THE FILMMAKERS
ROY SZUPER
Writer / Director / Producer
A 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” (IMDB). A fusion of comedy and music inspired by “This is Spinal Tap,” the film follows one man’s ridiculous quest to get into the Guinness Book of World Records for seeing the most concerts. The film was featured on MTV and VH-1. Szuper’s next short film was a more personal story titled “Charcoal”(IMDB) that was based on an event that happened to his family in the days after 9/11. It screened in Cannes and Buenos Aires in 2007.
Szuper’s first feature, “Gonzo Music Diaries, NYC” (IMDB) was a documentary that featured Tom Morello, Michael Franti, Vernon Reid, and CGGB’s founder Hilly Kristal. Gonzo was screened at Anthology Film Archive’s New Filmmakers Series, CBGB’S, and Vision Du Reel DocFest in Switzerland. Szuper’s documentary short “Revolution in Motion,” about a car that runs on air, was profiled in the Daily News in 2009.
In addition to Can’t Let It Go, Szuper has recently finished his first novel titled “Rites of Passage: Evolution of A Rock n’ Roll Dad”, which is loosely based on his life as a single father in New York.
JAMES IVORY
Executive Producer
James Francis Ivory is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. For many years he worked extensively with Indian-born film producer Ismail Merchant, his domestic as well as professional partner, and with screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. All three were principals in Merchant Ivory Productions, whose films have won six Academy Awards; Ivory himself has been nominated for four Oscars, winning one. Ivory’s most notable directorial work includes A Room with a View (1986), Maurice (1987), Howards End (1992), and The Remains of the Day (1993).
For his work on Call Me by Your Name (2017), which he wrote and produced, Ivory won awards for Best Adapted Screenplay from the Academy Awards, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Writers Guild of America, the Critics’ Choice Awards, and the Scripter Awards, among others. Upon winning the Oscar and BAFTA at the age of 89, Ivory became the oldest-ever winner in any category for both awards.
ANDRE BASSO
Producer
For over a decade, Andre Basso has worked in the Film & Television industry as a Producer, VFX artist, Flame artist, Post Supervisor and Colorist. Many of the films he has worked on have premiered at prestigious festivals around the world including Venice Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and Tribeca Film Festival. In 2019, Andre helped produce the award winning doc, “Sixth of June” executive produced by academy award winning documentary filmmaker, Ross Kaufman. In 2021, Sixth of June made the finalist long-list for the 93rd Academy Awards for best short doc. He has recently finished production on a TV series “Crash the System” and is in pre-production on “Buried,” a psychological thriller set to shoot in summer of 2022. Andre has tought Producing and Post Production workshops at Gotham (formerly IFP) as recently as February 2020.
In addition, Andre runs his own boutique creative studio, 9th Street Films, where he produces original content for a variety of corporate and non profit clients. Past clients include MLB Players, UNICEF, GYRO, GSUSA, VF, PFIZER, ANVIL, INVISTA and SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE. 9th Street Films also provides a range of production and post production services to filmmakers, video artists and commercial directors.
MIGUEL AMORTEGUI
Co-Producer
Miguel Amortegui is an award winning film-maker. Originally from Colombia, Miguel moved to London in 1998 where he studied film production and direction. He works as a DoP, producer and director.
He has worked on a number of featured films, shorts, educational films and documentaries.
In 2014, he spent time living with the indigenous San people in Botswana and was DoP on the award winning documentary: “Voices of the San” Often his projects are socially driven highlighting causes such as migration, refugees and gang violence.
Miguel is based in the UK but frequently travels for projects.
TONTXI VAZQUEZ
Executive Producer
London based and a UK Cannes Producers Network 2009/10 select, he specializes in getting the best production value from lower budget feature films and creative documentaries. Vazquez’s successful background in licensing film and photographic content culminated in partnering with top archives and libraries such asThe Image Bank, Third Millennium Films, and Nonstock, Currently, he is developing a slate of projects including current production collaborations with NY writer/director/producer Vagabond Beaumont’s (AVT) creative documentaries HARLEM’S LAST POET/Abiudon Oyewole and SIX SHOOTERS selected for the 2018 London Production Finance Market (PFM) New Talent strand.