Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Roy Schwartz. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Roy, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Going back to the beginning – how did you come up with the idea in the first place?

The idea for the documentary, which is the first of its kind, took shape gradually.

In 2023 I was invited by the Center for Jewish History in New York, a Smithsonian affiliate, to co-curate an exhibit titled JEWCE: THE JEWISH COMICS EXPERIENCE, about the Jewish history of comics as well as Jewish expression and representation in comics. The idea for the exhibit came from Dr. Miriam Eve Mora, the Academic Director of the Center, and Fabrice Sapolsky, a comic book artist and publisher best known for co-creating Spider-Man Noir. To our fortune it received strong reviews and ended up becoming the most well-attended exhibit in the history of the Center.

Then, in April 2024, we were approached by JLTV (Jewish Life Television), a cable network, who wanted to do a half-hour special about the exhibit. The problem was, it’d already closed. (It’s now traveling, currently at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C.) So I had the idea of creating a short documentary instead; rather than feature the exhibit, let’s tell the stories using the exhibit as the frame narrative.

I brought in a friend, Tony Kim, who’s a real-deal genius director, to make sure the documentary isn’t just informative but fun and exciting to watch, and he and I produced it. We spent well over 100 hours researching archival footage and images to add visual richness, plus interviews with Dr. Mora, Danny Fingeroth, who’s an industry luminary and also co-curated the exhibit, and me. We’re immensely proud of the result.

Roy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a writer, author, journalist, and pop culture historian. I was a CNN regular contributor, but I’m mostly known for my book, IS SUPERMAN CIRCUMCISED? THE COMPLETE JEWISH HISTORY OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST HERO.

I’m also co-producer of the new short documentary, JEWCE: THE JEWISH COMICS EXPERIENCE, currently on JLTV and soon available on streaming.

Since I straddle the line between creative and critical, I’m sometimes brought on to consult on marketing efforts for movies, shows, and toys. I’ve worked on The Jungle Book (2016), Star Wars: The Force Awakens, He-Man, and Beetlejuice 2. But my dream come true has been working on the new Superman movie.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

In New York, where I live, we have public safety ads on the subway and buses; “If you see something, say something.” I feel like that encapsulates what artists do. It doesn’t matter what type of art you create, if you look at the world and express your thoughts and feelings about it, you’re creating art.

And art isn’t just a product or “content” (the word we all love to hate); it’s a reflection of culture. Big or small, good or bad, it all has real value. For me, creating that value, adding something new to the world that wasn’t there before, is the most rewarding feeling in the world, after the love of my family.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Creativity is something that’s very hard to quantify or to qualify, which is something the non-creatives signing the checks always struggle with.

How do you explain, or prove, that a cool logo is better for business than a lame logo? Or that you’re charging for the hour you stared at a blank wall until you got a good idea, not just the time it took you to write the idea down? How do you evaluate a paragraph of beautiful prose expressing clear thought compared to a muddled one?

Ultimately, and I find myself saying this to stakeholders quite often; you can have it quick, good, and cheap. Just choose two.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.royschwartz.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realroyschwartz
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RealRoySchwartz
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roy-schwartz-1503a595
• Twitter: https://x.com/RealRoySchwartz
• Other: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt34005525

Image Credits

Photos courtesy of Roy Schwartz.