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Q&A: Director Susanna Fogel Says the Darndest Things
In between making me laugh my ass off, the filmmaker talks stress dreams, eccentric families, and how she’s overcome the challenges of making movies and TV as a woman
I’ve interviewed more than 100 artists for my 5AM StoryTalk interview series. Because I’m not a media outlet and my only purpose with this newsletter is to engage in a personal passion for the arts, they all feel like children to me in a way (except fun and not prone to shouting at you about everything). Also like children, I try not to pick favorites. Each has its own qualities I appreciate. But some truly transcend my hopes for them, as this conversation with screenwriter and director did. The reason why is simple — she made me laugh my ass off pretty much from start to finish.
Susanna has directed numerous films — such as Life Partners (2014, which she also co-wrote), The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018, which she also co-wrote), Cat Person (2023), and Reality (2024) — as well as numerous episodes of television including the first three episodes of the wonderful Miep Gies/Anne Frank mini-series “A Small Light” and the pilot of “The Flight Attendant” (for which she was nominated for a Best Director Emmy and won a Directors Guild of America award)…
