Podcast: Don't Kill the Messenger with Movie Research Expert Kevin Goetz
Guest: Film Producer and Former Studio Executive Basil Iwanyk

Interview Transcript:

Announcer (00:03):

From script to screen, every film is brought to life by visionary creatives and executives, all sharing one mission – to captivate the audience. Hosted by award-winning movie strategist, Kevin Goetz, our podcast, Don't Kill The Messenger, offers a filmmaking masterclass through intimate conversations with Hollywood's most influential voices. And now, your host, Kevin Goetz.

Kevin Goetz (00:28):

Deeply defined characters, high stakes, and emotional engines. This is the through line in the films of today's guest. Whether you're watching a grieving hitman take down an international crime syndicate, or an elite CIA agent navigating the gray zones of morality. Producer Basil Iwanyk is the force behind some of the most gripping and commercially successful films of the last two decades from The Town and Sicario to the John Wick franchise, which redefined modern action and turned gun fu into an art form. As the founder of Thunder Road Pictures, he's got that rare mix of creative instinct and commercial savvy, someone who can spot a breakout script, launch a first time director, and still keep audiences on the edge of their seats. Basil, thank you so much for joining me today.

Basil Iwanyk (01:24):

Thanks for having me.

Kevin Goetz (01:25):

Man, we've been through it, right? <laugh>?

Basil Iwanyk (01:28):

Yes, we have. And frankly, a lot of those movies that you pointed out, actually, the three you have, as you know, because you worked on all three of 'em, they were not destined for greatness and or the first cuts were bumpy enough where you're like, this movie is not gonna work.

Kevin Goetz (01:45):

Which is just so hard to believe, right?

Basil Iwanyk (01:47):

I know.

Kevin Goetz (01:47):

In hindsight. Yeah. Let's start with where it all happened and all your success came from, which is New Jersey and you Perfect Together. Remember that <laugh>? So you know I'm a Jersey boy. Of course. Of course.

Basil Iwanyk (02:01):

Rutgers.

Kevin Goetz (02:01):

Right? And you were Villanova, right?

Basil Iwanyk (02:04):

I was, yeah.

Kevin Goetz (02:05):

But tell us about, I think you were born in Passaic.

Basil Iwanyk (02:09):

Teaneck.

Kevin Goetz (02:10):

Teaneck, okay. Not far.

Basil Iwanyk (02:12):

No.

Kevin Goetz (02:12):

Tell me about how Jersey has informed you and your career.

Basil Iwanyk (02:18):

You know, it's interesting, if you would've asked me when I was 23 or 22 when I graduated Villanova and I went out to LA, shame is the wrong word, but I was like, I need to get away from Jersey. Jersey has nothing to do with me. I'm an enlightened film guy and now I live in LA. People would ask me, where are you from? And I used to say, just outside New York. <laugh>. Like, what do you mean like Long Island? Like no, little south like New Jersey. I'm like, yes. <laugh>.

Kevin Goetz (02:46):

You mean Rhode Island? Rhode Island, Delaware, yeah. A little north. Little south.

Basil Iwanyk (02:54):

In retrospect, so much of who I am as a producer is because of my Jersey roots. So much of it.

Kevin Goetz (03:03):

Tell us about that.

*Basil Iwanyk (03:04):

Well, I think like a lot of Jersey guys, I'm sure you have it too. We have a chip on our shoulder. Now, I don't mean it in a way that manifests in being nasty to people, but in kind of that chip on your shoulder, which is I gotta hustle, I gotta outwork, I gotta look around corners, I gotta be able to take a punch and people don't think I'm good enough and I'm gonna show them. I don't know. It's because we look across the river and we see New York and it's fancy and all that stuff. I don't know if we were, 'cause we were a butt of jokes for so long, but I have that chip on my shoulder where to this day when people like you very graciously introduce me and talk about my credits, I still feel like I'm on the outside looking in into my career. I still feel like that 23-year-old schmuck that just got to LA and I better hustle. I never had the imposter syndrome of like, oh well they're gonna find out I'm an idiot. But I always had the, if I don't stop moving and working hard and innovating and if I ever bring a knife to a gunfight, it's over for me. You know, I'm first generation American too. You know, my parents were both born overseas.

Kevin Goetz (04:09):

Where

Basil Iwanyk (04:10):

Ireland and Germany. And when I say Germany, my dad's side, he was born in a displaced persons camp 'cause my grandparents were Ukrainian slave laborers. They met at a displaced persons camp in northern Germany. And my dad was born in 1946 and immigrated to the United States like in the early fifties. And our name’s in Ellis Island and all that stuff. So I grew up around immigrants, Irish and Ukrainian and Italian immigrants. And there was no entitlement. And it was always about just work hard, grind, grind, grind. Like the word grind was not a dirty word. It was like that's what you do. And I think that at the time I was embarrassed by it, to be honest, because my grandparents had thick accents and I just felt like I wanted to get away from that and so did my dad and so did my mom. My parents went so the other way. Ah, so like for instance, my dad spoke Ukrainian and Russian and Polish in his house and he wouldn't even teach my sister and I how to speak Ukrainian, Polish or Russian. It was like, we're American, we're not European, we're not immigrants. You're American, you're an American, you're an American.

Kevin Goetz (05:13):

And that's where Iwanyk is from.

Basil Iwanyk (05:14):

Yes.

Kevin Goetz (05:15):

Now what about Basil?

Basil Iwanyk (05:16):

I'm Basil William Iwanyk III. My dad is Basil, my grandfather was Basil.

Kevin Goetz (05:21):

That's a name that almost sounds of the manor born.

