Susan Seidelman Live On Game Changers With Vicki Abelson

·1 hr 24 min·5 clips

A breakup and $12,000 from her grandmother's will became the seed money for Susan Seidelman's first film.

Vicki Abelson hosts Susan Seidelman on Game Changers, focusing on Seidelman's new memoir, 'Desperately Seeking Something: A Memoir About Movies, Mothers and Material Girls'. The episode opens with the host noting it took 14 years to secure the interview, bonding over getting sick in Europe. Seidelman discusses her upbringing outside Philadelphia, describing herself as a 'restless girl' who rebelled through an attraction to 'bad boys'. She initially dreamed of being a fashion designer, studying at Drexel University before switching to film after taking a film appreciation class. Seidelman applied to NYU film school in the early 1970s, where her class had 35 students, only five of whom were women. After graduation, she made her first feature, Smithereens, using $12,000 from her grandmother's inheritance and raising a total of $40,000. The film was shot over two years, with challenges like the lead actress breaking her leg early on. Seidelman submitted it to the Cannes Film Festival, where a chance encounter with a British couple led to them offering $25,000 to cover expenses for the festival. Smithereens was selected for the official competition at Cannes, alongside major studio films. Following this success, Seidelman directed Desperately Seeking Susan, which she describes as a twist on screwball comedy. She cast Madonna after convincing the studio, noting Madonna's rising fame at the time. The episode also touches on her later films, including Making Mr. Right with John Malkovich and She-Devil with Meryl Streep. Seidelman shares anecdotes about turning down the film Big and making Boynton Beach Club, inspired by her mother's idea. The conversation concludes with Seidelman hinting at future projects and promoting her memoir.

As heard by us

Susan Seidelman offers a candid look at keeping a $40,000 film moving without ever having the full budget at once.

Susan Seidelman comes through as a filmmaker who kept work alive before any path looked certain. The story turns on practical pressure: a film made for about $40,000, money that never arrived all at once, an NYU apartment doubling as production office and crash pad, and long…

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Why you'd press play

You get Susan Seidelman's candid story of making a $40,000 film before she knew how to get it into the world.

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