David Kukoff is a 17-year veteran of the entertainment industry, has 11 produced film and television credits to his name, including the production polish on the hit Nickelodeon film “Clockstoppers.” In addition to his numerous Disney-related projects, Kukoff has sold and rewritten feature film projects at every studio in town, has worked in conjunction with producers Brain Grazer (“A Beautiful Mind,” “Cinderella Man”) and Gale Anne Hurd (“The Terminator,” “The Incredible Hulk”), and has held television development deals at Twentieth Century Fox Television and Touchstone Television. Kukoff has also been a faculty guest lecturer at Northwestern University and UCLA.
David on...
The Process
When I'm writing an assignment for a studio, I like to work as close to a nine-to-five-ish schedule as possible. Which mostly means procrastinating and warming up in the morning, then an early lunch, then powering down pages in the afternoon until I hit my quota; typically three to five pages per day. When I'm writing something that's for me-- like a spec script, a short story or any other work of fiction-- I work at all hours. My favorite time to write new pages is the middle of the night, then I rewrite during the day.
Satisfaction
The most satisfying thing about my writing, again, depends on what I'm working on. When I'm doing paid work, it's the accumulation of pages. Being able to hit "Fade Out" and print out 100-110 pages and hold the weight of my work in my hands feels terrific. When I'm working on something for myself, it's the process itself that I find satisfying. Having a decent work session makes my day otherwise bearable.
KnowingI always found that stories came naturally to me; I've been writing since third grade pretty consistently, and it just seemed that whenever I sat down, things just flowed. I first began to think about it seriously as a career when I was in college and was encouraged to go to film school to study television.
The First Time
I had the pleasure of seeing my work performed in college, my senior year, when I wrote and directed a play. It was thrilling to watch something I'd worked so hard on in front of an audience; hearing them laugh at all the right places and gasp when the twists kicked in made me realize that I was truly following a calling. It definitely changed when it came time for all my movies to be produced for Disney, because by the time a writer's work hits the screen or TV set, he or she is lucky if 50% of it is still intact.
Advice
I wish someone had taught me that television was 25% talent, 75% corporate maneuvering. That it's not just about "writing your passion" like everyone always tells you on panels; if someone's successful in TV, you can bet there's a savvy producer lying somewhere underneath the creative surface.
For more information on David's past, present, and future endeavors check here.
