Ep. 30 - George Stroumboulopoulos on World Food Programme, The Clash, and Larry King

Explicit content warning

12/10/22 • 56 min

As a globally renowned television and radio personality, broadcaster, filmmaker and activist George Stroumboulopoulos believes retaining credibility in the creative process is an important tenet to live by. Throughout the past 30 years, he has forayed successfully into his vast endeavors in entertainment and beyond, transcending “pop-culturehood” by sustaining a household name armed with the man he knows most intimately — himself. After carving a reputation as a stellar interviewer through his several years cutting his teeth in Canadian radio, George was selected to host several shows on MuchMusic, Canada’s flagship music entertainment channel, including The Punk Show, The NewMusic, MuchLOUD and MuchNews. He also hosted the reality show The One: Making a Music Star on ABC. Cementing his supreme interview ability to complement his innate talent as a seasoned host, he then hosted his own primetime talk show, the eight-time Gemini Award winning George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight (formerly The Hour) on Canada's national broadcaster, the CBC for 10 years. He came to Los Angeles to host Stroumboulopoulos on CNN, and then continued to anchor shows and specials in Canada including Hockey Night in Canada, Canada’s biggest television show. George’s punk rock philosophy is manifested through his significant, consistent philanthropic and charitable acts of advocacy. In addition to being Canada's first Goodwill Ambassador for the UN agency World Food Programme, he also started the George Stroumboulopoulos Music Therapy Scholarship helping fund education for music therapists. He also works closely with the organizations Innocence Canada, Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, the Michael J. Fox Foundation and is on the board of Artists for Peace and Justice Canada. At present, he hosts his own Apple Music radio show, STROMBO, which is heard in 160+ countries and has over 70 million subscribers around the world; he is also the curator of Strombo's Lit for Apple Books.

George has an Honorary Doctorate of Laws at the University of Calgary and was one of the first three Canadians recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader. Canada's largest daily, The Toronto Star stated that George has built "one of the most prestigious broadcasting careers in our nation's history."

In our conversation, we discussed his definition of “punk;” his recent visit to Syria as part of the World Food Programme; his Western-Toronto upbringing which funneled the source of cultivating his immense engagement with each project he immerses himself into; maintaining his individuality and autonomy in the face of corporations; his alliance with Larry King; and selecting music for STROMBO.

Opening Credits: HoliznaCC0 - Punk; Dilating Times - Golden Girl; Closing Credits: Taylor Poe - Unknown Artist

Opening Credits: HoliznaCC0 - Punk; Dilating Times - Golden Girl; Closing Credits: Taylor Poe - Unknown Artist

Previous Episode

Ep. 29 - Anna Maria Cianciulli on Hamlet/Horatio, Stay and Sanford Meisner

Anna Maria Cianciulli pushes the boundaries of filmmaking as an actress, director, writer and artist. Her acclaimed performance as Queen Gertrude of Denmark in Hamlet/Horatio, a feature film adaptation, was released theatrically in the summer of 2021 and is now streaming on all the major film platforms. The film has received Best Film awards at Los Angeles Film Awards, New York Cinematography Awards and Southeast Regional Film Festival; and Best Experimental Film at the Rome Independent Prisma Awards. As an actress, she has been featured in several colorful roles, which include Filomena Bene in Lifetime Network’s Stealing Chanel; Sara in Change the World; and Lynne in Maladaptive Behavior.

As director, her award-winning short, 33 Breaths, was shot entirely in one take and was a Single-Take Challenge finalist in 2020. Stay, which she wrote and directed, takes place in a New York City apartment comprised of a cultural diverse family of strangers, and was included in the Official Selection of Manhattan, Central Florida, and NewFilmmakers New York film festivals, and complement her other films The War in Heaven; and Bedtime. She also co-wrote Life After Her, which won the Platinum Award at the NYC Indie Film Awards in 2017, and was nominated for Best Original Screenplay and Best Actress in a Lead Role in the same year.

Anna’s work as a live performance and multimedia artist is vast, and consists of several installations and exhibitions such as Fashion Independence at Vanderbilt Hall; and Sa Coia, which combined dance, theatre and video projection and takes place in the island of Sardinia in 1945. As Creative Director at BdA, she has collaborated with Domenica Cameron-Scorsese, Michael and Kevin Bacon.

As an acting professor, she has immersed her students in the Sanford Meisner technique, of which she has developed significant expertise; in fact, Mr. Meisner assigned her the rights to bring forth his seminal book, On Acting, in an Italian edition. She worked with Tony Danza in his rehearsals for the Joseph Gordon-Leavitt film, Don Jon. She is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Film at Columbia University. In our conversation, we discuss the Italian experience in the wave of the Pandemic; her journey to film in New York City; the process of working with Sanford Meisner and developing a unique understanding of the process of acting; and the mindset behind her several films as an actress and filmmaker.

Opening Credits: Ketsa - 15 Waiting-Room; 1st Contact - Unbiased View; Closing Credits: HoliznaCC0 - 4 (jazz)

Next Episode

Ep. 31 - Avy Kaufman on Succession, Capote and Steven Spielberg

Avy Kaufman’s filmography includes projects which changed the landscape of cinema. The three-time Emmy winning casting director has worked on over 300 films and television shows including The Sixth Sense, Artificial Intelligence, Brokeback Mountain, American Gangster and Capote. In television, she has cast acclaimed shows including Succession, Mare of Easttown, Damages and Dopesick. In our conversation, we discussed her Atlanta upbringing and concurrent interest in ballet; working with Steven Spielberg, Jodie Foster and Ang Lee; as well as how casting continues to evolve in a post-pandemic world.

Opening Credits: Arkana Music - Through Sacco's Eyes; Lisa Hammer - Jazzy Inquisitors; Closing Credits: Ketsa - Sunnyside.