March 26, 2026 • 12 mins
Interview with George Zouvelos - The Culture News
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ladies and gentlemen, Good afternoon, Welcome on the Culture News.
My name is David Serviro and I have the pleasure
to have today on iheartwenty on the Culture News a
wonderful director, actor and writer. His name is George Zuvelos,
George Sulos. Let me spell his last name is A
z o u v e l Os George Sulos. He
(00:23):
is the director of the actor and writer of a
great film called Once a Week for Life, Once a
Week for Life. We're so glad to have him today
on the show. George, how are you today.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
David, thank you for having me on the show. It's uh.
I'm excited to speak with the have people listen to
about our film.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Great well, We're so glad to have you. Thank you
to you for being with us. So the first question,
can you tell us a little bit where you're from
and what brought you into this wonderful industry.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
I was born and raised in New York City, specifically
in Manhattan, and then we moved to a story in
New York. Because of Greek descent, Spartan and Arcadian, I
worked on the streets of New York in various capacities
(01:17):
on an ambulances for the fire Department. I was in
law enforcement a New York City school teacher substitute, so
I deal with children from the kindergarten to twelve. But
I've been a writer my entire life from a background
of very simple and poor people that are very rich
(01:39):
and oral storytelling traditions. So it was like telling stories
is you use your mind to formulate a picture based
on what somebody was telling you in great detail. And
I like to do that for people on there, and.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
We love that you do that. And congratulations again for
all your wonderful achievements. So now fast forwarding to this
wonderful new movie of yours. Once a week for life, though,
to tell us how that movie was inspired to you.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Over the twenty five year course of my career, I
would see something and write it down a quick sentence,
and I remember, and then I would crumple the piece
of paper. It'd either be on a police report or
an ambulance call report, or in a dirty napkin. This
dirty napkin or piece of paper had a Hamburger staying
(02:47):
on it. I remember because when I said, they still
smell like grease, and it was written even black, and
I remember my pen running out, and I went into
my pack and pulled out a red one. I usually
only write with the unibol black, but the red one
I bought, I never used it. And I wrote the
(03:09):
name Adam. And the reason why I had a red
pen was I used to get bad grades in school
and a teacher would always write these nasty notes about
me to my parents and read like almost like emergency.
So by buying the red pen and holding it in
my pack, it's almost like I took back power from
the teacher. And those crumpled pieces of paper were in
(03:33):
coffee cans and with the yellow lids, you know. And
during COVID, my wife said, get rid of those things.
They probably infected with COVID. Either write something or I'm
gonna throw them all out because I'm disinfecting the house.
And during lockdown, I wrote Once a Week for Life.
(03:54):
It's fifteen hundred page manuscript and it's actually two films.
The first film is Once a Week for Life, and
Eve and Adam was written in red, so you can
see what Eve was in black and strong and powerful
like women are. And then Adam was written and read,
(04:15):
and I wrote a story, a moral masochist NYPD Lieutenant
Adam Galanis is faced coming back from combat as a
police officer, and he's caught between the corrupt police department
that he works in and the mafia that are in
(04:37):
collision with them to try to take him down. So
that's how that happened.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
And that is a really, really a beautiful movie that
you have done. The congratulations. What are the films that
have had an impact on you the most in your career?
Because I have the feeling, you know, I mean, you film,
you really enter the Scorsese, you know, New York film
(05:04):
with the good Fellas, you know, this kind of school
taxi driver. You know, we really feel this influence. What
are the films that have influenced you the most?
Speaker 2 (05:14):
That's a very good question. When I write late at night,
typically after taking notes that I come into my head
during the day, I'm thinking about the actors I've seen,
whether it's Javier Bardem or Sir Peter O'Toole or Sir
(05:36):
Anthony Hopkins or even Armengaro that's in the film, or
Dick Grant Tulane who was in The Night Agent and
Blacklist which I was on, and The Walking Dead two
actors that were in the Sopranos, I would use their
(05:56):
voice in my head to write the dialogue. And filmmakers
like Coppola, Wes Anderson, even lately Yorgos Lantimo's a fellow Greek.
