Alex Kustanovich (7)
ACT VII -->
KUSTANOVICH: I spent three months working with him on this [project].
HORTON: Now, did you sit in a room and write things, or did he . . .
K: I was in New York. He was in L.A. He sent me the script. I suggested some things. He used very much what he wanted . . .
But I suggested some things. He said, 'Why don't you come to L.A.?'
So I went to L.A. I met with him. Y'know, we rewrote it together . . . for two weeks.
H: I'm just trying to figure out the process. Were you ever in [a room]?
K: The process was very simple. When we were in L.A. -- we sat down and wrote together and argued over every single word.
H: [laughs]
K: That was the [process].
H: Did you sit at the computer, put it in the computer . . . and he just talked to you?
K: Yes, of course.
H: Okay.
K: We had to write it in English, so I had to . . .
H: Okay, so . . . but you were writing . . . you were talking in English and Russian, but you were writing in English.
K: That's correct.
H: That was . . . on and off for three months . . .
K: Three months -- on and off. And then I figured, 'Okay, we're done with that.' And I completely put it out of my mind. [I thought --] 'Nothing would ever happen with it.'
H: And then you went back to New York, and he stayed in L.A.?
K: That's right. [But] I didn't stay in L.A. for three months. I came [to L.A.] . . . then I went back to New York and did some more work [on the form and facts] . . . and things like that.
H: Okay.
K: And we worked . . . and I forgot about it completely. I started doing other things and just forgot about it.
H: Okay.
K: [Then] he went back to Russia. He was in L.A. -- went back to Russia . . . tried to raise the money for the film.
And I figured, 'Well, sure. Okay. Call me when you raise the money.'
H: [laughs]
K: Guess what? Lo and behold . . . I get a call from him . . . one a December morning . . . or a November morning.
H: What year was this?
K: The year was 1997.
H: Okay.
K: Saying -- 'Guess what? Y'know, you're gonna have to come to Estonia.'
And I'd already . . . left [my girlfriend] . . . and decided to move back to L.A.
And, in fact, I did move back to L.A.
H: So you were in L.A. when you got this call?
K: No, I was in New York. But I was already moving back to L.A.
H: Oh, fixing to move to L.A.
K: Right. My bags were packed.
H: Okay.
K: So -- I moved to L.A., and I was staying with my friend knowing that I would probably have to go to Estonia . . . so I wasn't looking for a place to [live . . . only to stay].
H: Okay.
K: [Anyway,] I moved back to L.A. -- on December 20th. And then . . . on January 15th -- I flew to Tallinn . . . [in] 1998.
H: That's Estonia?
K: Estonia. I flew to Estonia.
H: Okay, so -- Sasha had gone out and found production money and got a producer . . .
K: That's right.
H: And raised some money, and you were in pre-production -- going to camera at that point, and so they wanted you to fly out and be on the set during the process.
K: That's right. Well, originally I was supposed to go there for a month . . . to do some more rewriting on the script . . . to adjust the locations. When I got there, he said that I'm gonna make sure that you stay here if you wanna stay here . . . for the rest of the . . .
H: And they're paying all the bills, of course, at that point, right?
K: They were paying all the bills.
H: Okay. So . . . what was the final budget on OUT OF THE COLD?
K: The budget started at 5 1/2, and the final was, to my knowledge, was 8 million dollars.
H: Well, that's a pretty nice little start. I mean, Robert Duvall . . . he killed himself to raise 5 million dollars for his APOSTLE. I mean, Robert Duvall . . .
K: . . . not knowing any Russian hard guys.
H: [laughs]
[The tape ends. The interview picks up at a different point.]
H: . . . well-received.
K: Well-received by many people in the industry, including Bob Rafelson, Arthur Hiller . . . these people who Sasha knew from before . . . I don't know how.
H: And you did have some pretty big names in . . .
K: We did have some pretty big names in it.
H: Who did you have?
K: We had Keith Carradine, Mercedes Ruehl, Brian Dennehy, Judd Hirsch, Mia Kirshner . . . and Kim Hunter.
H: Now, how did Sasha get these people? It was just a great script?
K: It was a good script. We had the lady by the name of Barbara Leggeti. And she was . . . he knew her from before. I don't know how. And she said that she could try to get the script to the people.
So she did that.
H: But that's some pretty big talent for a 5 1/2 million dollar budget.
K: Right.
H: And they [had] to go to Estonia, too. I mean, it's not easy to convince people to do that.
K: Yes, they had to go to Estonia . . .
H: They must've really loved the script, Alex.
K: Right.
No, they did. And again, I can't really take credit for that script because basically the story was his. I had to rewrite it . . . big time. And, of course, I contributed a lot. But . . .
H: So he got: 'Story Credit By.' And you got: 'Screen . . .'
K: No, actually . . . we decided that we weren't going to do that. It was fine with me if he did that. But he decided he didn't want to do that. So basically -- 'Screenplay By' . . . him and me.
H: So, there's no 'Story Credit.'
K: No 'Story Credit.'
H: Wow. But it really was his 'Story Credit,' huh?
K: That's correct.
H: Well, that was nice of him.
K: Yes, it was.
(To read ACT VIII --> click on --> "Alex Kustanovich (8)" below.)
