Alex Kustanovich (2)
ACT II -->
KUSTANOVICH: That's correct. That's correct. Telling stories visually.
Although the older I got . . . the more I realized how much more I preferred books to movies. But that happened really in the last five years of my life, actually.
I always thought that my strength [was] in telling stories through visuals. [Now] I'm not so sure. But that's a separate discussion.
HORTON: What years were you at NYU film school?
K: 1981 to 1985.
H: Was NYU hard to get in?
K: Well, y'know, yes. They told me that it was incredibly hard. But I was a naive Russian kid . . . with brass balls. And I barely spoke the language.
I came to this country in 1979. I barely graduated from high school . . . 'cause I didn't speak the language. And I applied to NYU film school.
NYU, in general, is a very difficult college to get into. And I basically knocked on the door . . . of the head of the program. His name was Charles Milne. He was the head of the undergraduate Tisch School of the Arts Film Program.
And I said, 'Listen. Y'know, my parents had enough courage to come to this country . . . bring me here. I want to make films.'
He just looked at me . . . and he says, 'You know what? I can take you as a special student. I'll give you a break. We'll take you as a special student. And then if your language improves and your writing skills improve . . . then after six months of being here . . . not even as a legitimate student . . . then, if everything goes well for you . . . then we'll admit you permanently.
I said, 'Okay.'
H: So . . . you got a B.F.A. degree . . .
K: [Yeah,] he kept me. I got all 'A's' in my first quarter. And he kept me there. And I did well. And I graduated with a 3.87 . . . I think . . . from NYU . . . with a B.F.A. in film production in 1985.
H: Was that an intense program?
K: Y'know, I don't remember it being very intense. I thought it was just a walk in the park . . . or in the woods for that matter. I didn't think . . . well, I know that a lot of people struggle with their chemistries and their biology . . . and all those things.
I . . . for me it was just . . . the films of Robert Altman at nine o'clock in the morning. And watching two movies and going home. It was not that intense.
H: What about screenwriting classes?
K: Screenwriting classes were interesting for me because . . . telling stories . . . I was always interested in that. But, again . . . because of my . . . my rusty . . . command of the language . . . my screenplays were interesting and funny . . . but they weren't very thoughtful because I simply could not . . . didn't have enough words in my vocabulary to make it thoughtful.
H: And that was basically short scripts?
K: Mostly short scripts. I hadn't written a long script until . . . right before I came to L.A. My friend, Yuri, and I collaborated on a long script.
Only short scripts, yes. And I made two movies at NYU as a director.
H: [So] the screenwriting classes they were offering . . . were of a fairly high-quality . . . and motivating . . .
K: Yes. Absolutely. Motivating. We had very interesting people. There was a wonderful instructor whom I remember . . . I'm actually [still] in touch with him. And he still teaches there. His name is Lamar Sanders. And he was very helpful, very thoughtful, and very encouraging.
H: So . . . you did a short film . . . your major project . . . or you did two shorts . . .
K: I did a silent short as . . . half [of my] . . . major project so to speak. And then I did my final thesis work called: THE SINNER. And it was a full-fledged short film . . . about, I think, sixteen minutes long. I still have that tape.
It was shown at the NYU Film Festival and then later . . . briefly as part of a school project . . . at Channel 31 in New York . . . which was an old, old cable channel. It doesn't exist anymore in New York City. And NYU had sort of a deal with them . . . where they'd show student projects . . . their thesis [films] . . . their graduating projects.
H: [So] . . . how was that . . . doing an intense sixteen minute . . . trying to get high quality . . . and [trying to] start your career with that reel?
K: Very educational. I'm not a very ambitious person. And I'm not a . . . tyrannical director on the set like some people are . . .
So for me it was just . . . 'Let's just get this thing done.'
So . . . the story was cute. But my direction was mediocre.
H: What grade did you get on it?
K: Oh . . . I mean . . . grades were bogus because . . . if we showed up for class . . . we'd get an 'A.' I mean, the grades were . . . very easy. I mean . . . yeah, I got an 'A' in [the class] actually because I got the film completed. I edited it myself. Y'know, mixed it all . . . so yes, I got an 'A' on that film.
And the film . . . it's not a bad little film, actually. And I had a good time making it.
But directing . . . even though I want to do it in the future . . . it's not something that I particularly enjoy doing.
H: You wrote it. You directed it. You produced it. You edited it . . .
K: Yeah.
H: You did a lot on it.
K: Everything.
H: Everything. And what was the size of your crew?
K: . . . The crew [was] . . . my best buddy from NYU . . . who actually lives now in L.A. -- Phil Betz was the production manager. My very good friend from NYU also -- Jim Willard -- who's now in Vermont making apple cider for a living . . . was my sound guy. This guy Greg from graduate school . . . or under-grad school . . . very socially interesting guy . . . was our DP.
