Flody Suarez: Producer, TV & Broadway

Flody Suarez has shaped projects across TV and Broadway, from 8 Simple Rules and The Tick to The Cher Show and What’s New Pussycat. His work sits in the background, but it sets the boundaries the story works within. The calls he makes on budget, scale, and team dynamics never appear on screen or on stage, but they decide what does. We talked about the limits he sets early, the trades no one sees, and how a producer keeps a project moving when the audience will never know what had to be cut, shifted, or rebuilt.

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When you start shaping a project, what’s the first constraint you lock in that ends up deciding far more than the audience ever realizes?

Marketplace viability. Constraint is not something I try to lock in early on, since I want to see a creative team’s full vision. I love the first pitch and seeing clarity of vision from a team. Eventually we tailor the pitch to many different buyers or just a select few. The audience should never know that the project we sold to X also had variations that were quite different than the ones we pitched to Y and Z.

Across the formats you’ve produced, what’s the earliest non negotiable you have to set, and how does that unseen limit steer the whole project?

Intractability is a non starter. The creative process is subjective, and there are a thousand options at every turn. Not every decision is life or death for the material. At the end of the day I’ll almost always support the creative team, but with an eye on keeping the process moving forward. Know the stage we’re in before you fall on your sword. You can cut a line at the notes stage and add it back on set. No harm in doing a take with a controversial line just to see if it works. Play the long game.

Many producers say they let the material lead. In practice, what’s the quiet decision you make that actually leads the material?

Working to keep everyone’s ego in check, including mine. Watching the process and giving everyone space to experiment is important, but keeping the ability to step in when there’s a logjam has to be an option. Remembering it’s all subjective is key. The team has to feel it’s in a safe space to go down a creative path, but also feel safe enough to say “oh that didn’t work, let’s go back” without judgment. The urge to say “I told you so” has to be vanquished.

Every production hits a point where something has to be cut, delayed, or rethought. What’s the kind of loss that improves the piece even if no one sees the trade you made?

You have to accept that you’ll never know if the cuts or changes you make hurt or help, because the audience will never see it. Being right after the fact isn’t something you can prove in this industry, since we’re qualitative, not quantifiable, most of the time. You fight as hard as you can to salvage what your creative team envisioned, and if the harsh realities of budget force a change, you mitigate the damage and move on to the next battle. Keep the big picture in front of you.

Across your projects, what’s the backstage pattern you notice that predicts whether a team can carry a story’s weight long before cameras or rehearsals start?

Selfless collaboration. A happy, collaborative creative team will almost always create a work environment that affects the project’s success and shows up in the final product. This is the dream job. If you’re lucky enough to work in this industry, you should pay it forward and make it a fun experience for everyone. The entire team needs to check ego at the door and work toward a shared vision. This is a team sport. A good producer is the coach.

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When Flody talks about producing, he isn’t talking about flash or control. He’s talking about the unseen calls that keep a project moving and the judgment to know when to push or step back. For him, the real work is the part the audience never gets to see but feels in every frame.

Learn more about Flody at:

• IMDb

• LinkedIn