Susan Skoog


Susan Skoog, American filmmaker, is best known for her low-budget but highly acclaimed debut film Whatever. Asked why she felt the desire to make the film, Skoog explained to IndieWIRE: "I felt like I hadn’t seen in film what I saw when I was a teenager. And especially from a female perspective. I felt like there hadn’t been a film that really nailed what it was like to be a suburban girl growing up in this country." Skoog has expressed repeatedly that the female experience/perspective, particularly that of girls, has historically been underrepresented in the film industry, but she believes that is changing by way of a "natural progression" toward sex equality.
Skoog was raised in the town of Red Bank, New Jersey, and graduated from NYU in 1987 with a degree in theatre and film. She has cited Mike Leigh and Eric Rohmer as influences on her work.