Life & Work with Adrian Salpeter

Today we’d like to introduce you to Adrian Salpeter.

Hi Adrian, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I’m a first-generation Canadian raised near Toronto, Canada. After my undergraduate studies, I relocated to Vancouver to start my professional career with an internship working with a movie producer. Between gigs as an assistant (on movies and TV shows including THE L WORD, I ROBOT, X-MEN II, and MASTERS OF HORROR), I produced short films and eventually my first feature film which premiered at TIFF in 2005. Shortly thereafter, I relocated to Los Angeles to expand my professional career. In the years since, I have produced a number of films, including Jason Banker’s TOAD ROAD and Kyra Sedgwick’s STORY OF A GIRL. In 2015 I started producing and investing in theatre on Broadway and over the years have co-produced over ten shows, including HADESTOWN (Tony Award for Best Musical 2019) and BEETLEJUICE (Tony-nominated). I’m currently working on    FREESTYLE LOVE SUPREME, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hip-hop improv comedy now in residence at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas after two successful Broadway runs and a US national tour.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
The business of art is always a struggle, and the road is bumpy.

Every creative person has a vision that is uniquely their own.

It’s my job to ensure that creators (writers, directors, playwrights) have the tools and support they need to facilitating the process of ‘making’ – that’s creative producing  at its core.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a producer and creative director.

My job is to connect writers/artists/creators that I believe in with the people, means and networks that can get their work made and seen.

Across film, television and live stage, I am interested in people first, projects second.

I am proud to have been part of the team that brought the Tony Award-winning HADESTOWN to Broadway (after successful runs at New York Theater Workshop, The Citadel Theatre in Edmonton, Canada, and the National Theatre, London) and to audiences across America as the tour enters its 3rd year.

I’m thrilled that some of my work has been programmed at TIFF and Sundance and that a short subject film I produced a few years back “for fun”was an official selection at Cannes in 2017.

Oh, and I was honored to be recognized as one of the OUT 100 by OUT Magazine!

I love writers, actors, and storytellers of every stripe. So if you have a great idea for a series, film, or show please reach out. It may take me a moment to respond, but I’m always interested in hearing from folks with big ideas and inspiring journeys.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you.
I love this question and in fact, it’s a theme that I’m exploring with an upcoming project about my dad. Luck has played a huge role in my career. It is something that is made not found and I believe that opportunity and luck are intertwined. The fact is that we all are lucky every day in some small way: it’s recognizing luck when you have it then doing something with it that can make a difference in work and life!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adriansalpeter/

Image Credits
Emilio Madrid
Danielle Levitt