Alex Kustanovich (8)
ACT VIII -->
KUSTANOVICH: Yes, it was.
HORTON: So you filmed it, and you were there for how many months?
K: I stayed there throughout the entire preproduction . . . production . . . and when I came back to L.A. -- some of the postproduction as well.
So I stayed in Estonia for seven months . . .
H: Wow.
K: . . . [and] that included two weeks at St. Petersburg.
H: And how was that creative process?
K: It was great. It was probably the best seven months in my life . . . because I was on the set . . . I had a reason to be somewhere . . . it was wonderful.
H: Now -- he had guaranteed you fifty-fifty on the screenwriting deal . . . and so I assume that . . . [it] finally paid off, and you got your money.
K: That's right. Correct. It paid off before I went to Tallinn. They paid me before . . .
H: Before you left L.A.?
K: Final payment came when I was in L.A.
H: Wow.
K: Yeah. So . . . I had already gotten paid before I went to Tallinn. So in Tallinn they only paid my expenses, my apartment, my lodging, my food . . . and I got a forty-dollar per diem.
H: Now you're talking much more serious money than you had been on those other low deals.
K: . . . more serious money.
H: Did you get in the WGA?
K: No, I did not.
H: Oh.
K: Because the movie wasn't WGA, and I didn't know how to . . .
H: I think . . . on your first WGA money you can actually choose not to join, and it's only the second time around that you have to join or they . . .
K: Yes, none of the movies that I've made . . .
H: Right. I know all the other money was . . . not up to . . . you couldn't get into the WGA.
Do you wanna mention the sum, or do you wanna avoid it? It's up to you.
K: No, the sum . . . we can mention the sum. We were supposed to have gotten . . . originally in the contract . . . we were supposed to have . . . when the deal was made . . . we were supposed to have gotten $150,000 -- for the both of us.
H: Wow. I didn't know that.
K: Yeah.
H: But you didn't get that.
K: No, we didn't get that.
H: No.
K: We, unfortunately, only got $100,000 . . . for the both of us.
H: So, you got . . .
K: I got fifty grand.
H: So . . . well, that's still a good . . .
If it was one person, that's a great deal.
K: It is. It is. It is a good deal, but, I mean, it was a deal that was . . .
H: But you made fifty thousand which is still a pretty good first . . . well, it's not your first deal, but . . .
K: Not the first, but yeah . . .
H: It's a reasonable . . .
K: I'm living off that money till this day.
H: Right.
K: Of course I had to pay . . . $12,000 in taxes.
H: So -- you still do not have an agent . . . and even though now you had a movie . . .
K: Although now, the possibilites of getting a good agent are greater because a lot of people responded to the film. A lot of people know about this project that's this film. This film is in the final stages right now of being edited and about to be released either on cable or . . . as a . . . theatrical.
And so we're hoping to invite all the major agents to the screening of this film and . . . my hope right now . . . that it is my calling card . . . finally . . . to something.
H: Well, it sounds . . . like . . . the old story that it takes so many years to finally get to where you wanna go, but finally -- after really paying your dues, after really working and working . . . and you've written a lot of projects by this point . . .
K: Yeah.
H: . . . and, so now it looks like you're fixing to get . . . after all of this . . . I mean . . . this is 1999, and you came out of UCLA in 1992. That's seven years. And you'd already come out of AFI and NYU . . . after seven years out of the M.F.A. program . . . finally it looks like you'll be getting an agent.
K: Hopefully. If it happens.
H: Hopefully? Yeah.
K: What's sad about this whole situation is that after getting fifty grand for a script that got made . . . now I'm relegated to a different level, at a lower level again. And I'm forced to accept a job, take a job for ten grand which I'm discussing right now.
H: Well, but you gotta make money, Alex.
K: Because . . . exactly. Because I have to . . . yeah, I have to make money. Either that or get another job.
H: Well, you do what ya gotta do. C'mon.
K: Yeah.
H: So, do you wanna teach screenwriting?
K: Very much so. I love teaching. I'm right now working as an English tutor . . . several kids . . . teaching them, y'know, various grammar points and . . .
K: Okay. Even though you have an M.F.A. degree from probably one of the . . . probably the top school in the United States and maybe the world for screenwriting. At least -- that's what some people claim.
K: Right.
H: Known as the 'Harvard of screenwriting.'
K: Right.
H: Even though you have a top degree from a very intense, very competitive program . . . how hard is it to get a professorship in screenwriting with that type of credential . . . and even though you have a few . . . you've had at least two films made.
K: Right. It is almost impossible to get a professorship in screenwriting at a university, a major university . . . unless you have a movie produced and the credit is recent. As a matter of fact, I applied for a job . . . and they had advertised in the HOLLYWOOD REPORT . . . for UCLA Extension. I called them, and she called me back, and she said, 'I'm sure you're very good. And the movie's very good. [But the] movie hasn't come out yet. And we're looking for somebody who's got credit . . .'
H: You're kidding.
K: '. . . that's recent.'
H: I mean, people just don't know . . . [don't] realize. It's not like teaching English at just any old university . . .
K: Oh, no. No, no. There's not that many schools which offer screenwriting programs, and those small ones who do . . . can only do it for a semester or so. But to get a full-time gig . . .
For example. There's a school in Boulder, Colorado. The University of Colorado, okay? I called them up, and [they] said, 'Sure. We're hiring, y'know, adjunct professors . . . for a semester or so. Would it be worth it for you to come to Colorado?
I mean, it wouldn't be. I have to go to Colorado for three months. I mean . . .
H: Alex, I used to live in Boulder, Colorado. You should've . . . if they offered you a gig, you should've TAKEN IT! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?
K: In Boulder, Colorado? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (To read ACT IX --> click on --> "Alex Kustanovich (9)" below.)
