Meet Robert Sayegh

We were lucky to catch up with Robert Sayegh recently and have shared our conversation below.

Robert, thank you so much for joining us and offering your lessons and wisdom for our readers. One of the things we most admire about you is your generosity and so we’d love if you could talk to us about where you think your generosity comes from.

I’d say that my generosity and giving nature comes from my mother. I remember at Christmas, she would sit there and watch us all open our gifts. She would always open hers last. She said she wanted to see our expressions. She always taught us to be polite and to treat others like we wanted to be treated. There’s something inherent in me that makes me feel good to give to others; working with my staff at Judy Z’s, helping them pay for their families lives, to serve customers in my Sports Tavern in Greenwich Village, to sponsor teams in NYC or to tell a story in my writings (books and films) and see audiences reaction. I would rather buy things for my nephews and niece and others before myself. I think my generosity and that of my GM & Producer, Candy Potts, who has helped me build the Judy Z’s brand (named after my mother), is what has been the core value that has allowed the businesses to flourish.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Whether it be a fictitious Restaurant called Capadioni’s with its own fully developed menu, sending in Atari game ideas to the company in the hopes of inventing a new video game, or just running around Cobble Hill Brooklyn with my friends pretending that I was in a movie and discovering new lands on a cement dolphin in the park we nick-named “Dolph”, even at the age of 8, I always had a passion to create.

After graduating from The George Washington University with a BA in Marketing & Advertising, I attended the Miami Ad School to learn Copywriting. I launched my career in the entertainment industry working on Live Events with MTV and VH1 and quickly spread my roots wherever I could within the film and TV production world. In my 25 year career, I have assisted in, recruited for, and supervised almost all facets of TV and film production and participated in many writing and pitch teams, including those presented to Discovery Channel, HGTV, PBS, Sesame Street, ESPN, True Entertainment, The Cooking Channel, and NBC Universal. I have also worked as the Casting Director for numerous films and TV series, including shows on Lifetime Television and the MLB Network. As a freelance Producer and Writer, I worked on The VMAs, Fashionably Loud, Divas, The Marriage Ref, Ice Loves Coco, Fan Cave, and was the Associate Producer/Writer for the James Beard Award Winning Culinary program, Food Trip with Todd English.

I have 2 production companies, Salmon Sky Entertainment and R World Media which develop and produce my own films and TV series; R World focuses on TV and talent management (Musicians and Actors), Marketing & Advertising, and Salmon Sky Entertainment concentrates on the Film side.

I wrote and published a novel, The Dividing Line, which I am now developing into a feature film. After writing both the concept short and feature screenplays for BEYOND THE RUSH, I developed and was the Executive Producer, Casting Director, and Location Scout for the concept short, winning the prestigious Director’s Choice Award for Best Overall Short at the 2017 RINCON International Film Festival, the Audience Award at NewFilmmakers NY Spring 2017, and was an official selection at the 2016 Big Apple Film Festival (BAFF).

I then wrote the screenplay for the feature version of BEYOND THE RUSH and last year, directed, produced and executive produced the feature film, BEYOND THE RUSH. It has been selected to 5 Film Festivals so far during its festival run, and has won 2 audience awards at The Chelsea Film Festival and the Eastpoint Peachtree International Film Festival, as well. The movie stars 3 Oscar-Nominated actors – Cathy Moriarty, John Savage, & Eric Roberts, and one Emmy-Nominated actress, Mena Suvari, as well as an all-star ensemble cast including Frankie Faison, Bill Barrett, Amanda Clayton, Chris Egan, Jayce Bartok, and young phenom whose other movie just premiered at Sundance, Wyatt Solis. I am in the process of attaining a worldwide distribution deal for the movie. It also contains an instant classic soundtrack including songs by Jewel, Dee Snider (he sings the theme song which i wrote), Barry Gibb & April Byron, Bobby Vinton, Little Richard, Pink Floyd, as well as up-and-coming new musicians. www.beyondtherush.com

During my pursuits to be a professional writer, I learned that I would need to supplement my income by working in the restaurant and bar industry. So I have also simultaneously been in the restaurant business for over 25 years, as well, and have been a successful owner for the past 10. In 2021 during the height of the pandemic and after removing a bad business partner, I implemented a creative marketing and branding overhaul, and renamed my Sports Tavern located in Greenwich Village / West Village neighborhood after my mother – Judy Z’. Since then, Judy Z’s and the product line that I have created based off her recipes has taken off. We are int he expansion stages now and looking to take the brand across the country and the world.

