Steven Suntres
A screenwriter/producer based in Saint John, New Brunswick, Steven Suntres draws from his 15 years of experience as a freelance writer, his MA in Creative Writing, and his PhD candidacy in Digital Cultures. He is an experienced Development Producer, Screenwriter, and Showrunner on a variety of scripted projects. With a combination of skills in project management, narrative structure, and market research, Steven can strike a delicate balance between realizing a project's artistic vision and directing creative development to align with market interests. The end goal is always for a project to be simultaneously fun, engaging, and thought-provoking for both creative collaborators and, ultimately, target audiences.
Since starting Paratactic Pictures Ltd in 2024, Steven has begun building a brand of intelligent and entertaining scripted projects, most notably with the debut comedy series, CAR WASH WARS, which is now available on Bell Fibe TV1. In 2025, Steven aims to continue producing his own scripted projects while also collaborating with other creators both within the film industry and beyond.
Who or what inspires you and why?
In terms of the things that have most inspired me as a writer, T.S. Eliot’s Prufrock was the first poem that had a deep impact on me in high school (shout out to Mr. Favro!). Looking back, I now notice a pattern between Prufrock and all my other sources of artistic inspiration: Jonathan Swift, The Simpsons, Alexander Pope, Larry David, Oscar Wilde, Professional Wrestling, the literary theories of Herbert Marcuse, and an Instagram Reel that I just saw this morning where a guy made a shockingly creative Rube Goldberg Machine.
I’m inspired by artistic expressions with two key characteristics:
First, these artists make no effort to hide their influences, and in most cases, they are quite explicit about the past influences that have inspired their artistic expressions. T.S. Eliot is a prime example, as taking the past and “making it new” was the key mission of modernist literature. Any of my favourite episodes of The Simpsons or Seinfeld feature a blend of past literature, history, and cinema in their plots.
Second, these works operate within fictional worlds and characters that follow their own rules, cultures, and logic. The point is never to make these fictional worlds feel like “THE real world”, but to feel like “A real world” in the isolated realm of the artist’s vision. This is especially important with art that aims for social commentary, as it permits a work of art to transcend the political discourse at the time in which it is being made.
The work that is most inspiring to me is both commenting on the time in which it's made, but, most importantly, it is creative enough to say something deeper about the human condition that makes it universally impactful for audiences in future generations.
What drew you to working in the film industry? Describe how you were inspired to explore film.
I was a bit of a rover for the first 15 years of my young adult life, first struggling as a poet, then a novelist, then a screenwriter, while studying for my PhD and picking up odd technical writing jobs as a virtual assistant. I was somewhat resigned to the fact that I’d be a career academic, but I always told myself that any ‘career’ choice I made would focus on helping me grow as a writer. While this strategy wasn’t financially gainful, it did help me get to a place of comfort and confidence in nearly all forms of written communications. However, with these soft skills, I found it hard to find stable and fulfilling work in most industries.
Then, I met Steve Foster, CEO of Hemmings Films, in August 2022. Not only was Steve interested in my soft skills, he had an interest in bringing me in to develop Hemmings Films projects, along with a comedy series I had co-created… and I was FLABBERGASTED that Hemmings Films was actually going to pay me above minimum wage for my work as a writer—an unprecedented and joyous life event!
After that, the rest is sort of history. I felt as if a professional industry had fully embraced the authentic version of myself that I had been striving to realize up until that point. For the next two years, I worked with such lovely producers and creatives like Greg Hemmings, Steve Foster, Sandy Hunter and Clem McIntosh. These fine folks were such encouraging forces in helping me begin to understand the inner workings of the film industry, along with helping me realize my own value as both a creative writer AND producer.
I also found the PEOPLE of the film industry equally inspiring. Whether I’m on a film set, in a pitch meeting, or a production office, I’m always seeing kindred spirits in my colleagues and teammates.
Last, I’m inspired by the act of filmmaking itself. Even a low-budget production requires such a vast spectrum of technical skill, logistics, and cooperation, to the point where a finished product being displayed on a screen is, in my opinion, an actual miracle!
What do you enjoy most about creating films?
I most enjoy the special moments on a film set where the power of collaboration and creativity is on full display. During the production of O’Don’s Season 1, a comedy series set in Miramichi, the Producer (Sandy Hunter at Cazador Inc.) invited me to write 2 episodes for the series (my first scripts to go to camera). I was lucky to also be on set as an Associate Producer.
I had written a script titled Wing Night where the head chef (played by the amazing Jimmy MacKinley) had recently been dumped, and he develops an unhealthy emotional dependence on serving wings for the evening. In the climax of the script, Jimmy falls to his knees, holding an empty basket of wings, and delivers a tragicomic soliloquy in rhyming couplets.
As I was writing, I had imagined the character performing this monologue amid a packed restaurant while others awkwardly stared at him, but the Director (Daniel Basque) and the DOP (Gilles Doiron) elevated this idea to a whole new level: they blacked out the lighting at the pub and shined a spotlight on Jimmy, turning his monologue into an absurd theatrical portrayal of this character’s inner-despair. Hilarious!