< (c) 1999 >
KUSTANOVICH: Yes, it was.
HORTON: So you filmed it, and you were there for how many months?
K: I stayed there throughout the entire preproduction . . . production . . . and when I came back to L.A. -- some of the postproduction as well.
So I stayed in Estonia for seven months . . .
H: Wow.
K: . . . [and] that included two weeks at St. Petersburg.
H: And how was that creative process?
K: It was great. It was probably the best seven months in my life . . . because I was on the set . . . I had a reason to be somewhere . . . it was wonderful.
H: Now -- he had guaranteed you fifty-fifty on the screenwriting deal . . . and so I assume that . . . [it] finally paid off, and you got your money.
K: That's right. Correct. It paid off before I went to Tallinn. They paid me before . . .
H: Before you left L.A.?
K: Final payment came when I was in L.A.
H: Wow.
K: Yeah. So . . . I had already gotten paid before I went to Tallinn. So in Tallinn they only paid my expenses, my apartment, my lodging, my food . . . and I got a forty-dollar per diem.
H: Now you're talking much more serious money than you had been on those other low deals.
K: . . . more serious money.
H: Did you get in the WGA?
K: No, I did not.
H: Oh.
K: Because the movie wasn't WGA, and I didn't know how to . . .
H: I think . . . on your first WGA money you can actually choose not to join, and it's only the second time around that you have to join or they . . .
K: Yes, none of the movies that I've made . . .
H: Right. I know all the other money was . . . not up to . . . you couldn't get into the WGA.
Do you wanna mention the sum, or do you wanna avoid it? It's up to you.
K: No, the sum . . . we can mention the sum. We were supposed to have gotten . . . originally in the contract . . . we were supposed to have . . . when the deal was made . . . we were supposed to have gotten $150,000 -- for the both of us.
H: Wow. I didn't know that.
K: Yeah.
H: But you didn't get that.
K: No, we didn't get that.
H: No.
K: We, unfortunately, only got $100,000 . . . for the both of us.
H: So, you got . . .
K: I got fifty grand.
H: So . . . well, that's still a good . . .
If it was one person, that's a great deal.
K: It is. It is. It is a good deal, but, I mean, it was a deal that was . . .
H: But you made fifty thousand which is still a pretty good first . . . well, it's not your first deal, but . . .
K: Not the first, but yeah . . .
H: It's a reasonable . . .
K: I'm living off that money till this day.
H: Right.
K: Of course I had to pay . . . $12,000 in taxes.
H: So -- you still do not have an agent . . . and even though now you had a movie . . .
K: Although now, the possibilites of getting a good agent are greater because a lot of people responded to the film. A lot of people know about this project that's this film. This film is in the final stages right now of being edited and about to be released either on cable or . . . as a . . . theatrical.
And so we're hoping to invite all the major agents to the screening of this film and . . . my hope right now . . . that it is my calling card . . . finally . . . to something.
H: Well, it sounds . . . like . . . the old story that it takes so many years to finally get to where you wanna go, but finally -- after really paying your dues, after really working and working . . . and you've written a lot of projects by this point . . .
K: Yeah.
H: . . . and, so now it looks like you're fixing to get . . . after all of this . . . I mean . . . this is 1999, and you came out of UCLA in 1992. That's seven years. And you'd already come out of AFI and NYU . . . after seven years out of the M.F.A. program . . . finally it looks like you'll be getting an agent.
K: Hopefully. If it happens.
H: Hopefully? Yeah.
K: What's sad about this whole situation is that after getting fifty grand for a script that got made . . . now I'm relegated to a different level, at a lower level again. And I'm forced to accept a job, take a job for ten grand which I'm discussing right now.
H: Well, but you gotta make money, Alex.
K: Because . . . exactly. Because I have to . . . yeah, I have to make money. Either that or get another job.
H: Well, you do what ya gotta do. C'mon.
K: Yeah.
H: So, do you wanna teach screenwriting?
K: Very much so. I love teaching. I'm right now working as an English tutor . . . several kids . . . teaching them, y'know, various grammar points and . . .
K: Okay. Even though you have an M.F.A. degree from probably one of the . . . probably the top school in the United States and maybe the world for screenwriting. At least -- that's what some people claim.
K: Right.
H: Known as the 'Harvard of screenwriting.'
K: Right.
H: Even though you have a top degree from a very intense, very competitive program . . . how hard is it to get a professorship in screenwriting with that type of credential . . . and even though you have a few . . . you've had at least two films made.
K: Right. It is almost impossible to get a professorship in screenwriting at a university, a major university . . . unless you have a movie produced and the credit is recent. As a matter of fact, I applied for a job . . . and they had advertised in the HOLLYWOOD REPORT . . . for UCLA Extension. I called them, and she called me back, and she said, 'I'm sure you're very good. And the movie's very good. [But the] movie hasn't come out yet. And we're looking for somebody who's got credit . . .'
H: You're kidding.
K: '. . . that's recent.'
H: I mean, people just don't know . . . [don't] realize. It's not like teaching English at just any old university . . .
K: Oh, no. No, no. There's not that many schools which offer screenwriting programs, and those small ones who do . . . can only do it for a semester or so. But to get a full-time gig . . .
For example. There's a school in Boulder, Colorado. The University of Colorado, okay? I called them up, and [they] said, 'Sure. We're hiring, y'know, adjunct professors . . . for a semester or so. Would it be worth it for you to come to Colorado?
I mean, it wouldn't be. I have to go to Colorado for three months. I mean . . .
H: Alex, I used to live in Boulder, Colorado. You should've . . . if they offered you a gig, you should've TAKEN IT! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?
K: In Boulder, Colorado? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (To read ACT IX --> click on --> "Alex Kustanovich (9)" below.)
< (c) 1999 >