Of course, Scorchesy and Tarantino. I love their films, and
(06:19):
I love them for very different reasons, so I don't
try to emulate their film style. I went to the
New York Film Academy and worked on the streets, filming,
running and gunning like we say, not in the studio,
and these films have influenced me, but not the film
in the studio or stage. But my film that is
(06:39):
so big that I had to make it into two parts,
is filmed one hundred percent on location in New York City,
basically in a story in New York City where's a
lot of Greeks, Italians, Hispanics and things of that nature,
and you get the real flavor. I think I caught
New York City in a bell jar, so I very
much like City Needle may also like John Cassavettis. These
(07:04):
are my inspirations.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
And again, congratulations for this wonderful, wonderful film. Once a
week for life so I read somewhere that you have
an advice for Timo Ti Charromaine. Can you can you
tell us a little bit more about it.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
It's it's it's a trick question because I didn't know
his exact quotes. And when the reporter read it to me,
I said to her, I said, listen, I know where
he was going with this, and I'm not making excuses
for him, and I'm not condoning or condemning. But what
(07:46):
I will tell you not to be politically correct. Living
in New York City and seeing the Broadway stages with
his wonderful place being less and less, and not having
the fine financial gain to go to put on a tuxedo,
with a father of four children putting them through college
(08:09):
and high school. So I can put on my papillon
and go with my tuxedo to the opera, so I
can get highly enlightened. Same thing with the New York
Ballet or any ballet. It is no secret that these
things have becoming less and less. Not because it's not
a good profession. But my advice to Sidney Timothy Challamy,
(08:34):
if I was his publicist, I would put this big
six foot four body of mine in a tutu, and
I would tell my publicists to get me with the
New York Ballet, and if I somehow offended someone, whether
I did it on purpose or by mistake, that I
was apologetic, and I would try to do a day
with the New York Ballet to see how difficult it
(08:55):
is to do the ballet. And I do this same
with opera, because these are these are people just like
Olympic gymnasts. They trained from a very young age to
do their craft. And in no way should anybody demoralize
somebody else's value just because they might not like it.
(09:20):
And whether it was intentional, I don't think it was,
or not make it into a funny skit and ask
for forgiveness for offending anybody. And I think that that's
what I would have done, because you know it's it's
staying silent is not good.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
I agree with you, and you know, coming from myself
from the opera world, I can tell you that I
saw this coming for many, many years, and and I hope,
you know, maybe people will will go more often to
the opera and to the ballet thanks to him, I
should say, it's so good to have you. George Zuvilo's
(09:58):
for this great upcoming film. Before we say goodbye to
each other, what are your next projects?
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Well, I want to say that the film comes out
on domestically on April fourteenth on Apple TV and Amazon Prime,
Google Play, Roku, Dish Network, DirecTV and Fandango at home,
and then it's going to be hitting at least the UK,
New Zealand and Australia on June fifteen. We're trying to
(10:27):
get this one out and strategically set the next one,
which is Once a Week for Life to continuation, which
is two. The number two I have in the works
of script that I wrote, and helping me on that
script was actor Armin Garrow. It's called The Abduction of
(10:48):
Lily Waters. Pick up the book at Amazon. It's like
twelve dollars. It's a psychological thriller. I made it into
a screenplay. We have perpetual rights to the novel. I
also have Dez in another film called Spiro's Heros, which
is more dark comedy. And then I have The Last Tailor,
which is a heartfelt rated PG version, and I think
(11:12):
the film's Besides Desk and Spiro's Heroes and Once a
Week for Life, the rest of my films are going
to be more rated PG for general audiences rather than
the salty language and drug use that these films have
that are it's a crime throw.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
And we will be there definitely to applaud you in
to support you. We're so glad to have you, ladies
and gentlemen. My name is David Sobib. I had the
pleasure to have to deal I out with your copture news. Wonderful, wonderful,
wonderful artist. He's a director, an actor, writer. His name
is George Zuvelos. Let me spell it for you z
(11:51):
O U V e l Os. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful artist.
And he has released a movie called Once a Week
for Life. This is a great film. Go to definitely
buy it right now. More music to follow up on
iHeart Radio. Stay tuned with us. It's a beautiful day.
