Filmmakers Making A Social Impact: Why & How Filmmaker Brad Forenza Is Helping To Change Our World
If you’re assembling a professional team to interpret work you’ve created, remember that everyone has something to contribute to your vision. Sure, you might be the showrunner, but your project isn’t a marianet show… it’s a collaboration. Honor the insights of your team, as opposed to trying to recreate work they might be well known for.
As a part of our series about “Filmmakers Making A Social Impact” I had the pleasure of interviewing Brad Forenza, the creator of “Around the Sun,” an episodic audio drama/radio play anthology series that explores human connections made and missed. Brad’s other projects include original work for film (Awakening Arlene, Breaking Points) and theater. Brad is also the author of three books (Reagan Babies, Vignettes, and Long Ways Home) and numerous other publications.
Thank you so much for doing this interview with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit. Can you share your “backstory” that brought you to this career?
Thank you, Yitzi, for inviting me to participate! And thank you to Around the Sun’s co-producer, Suzanne Ordas Curry, for linking us up!
It’s hard to separate the creative I am now from the creative I’ve always been. I was born and raised in New Jersey, by very loving — albeit divorced — parents, who were very colorful and dynamic throughout my growing up. Both exposed me to wonderfully rich life experiences. Before the award-winning talent that you hear interpreting the episodes that comprise Around the Sun, my family — followed by my friends — were the true O.G.’s of my scripted work.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
When I was first invited to film festivals — and started seeing/hearing my private masterpieces publically projected onto 200 square foot screens — I quickly gained new perspective. On blast, they weren’t masterpieces at all. Suddenly, I noticed everything from an actor’s shirt being incorrectly buttoned (partially exposing themself), to highlighted scripts peeking out of assumed hidden spaces, and — my favorite — a background actor playing a video game on their personal device, during an emotional scene. I’ve since learned that this privileged horror is a right of passage for many independent creators making their film festival debuts.
Who are some of the most interesting people you have interacted with? What was that like? Do you have any stories?
Well… with respect to Around the Sun, some of the most interesting people inspire the self-contained stories at baseline. The character “Mrs. Truitt” (as played by Sally Struthers in episode 1.2) is a compsoite character. We’ve all been caught in moments wherein we have little desire to speak with the chatty stranger next to us, and yet… our better angels compel us to engage. Watching Ms. Struthers ad-lib a line, improvise a cough, or re-take a moment was a masterclass in situation comedy. So, too, was directing power couple, David Alan Basche and Alysia Reiner, to record their lines in private (out of my sight) to yield an equally inspired outcome. I can still hear a palpable sensuality oozing through the speakers whenever I listen to their wonderfully dynamic, hot, and humorous episode (1.5). Another unfogettable Around the Sun recording session happened for episode 1.9, when Grammy winning vocalist, Dr. François Clemmons, volunteered to sing one of my dad’s favorite songs, a’capella. My dad died shortly thereafter and never got to hear the final cut, but — somewhere in the universe — I believe he was listening.
Lastly: In the finale for Around the Sun season 2, I have the great privilege of playing a wide-eyed alien opposite Piper Laurie’s disgruntled alien. Ms. Laurie is 90 now, and still has the same precision actor instincts that I’ve always admired from her Oscar-nominated roles in Carrie, The Hustler, and Children of a Lesser God. My younger self would never have imagined acting opposite Ms. Laurie, in roles that I conjured, to boot. It’s all a fantastical feast of riches.
Which people in history inspire you the most? Why?
I remember where I was when I heard that Ryan White died. Ryan was one of the first children, and first Hemopheliacs, to be diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. I was only in elementary school when he died, but I had probably seen him on a talk show or two, which my grandmothers were known to watch. Anyway, I remember rooting for Ryan — as proxy for the larger disease — to find a cure and pull through. I remember having written a poem about him, and later an essay. He was just a young man whose personal circumstances became a public flashpoint, and — whether he knew it or not — I believe he helped all of us to better understand the nuances of HIV/AIDS, which — implictly — led to more education, awareness, and outreach, through the years.
Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview, how are you using your success to bring goodness to the world? Can you share with us the meaningful or exciting social impact causes you are working on right now?
Every episode of Around the Sun (a scripted audio drama/radio play anthology series, now available wherever you listen to podcasts), is about human relationships, made and missed. My hope is that — between the words, however comedic or tragic — people locate themselves, and a broader human experience.
For example: In episode 2.2, Caroline Aaron finds herself playing a woman with an understandable dose of compassion fatigue. Using that episode as a reference point, the takeaways are twofold: first, we’re never alone even if our experiences can sometimes feel isolating; second — to paraphrase a line from Thronton Wilder’s Our Town — “Even the least important day of your life is still important enough.” We all matter.
An earlier episode (1.4, starring Dolores Catania and David LaRosa) is explicitly billed as a “very special episode.” In it, listeners are treated to some creative consciousness raising about a lesser-explored slice of life — hopefully without the heavyhandedness of a feature-length documentary (which — by the way — I love documentaries!).
Many of us have ideas, dreams, and passions, but never manifest it. But you did. Was there an “Aha Moment” that made you decide that you were actually going to step up and take action for this cause? What was that final trigger?
My dog died! It was a bleak moment at a bleak point in my life, and — while far from the first or last loss I’ve endured (or even the only loss during that particular stretch) — Toby’s short life and death found me at an isolating crossroads: What is this place about? What am I doing here? Do I want to be the creator of my own vision, or a cog in someone else’s wheel? I took the road less traveled by, made my first film, “and that has made all the difference.”