While this wasn’t part of my vision while writing, it felt like the team had captured the platonic ideal of what this scene was meant to be. It was a beautiful moment where I felt like the crew took the time to fully understand my intentions while writing the script, but also understood how to use their own technical skills—and be creative with those skills—in order to make the scene better. As I watched this being filmed, I actually started to weep and had to go outside to collect myself.
What do you enjoy most about being an artist living in New Brunswick?
I feel especially privileged to be an artist in New Brunswick’s film community during this exciting time of growth. There’s so much potential in New Brunswick, including our beautiful landscapes as untapped filming locations, our growing pool of talent and technicians, and the industry infrastructure being built at creative, corporate, and government levels.
Hemmings Films just pulled off the massive co-production with Revival in 2024. Media NB is growing as a voice of advocacy to ensure a sustainable, skillful, and supportive future. The New Brunswick Film Coop & ArtsNB continue to support and showcase the work of emerging filmmakers, and the Government of New Brunswick is expanding its financial support and programming for Film & TV productions.
Since our film industry is in this state of growth, it’s an exciting time to be an artist.
What is your artistic approach and/or philosophy to creating films? Describe your artistic process and/or influences.
When I think of an exciting idea, or when a collaborator shares an exciting idea with me, I just get this gut feeling that tells me, “Yes, there’s something here”, and then I proceed to try and discover what exactly it is about the idea that resonates with me.
At this point, unless the creative path forward magically reveals itself (yet to happen, but dare to dream), I develop the narrative structure, character development, scene construction, dialogue, etc.
This helps me to create a very general road map of who the characters are, how they feel about each other, and where I envision the story going by the end of the script. However, once I actually start to dig deeper into the psychology of each character, and then begin exploring how those characters interact with the world around them, I’m in a perpetual state of discovery while getting to the heart of what I’m trying to say.
Oftentimes, when one of my characters is left with an important decision, and this decision isn’t immediately clear to me, I take this as a sign that there is something internally about this character that I don’t fully understand just yet. I then begin to analyze the past events and experiences that this character has gone through, how these past experiences inform the character’s current emotional state, and finally, how the character will most logically react at this specific moment in the story. Even in my darkest and most hopeless moments while writing, this approach often helps me break through my writer’s block and propel the story forward. I guess this is what they mean by “trust the process…”
Lastly, make sure you leave enough freedom for your collaborating cast and crew to bring their own ideas to a script. In order for collaborative relationships to remain healthy and respectful, you have to know what your “non-negotiables” are, and you need to clearly communicate these non-negotiables to your collaborators.
In short, my approach is to spend as much time as possible understanding what is important to me as a storyteller, and communicating this as clearly as possible while writing a script. This not only helps me understand my boundaries regarding creative ideas, but it also helps communicate these boundaries with cast and crew.
Who is your favourite film producer and why?
As an emerging comedy writer/producer I’m most inspired by Tina Fey as a Writer/Executive Producer. Whether it’s Mean Girls, 30 Rock, Girls5Eva, etc., Tina Fey’s comedic voice is always clear in her projects.
Tina Fey is a great model for the artistic approach/philosophy I described in the last question. There’s a coherent and consistent world in her projects, along with a consistent comedic pacing and tone, but it’s also clear that she invites other creatives to bring their own voices into that vision. She represents the flexibility that’s required by a Producer, so that’s why she’s my favourite!
Lastly, I’d feel uncomfortable not mentioning Larry David in this answer. I’m inspired by him for how he has fully identified his own unique creative voice.
What is your long-term vision and what do you hope to achieve?
I’d like to continue developing my creative voice and brand of my company, Paratactic Pictures. In an ideal world, 5 years from now, I’ll be closing out the story of Car Wash Wars in a 5th and final season, while also writing and directing my first feature film.
In addition to my own work, I’d like to also continue helping emerging creatives realize their artistic vision as a mentor and/or teacher.
Describe what you are most proud of in your career.
This is almost certainly recency biased, but I’m definitely most proud of being a creator, head writer, showrunner, and Producer on Car Wash Wars Season 1 (now available on Bell Fibe!!). This was such a fulfilling experience for so many reasons, both from a creative and business perspective. All the people, techniques, inspirations, influences, and communities I’ve mentioned in these questions helped bring Car Wash Wars to life, and I’m just really proud of the finished product.
Shamefully, I still laugh whenever I watch each episode, and that alone makes the experience worth it for me!
What advice would you give to young, emerging artists in the film industry?
There are so many different kinds of productions, partnerships, relationships, and/or collaborations that you can be a part of in this industry. Take the time to understand and respect the value other people bring to a production, while also taking the time to understand what roles are most exciting to you.
Keep your head down, work hard, stay true to what inspires you, and never stop swinging for the fences. You probably won’t hit a home run, but you might!
