Meet Anastasiya Kukhtareva | manager/producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Anastasiya Kukhtareva and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Anastasiya, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
To be completely honest, starting my own business became a process of necessity. I didn’t really have a runway or plan and was sort of forced to jump right in. But the beginning of the story starts with me working as a development executive, first at Tobey Maguire’s company, Material and then with Lynda Obst Productions. Also, Steven Canals is a main character in “how I became a manager!”. When Steven was a grad student at UCLA, I tried to bring his show POSE to Material – it ultimately wasn’t the right fit. So I had said to Steven, “I can’t sell your show but I can get you manager.” I had met Jarrod Murray who had partnered with Allard Cantor through a mutual friend. Jarrod had also grown up in Alabama, there aren’t too many of us out here! Steven ended up signing with Jarrod and Allard at Epicenter. Then, when I couldn’t quite figure out what was next for me in terms of the executive path, and didn’t have the resources or the credits to be a producer on my own, Allard approached me at a party and said “why don’t you come work with us as a manager.” At the time, it was a big leap for me and in a sense, starting over in terms of building from the ground up, but I said yes and was with Epicenter for five years. It was a perfect segue as I was their internal development person working on client’s scripts, but then, started signing clients on my own. When the strikes happened, it wasn’t possible for Epicenter to keep me on, so I decided that until the business rebounded I would try going at it alone. Since January of this year, which is when the town has started coming back to life, I’ve been able to sustain thus far. A client staffed on a show in January and then another one staffed on a show in the Spring. A few pilots got optioned and bit by bit, it’s been really gratifying to see that I have been able to make it work on my own. I think for me, the years that I’d spent in development building relationships and also honing my taste made it a fairly easy transition and finding the hustle to just keep at it has been keeping me afloat! I’d love to be part of a collective or find a path for being partnered with like minded individuals who have different skillsets than me at a bigger company, but I think it would have to be the right fit and a place that has a vision of how to sustain in the current marketplace with the changing landscape. But in the meantime, management is something that I have been – in some ways – training for my entire career thus far.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I think my career has definitely been informed by my experience as an immigrant. I was born in Kyiv, Ukraine and moved to the United States when I was 7 to Huntsville, Alabama. I never really thought a career in the arts was possible for me, even though as a kid I was in theater, I took art classes and painted, I was a dancer and I spent my time reading as many books as possible and watching American film and TV as a means to find a way to connect and if I’m being really honest, to try to be “cool” and fit in. When I came to USC, I was originally targeting being pre-med because I thought that’s what was expected of me. My parents are both physicists. I took film classes at ‘SC and actually minored in film/tv, but really the first moment I saw it being a career is when my work study boss told me to go leave the phone that I was supposed to be minding and attend a panel for women about possible careers in communications and I heard a producer speak – Keri Selig. I asked her afterwards, how in the world do I get to do that, and she said… “come be my intern.” It sounds kind of naive, but it was the first time that I started to realize that film/tv is an actual business with many different people that do various different things for these projects to come together and to support artists. I was always a “jack of all trades, master of none” kind of person in that I was good at a lot of things but wasn’t totally sure how to bring it all together and hearing her speak made so much sense to me. My internship led me to a few others – at the time, Mandate Pictures and then to Spyglass and eventually to my first job as an assistant in the indie film group at UTA. Looking back, there are a lot of things that I would have changed. I’m very hard on myself in terms of what I would have done differently, but now that I’ve done a lot of self work and growth, I realize that I had a lot to learn when it comes to American business culture, which I had zero experience in. I had to figure out how to dress and how to speak. There were a lot of cultural references that I had no experience in because the movies and music and TV that my parents grew up with that was in our house was from a completely different culture. There are probably lots of books that I should have read and informational interviews that should have asked for and/or gone about differently – but I think the early part of my career was about survival. I think going through all of that and learning some lessons the hard way has shaped me and the way I approach client coaching but also the way that I approach strategy and the creative work. For me, the goal is ultimately to help artists make things whether as a manager or a producer. I took a bunch of writing classes because I was looking to Brian Grazer’s path as a producer who had a great idea and just though to write a script. I didn’t end up pursuing that path – but I did learn a lot! Lynda Obst was the first person to be a true mentor to me and this very simple thing that she said to me… “you’re good at this, Anastasiya” coming from her was a really big deal. I learned that Lynda used her life experience and her relationships to bring stories into the world despite all of the odds and has always pursued her passions and obsessions when choosing which projects to focus on. I think the business has changed a lot since the time that I started. The role of producer and the role of manager has evolved in today’s business and I’m honestly figuring out how to navigate that shift and how to support my family while trying to pursue this passion has been a big balancing act. However, for me, every time that I talk about how much I love movies or how this story or that story taught me something or moved me, I get very emotional and it’s that energy that tells me that this is the thing that I’m meant to pursue despite all the odds! At its very core, for me it’s seeing other people’s inner worlds through the lens of their art that makes me feel that deep connection and inspiration and that’s the feeling that I hope to chase with projects that I help bring to life and supporting the clients that I represent.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
This is a big one for me because I love experiencing everything this city has to offer. I think it would depend on the interests of my friend, but if it were just up to me and I had an unlimited budget – I’d want to go dancing at La Descarga, a Cuban dance club, I’d go see jazz at Vibrato or a local musician at Hotel Cafe or the Troubadour, I’d take them to Zuma beach in Malibu and have breakfast on the Malibu pier, go hiking in Topanga, check out art at the Broad or LACMA or the Hammer or the Getty! I’d take them to the Last Bookstore in downtown LA and go shopping at vintage stores in Venice and Melrose. I’d take them to one of the many incredible sushi restaurants like Sugarfish or Yuko Kitchen. I’d take them to brunch at Blu Jam and lunch at Korean BBQ or ramen or have Pho at Gingergrass in Silverlake or one of the many Din Tai Fung’s. I’d take them to Beard Papas on Sawtelle for pastries and coffee at literally any cafe in that area! This city has so much to offer. If they have kids, I have a whole other list! I’d probably also take them to a cool theater show if there was something going on in town – and there usually is!

Honestly I could go on and on – there’s so much this city has to offer!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’ve been incredibly lucky to be surrounded by the most amazing clients who have gone on this journey with me and jumped right in when I said I was going out on my own. Lynda Obst was my first true mentor is someone who I credit with giving me so much wisdom and confidence to believe in myself.

I also have an incredibly supportive partner who I co-parent with and who makes it possible for me to have the courage to launch my own business. He is also a business owner who has been doing it on his own and has given me the roadmap to figuring out the logistics of creating an LLC, navigating how to even structure cash flow and all of the other administrative hurdles that I think make business ownership feel so overwhelming for most people.

Instagram: anasiya7

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/

Image Credits
Margot Landen- headshot photographer

Steven Canals and AK

Erin Granat and AK

Blaine Morris and AK

LaDarrion Williams and AK

Daniel Egbert and AK

Company logo font