Ladies and gentlemen, Good afternoon, Welcome on the Culture News.
My name is David Serviro and I have the pleasure
to have today on iheartwenty on the Culture News a
wonderful director, actor and writer. His name is George Zuvelos,
George Sulos. Let me spell his last name is A
z o u v e l Os George Sulos. He
(00:23):
is the director of the actor and writer of a
great film called Once a Week for Life, Once a
Week for Life. We're so glad to have him today
on the show. George, how are you today.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
David, thank you for having me on the show. It's uh.
I'm excited to speak with the have people listen to
about our film.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Great well, We're so glad to have you. Thank you
to you for being with us. So the first question,
can you tell us a little bit where you're from
and what brought you into this wonderful industry.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
I was born and raised in New York City, specifically
in Manhattan, and then we moved to a story in
New York. Because of Greek descent, Spartan and Arcadian, I
worked on the streets of New York in various capacities
(01:17):
on an ambulances for the fire Department. I was in
law enforcement a New York City school teacher substitute, so
I deal with children from the kindergarten to twelve. But
I've been a writer my entire life from a background
of very simple and poor people that are very rich
(01:39):
and oral storytelling traditions. So it was like telling stories
is you use your mind to formulate a picture based
on what somebody was telling you in great detail. And
I like to do that for people on there, and.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
We love that you do that. And congratulations again for
all your wonderful achievements. So now fast forwarding to this
wonderful new movie of yours. Once a week for life, though,
to tell us how that movie was inspired to you.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Over the twenty five year course of my career, I
would see something and write it down a quick sentence,
and I remember, and then I would crumple the piece
of paper. It'd either be on a police report or
an ambulance call report, or in a dirty napkin. This
dirty napkin or piece of paper had a Hamburger staying
(02:47):
on it. I remember because when I said, they still
smell like grease, and it was written even black, and
I remember my pen running out, and I went into
my pack and pulled out a red one. I usually
only write with the unibol black, but the red one
I bought, I never used it. And I wrote the
(03:09):
name Adam. And the reason why I had a red
pen was I used to get bad grades in school
and a teacher would always write these nasty notes about
me to my parents and read like almost like emergency.
So by buying the red pen and holding it in
my pack, it's almost like I took back power from
the teacher. And those crumpled pieces of paper were in
(03:33):
coffee cans and with the yellow lids, you know. And
during COVID, my wife said, get rid of those things.
They probably infected with COVID. Either write something or I'm
gonna throw them all out because I'm disinfecting the house.
And during lockdown, I wrote Once a Week for Life.
(03:54):
It's fifteen hundred page manuscript and it's actually two films.
The first film is Once a Week for Life, and
Eve and Adam was written in red, so you can
see what Eve was in black and strong and powerful
like women are. And then Adam was written and read,
(04:15):
and I wrote a story, a moral masochist NYPD Lieutenant
Adam Galanis is faced coming back from combat as a
police officer, and he's caught between the corrupt police department
that he works in and the mafia that are in
(04:37):
collision with them to try to take him down. So
that's how that happened.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
And that is a really, really a beautiful movie that
you have done. The congratulations. What are the films that
have had an impact on you the most in your career?
Because I have the feeling, you know, I mean, you film,
you really enter the Scorsese, you know, New York film
(05:04):
with the good Fellas, you know, this kind of school
taxi driver. You know, we really feel this influence. What
are the films that have influenced you the most?
Speaker 2 (05:14):
That's a very good question. When I write late at night,
typically after taking notes that I come into my head
during the day, I'm thinking about the actors I've seen,
whether it's Javier Bardem or Sir Peter O'Toole or Sir
(05:36):
Anthony Hopkins or even Armengaro that's in the film, or
Dick Grant Tulane who was in The Night Agent and
Blacklist which I was on, and The Walking Dead two
actors that were in the Sopranos, I would use their
(05:56):
voice in my head to write the dialogue. And filmmakers
like Coppola, Wes Anderson, even lately Yorgos Lantimo's a fellow Greek.