[My friend Yuri Zelster helped me edit it, and he got a co-editing credit.]
I directed it.
And we had a bunch of . . . we had a couple of . . . production-design people . . . again everyone from the school . . . except for the extras. The extras we put an ad in 'Backstage.'
H: Were they SAG or were they just . . .
K: No, no, no. SAG didn't do it. They were just extras that wanted to work.
H: Alex, I've seen [your short]. I thought it was a pretty good [film] . . . y'know, shorts are just rough . . . and . . .
K: Oh, you've seen it?
H: Oh, sure.
K: . . . Okay.
H: So you graduated from NYU. Then what happened?
K: Then . . . I did not think seriously about writing for a living because English was my second language. And because I thought that I would get into directing . . . after the movie, y'know, I got interested in directing . . . even though in retrospect, I think right now, it was just . . . inertia.
[Anyway], I decided to become a director. So, the best way for me to become a director . . . I thought at that time . . . [this] was before the big screenplay sales or any of that stuff . . . the year was 1985, '86 . . . I decided to come to L.A. and become an editor . . . an apprentice editor or assistant editor . . .
And while at NYU . . . before I graduated . . . I'd worked on a film as an editor's apprentice. A film called: EAT AND RUN with Ron Silver. And it's available on tape.
EAT AND RUN . . . it's a ridiculous over-the-top story about a fat man from outer space who comes to Earth to eat Italians.
So . . . it is . . . y'know . . . ridiculous . . .
H: And you were the editor on this?
K: Not 'the' editor. I was the editor's apprentice.
H: The apprentice.
K: Yeah, the apprentice. My job was to pick up the dailies.
H: Did you get film credit for that?
K: Yes, I did.
H: There's probably a union . . .
K: No, no. It was non-union.
H: Non-union.
K: [A] very, very small independent film.
H: Okay.
K: Very small. Ron Silver . . . and I forget who . . .
That was my last year at NYU . . . 1985.
H: Okay.
K: So, that's apropos . . . my wanting to be an editor.
So . . . when I came to L.A. -- and I had all these references from my editor, Pam Arnold. And my assistant editor with whom I'd worked . . . Robin Katz, actually she's an editor in L.A. right now. I see her credits all the time.
[I've] lost touch with her . . . haven't spoken with her in years . . . but she's around.
And so . . . I came to L.A. with all [these] references and contacts . . . and . . . I could not, for the life of me . . . get even an apprentice job as an editor . . . in the editing room, I mean -- i.e., either for commercials or for features or for anything. It was just, like, a no-win situation. I met, maybe . . . with . . . ten people . . . or maybe even more than ten people.
H: Well, how long a period of time did you struggle . . . trying to get a job . . . during that time?
K: Well, I immediately got a job working for a junkyard . . . delivering . . .
H: [laughs] Delivering what?
K: Delivering engines from . . . one junkster to another junkster.
Seriously.
'Cause my Russian friend, Alex . . . used to work for this junkyard.
And he said, 'Listen. While you're here, stay with me, make some money.'
So we were making, like, thirty bucks a day . . . for like five hours, six hours a day . . . delivering engines. And meanwhile, looking for a job . . . in editing. I was 23 years old at the time.
And, God . . . time flies. My goodness.
Anyway, so . . . I could not find a job as an editor.
So, my friend, Yuri . . . with whom I went to NYU, too. Yuri Zeltser.
Now, he is a big director and writer. His movie . . . is called BLACK AND WHITE. He just did a major, major, major job for Warner Brothers . . . a major, major script he wrote with his wife.
And so . . . he and I wrote a script called: PLUS MINUS. It's a coming-of-age story. And at that time . . .
H: Was that your first theatrical feature-film script?
K: [My] first feature-film script.
H: So you co-wrote it with Yuri.
K: I co-wrote it with Yuri.
And [then] my good friend from NYU . . . by the name of E. Max Frye . . . by the time I'd moved to L.A. -- he had sold a script: SOMETHING WILD . . . and it was a big deal. He was older than me. He was seven years older than me. Still is.
And it was a big, big brouhaha . . . at NYU . . . 'cause it was his first script . . . he came to L.A. -- he showed the script to someone at a party . . . the next day or the next week . . . he gets a call from an agent by the name of Dave Dworski.
David Dworski says, 'I love it. We have to do some work on it.'
H: Okay.
K: David Dworski's no longer in the industry. He decided at the age of 50 . . . he decided to become a clinical psychologists.
I swear to God. And he now . . . conducts motivational seminars all over the country.
(Click on --> ACT III --> i.e., "Alex Kustanovich (3)" below.)
