Roy Szuper on independent filmmaking, screenwriting and novel writing, and making it as a creative in New York

Roy Szuper has been an independent filmmaker for over twenty years. His films have screened at major international film festivals throughout the world. A first generation, native New Yorker, Roy Szuper initially started working in live music production where he found the topic for his first documentary. “Concert Joe: A New York Story.” Szuper’s next short titled “Charcoal,” was based on an instance of racial profiling that happened to his own family in the days after 9/11. It screened in Cannes and Buenos Aires.Szuper’s first feature, “Gonzo Music Diaries, NYC” started as a documentary about subway musicians and morphed into the story of a music festival during the Republican National Convention in New York. Szuper’s upcoming feature, “Can’t Let It Go,” will be released in March 2025 by Indican Pictures and 7 Palms Entertainment. It features Sex in the City’s Mario Cantone and is Executive Produced by his longtime mentor, Academy Award winner James Ivory. Szuper’s work at The Metropolitan Opera was his inspiration for “Madhouse,” a farce about an urban opera company. Szuper has recently completed his first novel titled “Love Letters from the Abyss”, loosely based on his experiences balancing life as a single father and an independent filmmaker in New York. He is developing a film culled from the novel. In this episode, we discuss his life as an independent filmmaker, writing his first novel, how screenwriting and novel writing are different, how his experience as a single dad influences his work, working at the Metropolitan Opera, other interesting life experiences he’s had and how he’s translated them into films, his writing process, what he loves about being on set, his editing process and approach, trying acting for the first time, how his experience acting affected his directing, and more.    Follow Roy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/royszuper/ Check out Roy’s website: https://szuperfilms.com/  Subscribe to Version 1's substack: version1podcast.substack.com/  Follow Version 1 on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/version1podcast/ Support the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/waverlycolville