SUZANNE SCHACHTER'S BIO
SUZANNE SCHACHTER'S BIO
Member National Conference of Personal Managers
For over 40 years, Suzanne Schachter, founder of Suzelle Enterprises—a full-function talent management company—has been a leader in the entertainment industry. Her impressive roster of clients covers the entire spectrum of show business: Legitimate theater, Films, TV commercials, Soap operas, Primetime television series, Commercial print, and Broadcasting.
You have seen clients of Suzelle for over four decades in highly recognizable TV and films such as Facts Of Life; What’s Happening; Dynasty; Knots Landing; Another World; Guiding Light; All My Children; As The World Turns; One Life To Live; Band Of Brothers; Monarch Cove; USA High; Rooftops; The Five Heartbeats; Weekend at Bernie’s 2; Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights; Hook; Hero; Basketball Diaries; The Gifted, Super Heroes; The Good Shepherd; New York Serenade; and Palladin, From Mexico With Love, Nurse Jackie, Gossip Girl, Rescue Me, Mercy and many more. Most recently, significant bookings have been made on the films The Men Who Stare At Goats, The Prodigies, Once More With Feeling, The Taking Of Woodstock, Choose and the television shows 30 Rock, Brotherhood, Totally For Teens, the upcoming Last Of The Ninth, and old favorites like the Law & Order franchise. Her growing business also involves a commercial print department working with top advertising clients and handling sports and other celebrities for endorsements and personal appearances.
In most recent years, impressive projects for Suzelle clients have included: Chase Coleman on One Life To Live, Law & Order, and he joined the cast of Gossip Girl and, most recently, the NBC series Kings, as well as the Good Wife and Martin Scorsese’s Boardwalk Empire; Sonja Perryman in the acclaimed Broadway play Celia as Young Celia Cruz; Anjelica Aragon in the film Bella; Moises Acevedo in Rose’s Shoes; Alec Von Bargen starring as Fidel Castro in Robert DeNiro’s film The Good Shepherd; Juan Carlos Serran in Fast Food Nation to name a few. Upcoming child stars whose careers she is launching include Chris Bones (Young Jake on One Life To Live) and star of various Nickelodeon projects, including Pinky Dinky Doo, Alison Watchfogel. In addition, Suzelle clients were seen in hundreds of TV commercials, print ads, and in episodic TV series including The Sopranos, Rescue Me, Lipstick Jungle, and Damages.
Suzanne is also responsible for launching the careers of well-known TV stars such as Mindy Cohn of The Facts Of Life, Haywood Nelson of What’s Happening, Adam Lamberg of Lizzie McGuire, Lee Thompson Young of Jett Jackson, James Madio of Band Of Brothers and Hook; and Virginia Williams of Lifetime’s Monarch Cove. Most recently, Lea Michele of Glee, whose career she launched in Les Miserables, when she was just 7 years old. Her clients have worked for major film directors including Woody Allen, Spike Lee, Ron Howard, Dick Wolf, Steven Spielberg, Robert Rodriguez, Robert DeNiro, Alfonso Cuaron, and Pedro Damian. Most recently, Quinton Aaron who was seen in the Oscar nominated film The Blindside as Sandra Bullock’s co-star.
In addition to the actors and actresses whose careers Suzanne guides and develops, she also creates endorsement & merchandising campaigns, and personal appearances for many noted athletes and celebrities—Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr., Ron Greshner, former Miss America Suzette Charles, Florence Anthony, Ira Joe Fisher, Jill Whelan of Love Boat fame. An exclusive collaboration with Bruce Levy Associates, the worlds premiere women’s basketball agency since 1979, has given Suzelle an impressive roster of multi-talented female athletes ranging from all time WNBA greats through current All-Stars. Ms. Schachter also maintains an office in LA and conducts a great deal of business in Mexico where she also cultivates talent for all aspects of the entertainment industry.
In recent years, Suzanne has started managing the careers of some of the finest talent in the International Latin community. Manuel Ojeda, whom you may remember from Romancing the Stone, has also starred in numerous telenovelas. Angelica Aragon of the highly acclaimed films A Walk in the Clouds, Picking up the Pieces by Woody Allen, Havana Nights, most recently appeared in the critically-acclaimed Bella. In addition, Suzanne represents Pedro Armendariz, who has appeared in many U.S. films, including Amistad, The Mexican, Original Sin, Collateral Damage, Speilberg’s Zorro and Zorro II, and most recently can be seen starring as Jimmy Smits father in the new TV series OutLaw. In 2010 complete shooting 2 more films in the U.S. Mamitas, and House of my Father. The first produced and directed by Will Ferrell. Diana Bracho has starred in A Streetcar Named Desire, Dangerous Liaisons, and Master Class in Mexico City, as well as Harvey Keitel’s wife in Dreaming of Julia. Pedro Damian, renowned telenovela producer, has appeared as an actor in Frida and The Mexican and co-starred with Robert DeNiro and Eddie Murphy in Showtime. Many of her Latin actors can be seen in Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Others in the Latin community include: Blanca Guerra, Juan Carlos Serran, Jesus Ochoa, Christian and Sebastian Bach. Anilu Pardo has gained acclaim in New York with rave reviews for her role in Yerma and was critiqued as “luminous, riveting, and hypnotic” in her role as Young Frida in Passions of Frida Kahlo. She has also been seen in the films Upside Down, Time of the Butterflies, and the Bon Jovi film The Vampires Los Muertos. Pardo most recently wrote, produced, directed, and starred in Ciudad Blanca, the smash hit theatrical production in Mexico City. Tiare Scanda, a highly acclaimed telenovela actress received great acknowledgement in the leading role of Sally Bowles in Cabaret. Juan Carlos Serran was seen in Fast Food Nation.