Of course, Scorchesy and Tarantino. I love their films, and
(06:19):
I love them for very different reasons, so I don't
try to emulate their film style. I went to the
New York Film Academy and worked on the streets, filming,
running and gunning like we say, not in the studio,
and these films have influenced me, but not the film
in the studio or stage. But my film that is
(06:39):
so big that I had to make it into two parts,
is filmed one hundred percent on location in New York City,
basically in a story in New York City where's a
lot of Greeks, Italians, Hispanics and things of that nature,
and you get the real flavor. I think I caught
New York City in a bell jar, so I very
much like City Needle may also like John Cassavettis. These
(07:04):
are my inspirations.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
And again, congratulations for this wonderful, wonderful film. Once a
week for life so I read somewhere that you have
an advice for Timo Ti Charromaine. Can you can you
tell us a little bit more about it.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
It's it's it's a trick question because I didn't know
his exact quotes. And when the reporter read it to me,
I said to her, I said, listen, I know where
he was going with this, and I'm not making excuses
for him, and I'm not condoning or condemning. But what
(07:46):
I will tell you not to be politically correct. Living
in New York City and seeing the Broadway stages with
his wonderful place being less and less, and not having
the fine financial gain to go to put on a tuxedo,
with a father of four children putting them through college
(08:09):
and high school. So I can put on my papillon
and go with my tuxedo to the opera, so I
can get highly enlightened. Same thing with the New York
Ballet or any ballet. It is no secret that these
things have becoming less and less. Not because it's not
a good profession. But my advice to Sidney Timothy Challamy,
(08:34):
if I was his publicist, I would put this big
six foot four body of mine in a tutu, and
I would tell my publicists to get me with the
New York Ballet, and if I somehow offended someone, whether
I did it on purpose or by mistake, that I
was apologetic, and I would try to do a day
with the New York Ballet to see how difficult it
(08:55):
is to do the ballet. And I do this same
with opera, because these are these are people just like
Olympic gymnasts. They trained from a very young age to
do their craft. And in no way should anybody demoralize
somebody else's value just because they might not like it.
(09:20):
And whether it was intentional, I don't think it was,
or not make it into a funny skit and ask
for forgiveness for offending anybody. And I think that that's
what I would have done, because you know it's it's
staying silent is not good.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
I agree with you, and you know, coming from myself
from the opera world, I can tell you that I
saw this coming for many, many years, and and I hope,
you know, maybe people will will go more often to
the opera and to the ballet thanks to him, I
should say, it's so good to have you. George Zuvilo's
(09:58):
for this great upcoming film. Before we say goodbye to
each other, what are your next projects?
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Well, I want to say that the film comes out
on domestically on April fourteenth on Apple TV and Amazon Prime,
Google Play, Roku, Dish Network, DirecTV and Fandango at home,
and then it's going to be hitting at least the UK,
New Zealand and Australia on June fifteen. We're trying to
(10:27):
get this one out and strategically set the next one,
which is Once a Week for Life to continuation, which
is two. The number two I have in the works
of script that I wrote, and helping me on that
script was actor Armin Garrow. It's called The Abduction of
(10:48):
Lily Waters. Pick up the book at Amazon. It's like
twelve dollars. It's a psychological thriller. I made it into
a screenplay. We have perpetual rights to the novel. I
also have Dez in another film called Spiro's Heros, which
is more dark comedy. And then I have The Last Tailor,
which is a heartfelt rated PG version, and I think
(11:12):
the film's Besides Desk and Spiro's Heroes and Once a
Week for Life, the rest of my films are going
to be more rated PG for general audiences rather than
the salty language and drug use that these films have
that are it's a crime throw.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
And we will be there definitely to applaud you in
to support you. We're so glad to have you, ladies
and gentlemen. My name is David Sobib. I had the
pleasure to have to deal I out with your copture news. Wonderful, wonderful,
wonderful artist. He's a director, an actor, writer. His name
is George Zuvelos. Let me spell it for you z
(11:51):
O U V e l Os. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful artist.
And he has released a movie called Once a Week
for Life. This is a great film. Go to definitely
buy it right now. More music to follow up on
iHeart Radio. Stay tuned with us. It's a beautiful day.
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