< (c) 1999 > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KUSTANOVICH: That's correct. That's correct. Telling stories visually.
Although the older I got . . . the more I realized how much more I preferred books to movies. But that happened really in the last five years of my life, actually.
I always thought that my strength [was] in telling stories through visuals. [Now] I'm not so sure. But that's a separate discussion.
HORTON: What years were you at NYU film school?
K: 1981 to 1985.
H: Was NYU hard to get in?
K: Well, y'know, yes. They told me that it was incredibly hard. But I was a naive Russian kid . . . with brass balls. And I barely spoke the language.
I came to this country in 1979. I barely graduated from high school . . . 'cause I didn't speak the language. And I applied to NYU film school.
NYU, in general, is a very difficult college to get into. And I basically knocked on the door . . . of the head of the program. His name was Charles Milne. He was the head of the undergraduate Tisch School of the Arts Film Program.
And I said, 'Listen. Y'know, my parents had enough courage to come to this country . . . bring me here. I want to make films.'
He just looked at me . . . and he says, 'You know what? I can take you as a special student. I'll give you a break. We'll take you as a special student. And then if your language improves and your writing skills improve . . . then after six months of being here . . . not even as a legitimate student . . . then, if everything goes well for you . . . then we'll admit you permanently.
I said, 'Okay.'
H: So . . . you got a B.F.A. degree . . .
K: [Yeah,] he kept me. I got all 'A's' in my first quarter. And he kept me there. And I did well. And I graduated with a 3.87 . . . I think . . . from NYU . . . with a B.F.A. in film production in 1985.
H: Was that an intense program?
K: Y'know, I don't remember it being very intense. I thought it was just a walk in the park . . . or in the woods for that matter. I didn't think . . . well, I know that a lot of people struggle with their chemistries and their biology . . . and all those things.
I . . . for me it was just . . . the films of Robert Altman at nine o'clock in the morning. And watching two movies and going home. It was not that intense.
H: What about screenwriting classes?
K: Screenwriting classes were interesting for me because . . . telling stories . . . I was always interested in that. But, again . . . because of my . . . my rusty . . . command of the language . . . my screenplays were interesting and funny . . . but they weren't very thoughtful because I simply could not . . . didn't have enough words in my vocabulary to make it thoughtful.
H: And that was basically short scripts?
K: Mostly short scripts. I hadn't written a long script until . . . right before I came to L.A. My friend, Yuri, and I collaborated on a long script.
Only short scripts, yes. And I made two movies at NYU as a director.
H: [So] the screenwriting classes they were offering . . . were of a fairly high-quality . . . and motivating . . .
K: Yes. Absolutely. Motivating. We had very interesting people. There was a wonderful instructor whom I remember . . . I'm actually [still] in touch with him. And he still teaches there. His name is Lamar Sanders. And he was very helpful, very thoughtful, and very encouraging.
H: So . . . you did a short film . . . your major project . . . or you did two shorts . . .
K: I did a silent short as . . . half [of my] . . . major project so to speak. And then I did my final thesis work called: THE SINNER. And it was a full-fledged short film . . . about, I think, sixteen minutes long. I still have that tape.
It was shown at the NYU Film Festival and then later . . . briefly as part of a school project . . . at Channel 31 in New York . . . which was an old, old cable channel. It doesn't exist anymore in New York City. And NYU had sort of a deal with them . . . where they'd show student projects . . . their thesis [films] . . . their graduating projects.
H: [So] . . . how was that . . . doing an intense sixteen minute . . . trying to get high quality . . . and [trying to] start your career with that reel?
K: Very educational. I'm not a very ambitious person. And I'm not a . . . tyrannical director on the set like some people are . . .
So for me it was just . . . 'Let's just get this thing done.'
So . . . the story was cute. But my direction was mediocre.
H: What grade did you get on it?
K: Oh . . . I mean . . . grades were bogus because . . . if we showed up for class . . . we'd get an 'A.' I mean, the grades were . . . very easy. I mean . . . yeah, I got an 'A' in [the class] actually because I got the film completed. I edited it myself. Y'know, mixed it all . . . so yes, I got an 'A' on that film.
And the film . . . it's not a bad little film, actually. And I had a good time making it.
But directing . . . even though I want to do it in the future . . . it's not something that I particularly enjoy doing.
H: You wrote it. You directed it. You produced it. You edited it . . .
K: Yeah.
H: You did a lot on it.
K: Everything.
H: Everything. And what was the size of your crew?
K: . . . The crew [was] . . . my best buddy from NYU . . . who actually lives now in L.A. -- Phil Betz was the production manager. My very good friend from NYU also -- Jim Willard -- who's now in Vermont making apple cider for a living . . . was my sound guy. This guy Greg from graduate school . . . or under-grad school . . . very socially interesting guy . . . was our DP.