People at the corssroads of their lives is another recurrent theme in Around the Sun. The entirety of season 2 is bookended by a retiree (played by Richard Kind) and his pursuit of peace, as aided and abetted by an overzealous realtor (as played by Adassa). Without giving too much away, their characters invert between their first and last episodes, suggesting that we all assume different “roles” at different points in life. “All the world’s a stage,” really.
Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?
Around the Sun reaches a lot of people. Because we stream on free-to-consumer platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc… our fan-base is international (in fact, about 20% of Season 2 listeners are outside the United States). While my writing tends to skew topical, I don’t believe I force listners to “agree” or “disagree” with the position I’m writing from. That’s never been my style. Now that I think about it: maybe this is a skill that children of divorce develop… to have perspective, without taking a side!
Anyway, episodes 1.1 (starring Marson Mason & Austin Pendleton), 1.6 (starring Christine Nagy & BD Wong), 2.4 (starring Richard Kline & Jennie Kwan) and 2.5 (starring Mindy Cohn & Taylor Purdee) seem to resonate most with our wonderful listeners. Those are the stories that seem to evoke the most response.
Are there three things that individuals, society or the government can do to support you in this effort?
Rate! Review! Share!
It’s not meant to be an indulgent request, but think about it: listeners consume Around the Sun for free, and — if they like what they hear — it costs nothing to validate the project so that others can enjoy it, too. (Consider it a virtual gratituity!)
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.
Regarding an awards ceremony wherein Around the Sun was nominated, but didn’t win in its category: Veanne Cox (who appears alongside Lilli Cooper in episode 1.3) said something like, “Yeah, but you did the work, and that should be enough.” This sentiment was echoed in a different context by one of my mentors, Maureen Van Zandt (who co-stars with Joanna Bonaro in episode 1.7). So that’s my first bit of advice: The work (not the prizes) should sustain the artist.
Second: Just do the work! Don’t judge yourself; trust yourself. To quote a Stephen Sondheim lyric: “Stop worrying if your vision is new / Let others make that decision / they usually do” (they do, and they will)!
Third: Don’t try to be something you’re not. Don’t try to copy someone else’s style, because it’s perceived as vogue or commercial. Whether you’re an aspiring writer, director, producer, actor, or otherwise: there’s only one you. And when Bruce Vilanch (who appears in episodes 2.3 and 2.7) tells you that “your writing is good,” it’s icing on the cake! To quote Sondheim again, “Anything you do / Let it come from you / Then it will be new.”
Fourth: If you achieve even a modicum of creative success, don’t lose sight of the humanity that connects you to fellow artists and/or the human experiences that heighten your creativity! This advice comes from another mentor, Vincent Pastore, who appeared with me in episode 1.8.
Finally: If you’re assembling a professional team to interpret work you’ve created, remember that everyone has something to contribute to your vision. Sure, you might be the showrunner, but your project isn’t a marianet show… it’s a collaboration. Honor the insights of your team, as opposed to trying to recreate work they might be well known for.
If you could tell other young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?
I would direct them to a much-loved lyric penned by a much-loved creator of original content, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and I would say: “Don’t give away your shot!” The world is often upside down, and always needs creators and storytellers to give us some perspective, and — perhaps — to function as connective tissue between people, thoughts, feelings, and actions. Artists are well-primed to make those connections, interpersonally and intra-personally.
So what are you waiting for? Don’t give away your shot! Just do it!
We are very blessed that many other Social Impact Heroes read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, whom you would like to collaborate with, and why? He or she might see this. :-)
I just invoked Lin-Manuel Miranda. I’m grateful for his contributions to both art and society thus far, and — being of similar age — I know there’s more to come from him. I’m equally grateful that — at 100 years old — Norman Lear is actively heralded for the ways in which his creations transformed the medium of television, just like Mr. Miranda and Mr. Sondheim have transformed theater. All have helped to evolve the paramaters of artistic expression, while challenging stereotypes, promoting inclusion, and shaping a national discourse along the way. That’s pretty stellar!
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Life is short, art is long!”
Around the Sun will be here long after me, just as all the things we create and leave behind will manifest for years to come. I’ve grown to appreciate that my existential musings are infused into much of my work… not in an intentionally heavyheanded way, but in a “Holy crap! It’s all infinite!” kind of way. The regular production of these self-contained episodes — specifically the writing for them — has brought me closer to people in my life who have been ‘gone’ for years. And in that way, those people are still alive… they live on through the art.
How can our readers follow you online?
#AroundTheSunPodcast is available for streaming “wherever you listen to podcasts” and via AroundTheSunPodcast.com. I’m “@bradforenza” on Twitter and Instagram (the latter of which I’m still learning!). On Facebook, all of my projects live at facebook.com/bvoyllc. There, you’ll see my production company’s logo… it’s an homage to my beautiful, aformentioned cockapoo, Toby!
This was great, thank you so much for sharing your story and doing this with us. We wish you continued success!
Thank you again for the opportunity, Yitzi! I hope your readers enjoy listening to Around the Sun, an episodic audio drama, wherever they listen to podcasts! And without asking too much of them, I hope they stay in touch, as I love connecting with audiences.
See you all in Social Media Land!