Most recently, Ms. Schachter started an organization in Mexico and Latin America “ICE” (International Culture Exchange) with Antonio Arelle, the purpose of which is to bring to the attention of the rest of the world the beauty and rich culture of the fine arts of Latin America. After numerous successful shows in Latin America, she and her associate, Antonio, had their first art show at the New York Academy of Art whose resounding success prompted equally notable exhibitions.
Theater credits include: the young Cosette in Les Miserables, Lea Michelle, who is now starring in the award winning Glee. Other credits include Sunset Boulevard, Smokey Joe’s Café, Rent, La Boheme, The Pain and the Itch, Whistle Down The Wind, and Parade, to name just a few.
Ms. Schachter defines her role of personal manager as “someone who guides my clients in every area of their lives. I advise on dress, make-up, and comportment, and draw on my experience and expertise to lead them on the road to success.” Her professional managerial skills were honed on the first members of her client roster, her three daughters. Each of them have been acting or modeling since childhood. Felice, the oldest, began modeling as an infant and has appeared in TV’s Facts of Life, in the film Zapped with Scott Baio, and in many episodics. Felice is still participating in many aspects of the industry, producing a number of docu-dramas, film, and TV shows. She was the production coordinator for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and was honored to produce several PSAs top raise money for the families of the police and fire fighters killed in the September 11th attack. Felice is now developing a talk show targeted at mothers raising children in a world where every choice is laden with controversy. Having received her Masters in Special Education, she views the education of autistic children as an important worldwide issue and spends much of her time counseling families as she works one-on-one with their children.
Simone Martel, her second daughter, appeared in the film Little Darlings and was a CLIO award winner. Presently, she divides her time between charitable causes in New York City and working as a full-time mother. Simone is frequently called on to grant interviews for major network talk shows and national magazine articles. Her bio has recently been featured on A & E’s Biography. Youngest daughter, Janine, is an entrepreneur involved in fashion and fine arts photography and the production of music videos. Several of Janine’s fine arts photos are displayed in various major galleries. She donates a great deal of her time to working with orphanages in Romania and the AIDS crisis in South Africa.
Besides running a seven-day-a-week business, Ms. Schachter is an active board member of Boys Harbor, a charitable organization for inner city children. Along with fund raising for major philanthropic organizations, she is one of the directors of the National Conference for Personal Managers. Ms. Schachter has been interviewed on Good Morning America, Live With Regis, and numerous other talk shows. She has been featured in articles in the New York Daily News, New York Post, New York Times, People, US, Hollywood Reporter, and Los Angeles Times.
In her “spare time”, she designs and sews her own clothes, crochets, paints, does batik, and can whip up an industry-sized dinner in her turn-of-the-century Manhattan apartment at a moment’s notice. Not to mention, she writes for industry publications, and is frequently found all over the country giving seminars on the “burdens and blessings of this industry”. Her latest venture? “I’m threatening to write a book called “Diary of a Stage Mother by a Woman Who Became a Manager in Self-Defense!”
What makes Suzanne so successful in the industry and so cherished by her clients is her sincere devotion to not just what is right for his or her career, but what is right for the actor’s personal development. When it comes to participation in the industry, she says, “People must take responsibility for decisions involving themselves as actors or their children, and these decisions must be based on facts and knowledge, not ego.” In April 1996, she was acknowledged and honored by the industry for her dedication and highly ethical standards by being inducted into the prestigious Model’s Hall of Fame.
Most recently she was appointed as the Vice President and international Director for the Global Advertising Awards, to be held in Montreal May 2011. Suzanne was the first to direct efforts towards Latin talent, and has worked with all the countries of Latin America. The Latin market prospered and then entertainment and advertising focused more on the Latin population in the United States. Suzelle also has a very large division that is dedicated to the management of child actors.
Her biggest asset is her personality and personal connections followed closely by her knowledge of coordinating large events. She has worked in many different areas from awards shows in the United States, as well as huge fund raising charity events. Her glamour and great business sense in addition to her personality, bring great respect to her in many different social circles, in the United States and Internationally.
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