[My friend Yuri Zelster helped me edit it, and he got a co-editing credit.]
I directed it.
And we had a bunch of . . . we had a couple of . . . production-design people . . . again everyone from the school . . . except for the extras. The extras we put an ad in 'Backstage.'
H: Were they SAG or were they just . . .
K: No, no, no. SAG didn't do it. They were just extras that wanted to work.
H: Alex, I've seen [your short]. I thought it was a pretty good [film] . . . y'know, shorts are just rough . . . and . . .
K: Oh, you've seen it?
H: Oh, sure.
K: . . . Okay.
H: So you graduated from NYU. Then what happened?
K: Then . . . I did not think seriously about writing for a living because English was my second language. And because I thought that I would get into directing . . . after the movie, y'know, I got interested in directing . . . even though in retrospect, I think right now, it was just . . . inertia.
[Anyway], I decided to become a director. So, the best way for me to become a director . . . I thought at that time . . . [this] was before the big screenplay sales or any of that stuff . . . the year was 1985, '86 . . . I decided to come to L.A. and become an editor . . . an apprentice editor or assistant editor . . .
And while at NYU . . . before I graduated . . . I'd worked on a film as an editor's apprentice. A film called: EAT AND RUN with Ron Silver. And it's available on tape.
EAT AND RUN . . . it's a ridiculous over-the-top story about a fat man from outer space who comes to Earth to eat Italians.
So . . . it is . . . y'know . . . ridiculous . . .
H: And you were the editor on this?
K: Not 'the' editor. I was the editor's apprentice.
H: The apprentice.
K: Yeah, the apprentice. My job was to pick up the dailies.
H: Did you get film credit for that?
K: Yes, I did.
H: There's probably a union . . .
K: No, no. It was non-union.
H: Non-union.
K: [A] very, very small independent film.
H: Okay.
K: Very small. Ron Silver . . . and I forget who . . .
That was my last year at NYU . . . 1985.
H: Okay.
K: So, that's apropos . . . my wanting to be an editor.
So . . . when I came to L.A. -- and I had all these references from my editor, Pam Arnold. And my assistant editor with whom I'd worked . . . Robin Katz, actually she's an editor in L.A. right now. I see her credits all the time.
[I've] lost touch with her . . . haven't spoken with her in years . . . but she's around.
And so . . . I came to L.A. with all [these] references and contacts . . . and . . . I could not, for the life of me . . . get even an apprentice job as an editor . . . in the editing room, I mean -- i.e., either for commercials or for features or for anything. It was just, like, a no-win situation. I met, maybe . . . with . . . ten people . . . or maybe even more than ten people.
H: Well, how long a period of time did you struggle . . . trying to get a job . . . during that time?
K: Well, I immediately got a job working for a junkyard . . . delivering . . .
H: [laughs] Delivering what?
K: Delivering engines from . . . one junkster to another junkster.
Seriously.
'Cause my Russian friend, Alex . . . used to work for this junkyard.
And he said, 'Listen. While you're here, stay with me, make some money.'
So we were making, like, thirty bucks a day . . . for like five hours, six hours a day . . . delivering engines. And meanwhile, looking for a job . . . in editing. I was 23 years old at the time.
And, God . . . time flies. My goodness.
Anyway, so . . . I could not find a job as an editor.
So, my friend, Yuri . . . with whom I went to NYU, too. Yuri Zeltser.
Now, he is a big director and writer. His movie . . . is called BLACK AND WHITE. He just did a major, major, major job for Warner Brothers . . . a major, major script he wrote with his wife.
And so . . . he and I wrote a script called: PLUS MINUS. It's a coming-of-age story. And at that time . . .
H: Was that your first theatrical feature-film script?
K: [My] first feature-film script.
H: So you co-wrote it with Yuri.
K: I co-wrote it with Yuri.
And [then] my good friend from NYU . . . by the name of E. Max Frye . . . by the time I'd moved to L.A. -- he had sold a script: SOMETHING WILD . . . and it was a big deal. He was older than me. He was seven years older than me. Still is.
And it was a big, big brouhaha . . . at NYU . . . 'cause it was his first script . . . he came to L.A. -- he showed the script to someone at a party . . . the next day or the next week . . . he gets a call from an agent by the name of Dave Dworski.
David Dworski says, 'I love it. We have to do some work on it.'
H: Okay.
K: David Dworski's no longer in the industry. He decided at the age of 50 . . . he decided to become a clinical psychologists.
I swear to God. And he now . . . conducts motivational seminars all over the country.
(Click on --> ACT III --> i.e., "Alex Kustanovich (3)" below.)
< (c) 1999 > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