Unfortunately, my mother passed away in March of 2013, but this is an amazing way for me to honor her and her life, and what she did for her three boys growing up. This keeps her around me all the time, and to be honest, it has really eased the physical loss. But she is here all the time. Without her as my guardian angel, there is no way I get to where I am right now.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Determination (never stop working hard, never), hope (seeing your dreams as a reality), and honestly, being a little delusional (I mean don’t think you can fly like a bird, like actually fly like a bird with wings, but don’t let people tell you its impossible). When you have your hopes and dreams, being young is a massive advantage, and you need to take advantage of that. You are not yet jaded by life (or at least shouldn’t be), you have time, and at those young ages, anything is possible. And thats just a fact. I knew that I wanted to be a writer, and I wanted to create ever since I was young, but my english scores on tests were never the best, so I needed to read as much as I could, and get a handle on words. So I would read books, and when i didn’t know words, I’d write them in a journal, look up the definitions, and then study them.

When I was young, I always felt different. I didn’t really fit in. Even though i was an athlete and played baseball through college, no matter where I went or what crowd I was around, I was always a little different than that group. So I hung out with many different groups. And thats OK. Don’t label yourself something. A musician, a theater geek, a nerd in school, a star athlete, a romantic, a hard-ass, etc… I guess what I am saying is that you should open yourself up to everything and see what you like. You might be surprised what actually touches your soul – what your passion is. When you discover it, you’ll know. And from there, do whatever you can to make that passion the job that pays you to live your life. Because you will make the money you want or need if you work at the thing you are most passionate about.

And there will be many people who will look to block you or put you down, unfortunately, thats human nature. Be strong and stay confident in what you want to do. And ALWAYS trust your gut. Its never wrong.

We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?

Of course I would love only to be able to concentrate on my strengths and dive head-on into whatever I am doing with total confidence and certainty, but unfortunately life doesn’t work like that. Because in life, as you strive to attain your goals, build a company, create a product, write and/or direct a movie or write a book, and become an entrepreneur, you are going to have to do things that make you uncomfortable. You will have to go places emotionally, physically, and mentally that challenge you, that are out of your comfort zone. I think these things are good for people, though, because they make you have to build yourself into a more well-rounded person.

While making my film, I had to deal with casting directors, agents, managers, crew, camera and sound operators, producers, locations, banks, lawyers, actors, etc.. There were times when I had to stop a scene in the middle because it wasn’t going correctly. I had to talk to agents about their clients needs and contracts. I had to deal with 40 people on my sets who all had different personalities and sometimes their behavior wasn’t conducive to creating the movie I wanted. And at the same time, I had to make sure I was rehearsing with my actors, and making sure the scenes were coming out correctly – making sure the shot was right, the lighting correct, the sound on… Looking back at it, it seems totally overwhelming, but at the time, it was like I was in my zone and saw it all even before it happened. I guess one of my strengths is preparation.

At my sports bar, I work with staff, customers, deliveries, a landlord, New York City agencies, neighbors, lawyers, distributors, and the list goes on and on… There are always conflicts, and being a very non-confrontational person myself, I have to make believe Im strong there, and that it doesn’t bother me when it does. As someone who leads and who is looked at as a leader, I have to be in charge of everything. So inevitably, you are going to have to get better at your weaknesses.

I feel like my life is a constant battle to overcome the uncomfortable things I’m weak at more so than enjoying my strengths. I think its because my strengths come naturally, and a lot of times I don’t even know I have them, or notice I am using them.

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