Susan Richard has spent nearly three decades behind the microphone at 1010 WINS, but the veteran morning anchor is now stepping from behind the microphone and in front of the camera in a big way.
Richard wrote, produced, and stars in Inner Circle, a short film making its festival rounds after a recent inclusion in the Big Apple Film Festival. The project draws heavily on her theater background, her creative partnership with producer Drew Jordan, and — perhaps surprisingly — the hallways and conference rooms of her own radio station.
“I’m in my 41st year in broadcasting, but I’ve also had my toe dipped in the acting world for a long time,” said Richard. “I took my first acting class when I was about 11 years old. I’ve been doing theater in the New York area on a small scale — what I like to call way the hell off-off Broadway — since about 1998.”
The path from staged readings to short films wasn’t a straight line, but it was a natural one. Richard explains that theater has always served as what she calls “actor gym” — a way to keep her performance instincts sharp without derailing her broadcasting career.
“I primarily worked with a group called Break a Leg Productions, which does mostly staged readings,” Richard said. “For me, being in radio, doing staged readings — and I’m not talking about standing still and reading out of a script. I’m talking about fully staged, blocked productions with some set pieces, some costumes, some props, but book in hand. I love doing that because we do about four rehearsals and then put it up.”
A Scene That Sparked a Series
Inner Circle didn’t start as a film. It started as 92 seconds. Richard commissioned a custom actor demo scene, and uploaded the finished product to YouTube. Mostly, she expected agents and casting directors to watch it quietly.
“I put it up on YouTube, and it got about 4,000 views, which is a lot for that,” the 1010 WINS anchor shared. “The reaction we were getting from everybody who talked to us about it was, ‘Where is this from? Where can I see the rest of it?’ That’s the best compliment you can ever get for something like that. Because they thought it was from a film or a TV show. So we were like, ‘Should we do something with this? People kind of like this. Maybe we should do something with this.'”
That conversation led to bagels, and bagels led to a series. Richard and Jordan met, talked for three hours, and left with the skeleton of what would become the Inner Circle TV series concept — a fictional political drama centered on New York City Councilwoman Michelle Moss. Richard described the character as a wealthy but grounded politician weighing a run for mayor while navigating secrets, rivals, and the complicated loyalties of the people closest to her.
“The logline for the film is: ‘Personal ambition and family loyalty collide when a shocking revelation catapults a New York City councilwoman into uncharted political territory,'” stated Richard.
The character of Moss draws inspiration from several prominent New York women in public life, including Jessica Tisch, Julie Menin, Kathryn Garcia, and Adrienne Adams — though Richard is careful to note that Moss is her own creation.
“She’s not based on any one figure in the city in particular,” Richard said. “She’s a good person, the daughter of a grocery store magnate. He started from nothing. So she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but she’s very down-to-earth, very much a for-the-people kind of person.”
1010 WINS and Audacy Step Up
The professional ties between Inner Circle and 1010 WINS run deeper than Richard’s day job. Much of the script came together inside the station itself, and the Audacy family showed up in meaningful ways throughout production.
“Most of it was written in the conference room on the 10th floor of 345 Hudson behind Ben Mevorach’s office,” shared Richard. “Drew Jordan, my partner, and I would meet there on Saturdays and work it out. We wanted to write in an office environment so we would really be focused and not get distracted. Our callback auditions were held in an event space at the radio station with Ben’s permission. That saved us a ton of money.”
The support didn’t stop there. Audacy New York President Chris Oliviero organized a private in-house screening for the Audacy staff, complete with popcorn and a movie theater-sized screen. The station also ran an on-air story about Inner Circle‘s Big Apple Film Festival selection.
Additionally, 1010 WINS morning anchor Scott Stanford appears in the film as a news anchor — a cameo Richard personally recruited.
“I called him and said, ‘I need you to play the news anchor,'” Richard said. “A couple days later, we shot that at our director’s apartment with green screens, and that’s in the film.”
For Richard, the convergence of her radio world and her creative world feels less like a collision and more like a confirmation. She’s spent 41 years telling other people’s stories on the air. With Inner Circle, she’s finally telling one of her own — and her colleagues made sure she didn’t have to do it alone.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. Sign up for our newsletters to stay updated and get the latest information right in your inbox.
Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing daily news stories, features, and opinion columns. He joined Barrett Media in 2022 after a decade leading several radio brands in several formats, as well as a 5-year stint working in local television. In addition to his work with Barrett Media, he is a radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