< (c) 1999 >
KUSTANOVICH: I spent three months working with him on this [project].
HORTON: Now, did you sit in a room and write things, or did he . . .
K: I was in New York. He was in L.A. He sent me the script. I suggested some things. He used very much what he wanted . . .
But I suggested some things. He said, 'Why don't you come to L.A.?'
So I went to L.A. I met with him. Y'know, we rewrote it together . . . for two weeks.
H: I'm just trying to figure out the process. Were you ever in [a room]?
K: The process was very simple. When we were in L.A. -- we sat down and wrote together and argued over every single word.
H: [laughs]
K: That was the [process].
H: Did you sit at the computer, put it in the computer . . . and he just talked to you?
K: Yes, of course.
H: Okay.
K: We had to write it in English, so I had to . . .
H: Okay, so . . . but you were writing . . . you were talking in English and Russian, but you were writing in English.
K: That's correct.
H: That was . . . on and off for three months . . .
K: Three months -- on and off. And then I figured, 'Okay, we're done with that.' And I completely put it out of my mind. [I thought --] 'Nothing would ever happen with it.'
H: And then you went back to New York, and he stayed in L.A.?
K: That's right. [But] I didn't stay in L.A. for three months. I came [to L.A.] . . . then I went back to New York and did some more work [on the form and facts] . . . and things like that.
H: Okay.
K: And we worked . . . and I forgot about it completely. I started doing other things and just forgot about it.
H: Okay.
K: [Then] he went back to Russia. He was in L.A. -- went back to Russia . . . tried to raise the money for the film.
And I figured, 'Well, sure. Okay. Call me when you raise the money.'
H: [laughs]
K: Guess what? Lo and behold . . . I get a call from him . . . one a December morning . . . or a November morning.
H: What year was this?
K: The year was 1997.
H: Okay.
K: Saying -- 'Guess what? Y'know, you're gonna have to come to Estonia.'
And I'd already . . . left [my girlfriend] . . . and decided to move back to L.A.
And, in fact, I did move back to L.A.
H: So you were in L.A. when you got this call?
K: No, I was in New York. But I was already moving back to L.A.
H: Oh, fixing to move to L.A.
K: Right. My bags were packed.
H: Okay.
K: So -- I moved to L.A., and I was staying with my friend knowing that I would probably have to go to Estonia . . . so I wasn't looking for a place to [live . . . only to stay].
H: Okay.
K: [Anyway,] I moved back to L.A. -- on December 20th. And then . . . on January 15th -- I flew to Tallinn . . . [in] 1998.
H: That's Estonia?
K: Estonia. I flew to Estonia.
H: Okay, so -- Sasha had gone out and found production money and got a producer . . .
K: That's right.
H: And raised some money, and you were in pre-production -- going to camera at that point, and so they wanted you to fly out and be on the set during the process.
K: That's right. Well, originally I was supposed to go there for a month . . . to do some more rewriting on the script . . . to adjust the locations. When I got there, he said that I'm gonna make sure that you stay here if you wanna stay here . . . for the rest of the . . .
H: And they're paying all the bills, of course, at that point, right?
K: They were paying all the bills.
H: Okay. So . . . what was the final budget on OUT OF THE COLD?
K: The budget started at 5 1/2, and the final was, to my knowledge, was 8 million dollars.
H: Well, that's a pretty nice little start. I mean, Robert Duvall . . . he killed himself to raise 5 million dollars for his APOSTLE. I mean, Robert Duvall . . .
K: . . . not knowing any Russian hard guys.
H: [laughs]
[The tape ends. The interview picks up at a different point.]
H: . . . well-received.
K: Well-received by many people in the industry, including Bob Rafelson, Arthur Hiller . . . these people who Sasha knew from before . . . I don't know how.
H: And you did have some pretty big names in . . .
K: We did have some pretty big names in it.
H: Who did you have?
K: We had Keith Carradine, Mercedes Ruehl, Brian Dennehy, Judd Hirsch, Mia Kirshner . . . and Kim Hunter.
H: Now, how did Sasha get these people? It was just a great script?
K: It was a good script. We had the lady by the name of Barbara Leggeti. And she was . . . he knew her from before. I don't know how. And she said that she could try to get the script to the people.
So she did that.
H: But that's some pretty big talent for a 5 1/2 million dollar budget.
K: Right.
H: And they [had] to go to Estonia, too. I mean, it's not easy to convince people to do that.
K: Yes, they had to go to Estonia . . .
H: They must've really loved the script, Alex.
K: Right.
No, they did. And again, I can't really take credit for that script because basically the story was his. I had to rewrite it . . . big time. And, of course, I contributed a lot. But . . .
H: So he got: 'Story Credit By.' And you got: 'Screen . . .'
K: No, actually . . . we decided that we weren't going to do that. It was fine with me if he did that. But he decided he didn't want to do that. So basically -- 'Screenplay By' . . . him and me.
H: So, there's no 'Story Credit.'
K: No 'Story Credit.'
H: Wow. But it really was his 'Story Credit,' huh?
K: That's correct.
H: Well, that was nice of him.
K: Yes, it was.
(To read ACT VIII --> click on --> "Alex Kustanovich (8)" below.)
< (c) 1999 >
