him: "If you move one person in the audience you've succeeded, but I like it when more than one person is affected."

A confirmed Lakes Region aficionado, Thompson is repeatedly struck by the ability to point a camera at just about any vista in the area and to be able to come away with a thing of beauty.

He even likes the occasional inclement weather.

"I'm probably the only guy in New Hampshire who didn't mind the three weeks of rain," he said. "I consider myself the luckiest guy to live here."

Whitebridge Farms is settling in comfortably for the long haul, Thompson said.

"We're a permanent installation, we're not going anywhere," he said.

For more information about the web series, workshops or films, call 744-3652, or e-mail Info@WhitebridgeFarmProductions.com or visit the website at www.WhitebridgeFarmProductions.com.

DARYL CARLSON/CITIZEN PHOTO MORGAN MURPHY and Lori Gigliotti Murphy have teamed up with Academy Award winning author of Golden Pond Ernest Thompson to create Whitebridge Farm Productions, a New Hampshire based film and theater production company * Order a print of this photo