1. Susan Seidelman is an American film director, producer, and writer.
21 Facts About Susan Seidelman
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Susan Seidelman is known for mixing comedy with drama and blending genres in her feature-film work.
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Susan Seidelman is notable for her art direction and pop-cultural references throughout her films, with a focus on women protagonists, particularly outsiders.
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Susan Seidelman first came to notice with Smithereens, the earliest American independent feature to be screened in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
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Susan Seidelman directed productions for Showtime, Comedy Central and PBS.
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Susan Seidelman was born on December 11,1952 in Abington, Pennsylvania and raised in a suburb of Philadelphia, the oldest daughter of a hardware manufacturer and a teacher.
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Susan Seidelman graduated from Abington Senior High School in 1969, and studied fashion and arts at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
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Susan Seidelman earned an MFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and between 2006 and 2019 was an adjunct professor in the school's film department, overseeing students' thesis films.
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Susan Seidelman made her feature-film debut with Smithereens, a bleak and darkly humorous look at New York City's downtown Bohemian scene of the 1980s.
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Susan Seidelman encouraged her producers to cast Madonna, who was a neighbor of hers with no previous film acting experience, believing she would lend downtown authenticity and charisma to the role.
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Susan Seidelman returned to feature films with Gaudi Afternoon, a gender-bending detective story set in Barcelona, starring Judy Davis, Marcia Gay Harden, Juliette Lewis and Lili Taylor.
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In 2023, Desperately Seeking Susan Seidelman was added to the National Film Registry as part of a selection of films preserved by the Library of Congress for their historic, cultural or aesthetic contribution to American Cinema.
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Susan Seidelman's life is as full of twists, charm and happy endings as one of her iconic movies.
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Susan Seidelman received two Emmy nominations for the Showtime film A Cooler Climate, written by Pulitzer Prize-winner Marsha Norman, and starring Sally Field and Judy Davis.
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Susan Seidelman directed episodes of Comedy Central's cult comedy Stella and PBS's reboot of The Electric Company.
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Susan Seidelman is a fan of Billy Wilder for his social observation, drama, and humor.
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Susan Seidelman has said she is drawn to directors with distinct, slightly "outsider" points of view.
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Susan Seidelman spins established film genres, updating them by focusing on female protagonists, society's outsiders and gender roles.
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Desperately Seeking Susan Seidelman is a screwball comedy inspired by Jacques Rivette's Celine and Julie Go Boating, that explores identity-swapping among its two protagonists, Roberta and Susan Seidelman.
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Susan Seidelman had not seen older baby boomers dealing with loss, grief and romance in films and set out to create modern seniors without stereotyping.
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Roberta in Desperately Seeking Susan Seidelman takes on Susan Seidelman's mysterious and troublesome identity when she wears her clothes.