On June 24, Director Susan Seidelman discussed her career and her new memoir, Desperately Seeking Something, during a conversation moderated by Focus on Women Committee Co-Chair Maggie Greenwald.
During the conversation Seidelman recalled finishing film school and making her first film. “I realized when I was there that a lot of the movies that influenced me had cool male protagonists, anti-heroes. These great male characters that weren’t necessarily good guys; they were interesting, good and bad. I realized there weren’t that many interesting female characters. That was my entrance into filmmaking was that I wanted to make films that had complicated women characters that I care didn’t if they were nice. I just wanted them to be vibrant. That was the motivation when I left NYU to make Smithereens.”
In addition to Smithereens, Seidelman’s directorial credits include the features Desperately Seeking Susan, Making Mr. Right, Cookie, She-Devil, Gaudi Afternoon, Boynton Beach Club, The Hot Flashes; the movies for television The Barefoot Executive, Power and Beauty, The Ranch; the pilot and early episodes of the series Sex and the City; and episodes of Early Edition, Now and Again, Stella and The Electric Company. She and Director Jonathan Brett were nominated for the 1994 Oscar for “Best Short Film, Live Action” for their short film, The Dutch Master.
Seidelman joined the DGA in 1984 and served on the Eastern Directors Council from 2002-2004.
See video from this event in the gallery below.
About the Committee:
Originally a sub-committee of the Eastern Directors Council, in 2020 the Focus on Women Committee (FOWC) was designated an official and permanent committee of the DGA National Board for women members residing in the Eastern Region. The Committee would like to remind members that while their events are designed with a special focus on women Directors, all DGA members are welcome to attend.
