Director Susan Seidelman

Fierce gay ally Director Susan Seidelman (Desperately Seeking Susan) whose new film MUSICAL CHAIRS has been nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film - Limited Release talks with Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™. The film features the fabulous transgender actress Laverne Cox who plays a transgender character in this love story set against the backdrop of a wheelchair ballroom dance competition in New York City. Seidelman stated, "We are really honored to be nominated for a GLAAD award since our film was intended as a celebration of cultural, physical and gender diversity. It's our differences that make us interesting and unique." We talked to Susan about the film’s nomination and her commitment to LGBT issues. When asked what her personal commitment is to LGBT equality Seidelman, stated, “Well my commitment is on a couple of levels. Artistically I have made a lot of films that have had gay characters and I think it is important to have all kinds of characters in your movies and have real characters; people who are flesh and blood and not caricatures like sometimes you see in bad sitcoms. So artistically it was very validating and important. On a personal level I am the stepmother of a lesbian daughter who I am very supportive of her lifestyle and she is just a great person. So I have a personal commitment to the community and also even in terms of my family, my sister is an adoption attorney who deals with gay couples to help them work their way through the massive red tape and archaic legal system that makes it very hard for gay couples to adopt children. So I have a kind of family history of my connection to the gay community.” Susan Seidelman arrived on the scene in 1982 when her film “Smithereens” became the first US Independent film to be accepted into competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Her next endeavor was "Desperately Seeking Susan" (starring Madonna and Rosanna Arquette), a critical and commercial success. Other film credits include John Malkovich in “Making Mr. Right”, Meryl Streep in "She-Devil, and Judy Davis and Marcia Gay Harding in the gender bending detective comedy “Gaudi Afternoon.” She also directed the pilot and early episodes of the HBO series "Sex And The City". Currently Susan is completing “The Hot Flashes” starring Brooke Shields, Daryl Hannah, Wanda Sykes, Virginia Madsen and Camryn Manheim, about a group of middle-aged women who form a basketball team in small town Texas to raise money for charity. The 24th Annual GLAAD Media Awards takes place in New York on March 16th, Los Angeles April 20th and San Francisco on May 11th. We’ll have exclusive interviews from the Red Carpet in NYC. For More Info About Musical Chairs...

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