Basil Iwanyk (05:24):

I know, trust me. But the funny part is the anglicized version of my name is Bill Johnson. I feel like I would've a different career if my name was Bill Johnson. It feels very kind of,

Kevin Goetz (05:35):

Eh,

Basil Iwanyk (05:35):

There has to be a ground between generic Bill Johnson and Basil

Kevin Goetz (05:39):

Basil Iwanyk is a name that gets you laid <laugh>. I mean it just does.

Basil Iwanyk (05:45):

It was cool starting when I got to la but when you're in seventh grade, sixth grade,

Kevin Goetz (05:49):

Sure.

Basil Iwanyk (05:50):

And it's like first day of school, they're like wanky basil. I'm just like, oh my God.

Kevin Goetz (05:56):

I know. But you played basketball, didn't you?

Basil Iwanyk (05:58):

I did, yes.

Kevin Goetz (05:59):

Which ended up very good later on. Didn't you play in games with Clooney and Mark Wahlberg and

Basil Iwanyk (06:06):

Yeah,

Kevin Goetz (06:06):

Jamie Fox

Basil Iwanyk (06:08):

Basketball got me two things. My interview with Jeremy Zimmer to get into the mailroom at UTA. Two things happened that were really kind of funny. One because my middle name was William, my grandfather was Basil, my dad was Bill and I was Billy growing up and Jeremy Zimmer. I told like he is like, you're a big dude. I'm like, I exaggerated my basketball acumen. At least that I was like a Star at Villanova, which I was not. And he's like, okay,

Kevin Goetz (06:32):

I like that you did that.

Basil Iwanyk (06:33):

I had to, I mean it was in the room by, I also lied on my resume. I made up a talent agency. I thought there were like thousands. I never, I made up a talent agency. It was called Waterside Talent Agency. And he looked at it and he goes, this doesn't exist. He goes, this is not even a good lie. <laugh>,

Kevin Goetz (06:50):

Why'd you make up a talent agency?

Basil Iwanyk (06:52):

Had no experience.

Kevin Goetz (06:53):

But what were you saying that you worked for the agency you mean?

Basil Iwanyk (06:56):

Yeah, that I was like an assistant, you know, because everyone's like, you're not gonna get a job at UTA unless you've already been at a smaller agency. So I'm like, all right, I'm gonna make one up.

Kevin Goetz (07:04):

Waterside <laugh>.

Basil Iwanyk (07:05):

Exactly.

Kevin Goetz (07:06):

How can we help you?

Basil Iwanyk (07:07):

And he was like, well listen, do you play basketball? I'm like, yes. And at the time there were these great basketball games at Gary David Goldberg's house. You know the guy who who did family ties?

Kevin Goetz (07:16):

Family ties

Basil Iwanyk (07:17):

Kind like really tough. And Jeremy's like, okay, I'm gonna put you in the mail room because we need basketball players. I'm like, done.

Kevin Goetz (07:24):

That is not the first time I've heard this story on the softball team, on the whatever other intramural sport there have been. Yeah. People have gotten internships or jobs 'cause they needed that replacement.

Basil Iwanyk (07:38):

Absolutely. And this is with the apocryphal moment, which is I'm like, Jeremy, well thank you. And by the way, everyone calls me Billy. And he is like, well there's already a kid named Billy Goldberg in the mail room. I'm gonna call you Basil. I'm like, okay. I'm thinking myself. That'll last a week. That was 30 years ago and I'm now, I'm Basil. <laugh>. Great. I've not been able to shake it. It's very

Kevin Goetz (08:01):

So that was Jeremy.

Basil Iwanyk (08:02):

Yes.

Kevin Goetz (08:04):

Love Jeremy. And how did you do with that game?

Basil Iwanyk (08:06):

I did great. You know what's interesting? They played rough. And that's the one thing I played with a lot of movie stars. And when I got to Warner Brothers, I was part of the inaugural lunchtime at the Warner Brothers lot basketball game with everybody. I will say this about quote unquote fancy people like actors and executives. I don't know if they overcompensating, but they played hard. They played hard, they played tough. They weren't afraid.

Kevin Goetz (08:29):

Their competitive spirit is unbelievable.

Basil Iwanyk (08:32):

My dad would say like, take it easy on 'em. Your ego's outta control. Don't try to do this and that. And I got there and they would elbow me in the throat. I mean, these are guys who wanna win. And those were great days. I was so young and so stupid and it was so fun. I was on house money. I couldn't believe I had a job.

Kevin Goetz (08:49):

So you were in the mail room at UTA, you become an assistant at UTA before getting a creative position at Warner's, right?

*Basil Iwanyk (08:57):

Yeah. So I think most people that have had some success in film business, they were able to skip some step, right? They got really lucky. And for me, I was an assistant at UTA and the idea was, okay, there's a blinking green light for you to be an agent and like a self-absorbed idiot. I was, I'm like, I don't want to be an agent. I want to be an executive.And I loved working at UTA, I love being an assistant. I learned everything. It was my film school.

Kevin Goetz (09:25):

Whose desk did you cover?

Basil Iwanyk (09:26):

David Kanzer and Chris Buchanan. And I thought to myself, I've done such a good job for these guys. They're gonna be patient with me. The moment I told people I didn't wanna be an agent, I didn't realize the clock was ticking. They were waiting for me to, to like get rid of me but not Jeremy. And so I went up for all these jobs as an assistant, right? I wanted to be an assistant to an executive. I got shot down, right? Every job on the planet. I remember Martin Shafer who is the chairman or co-chairman of Castle Rock, I remember he agreed to meet with me and like I was on my way there and I get there and they're like, oh, he looked at your resume, you're not like he sent me away, set me away. Finally I get to Witt Thomas Films and Witt Thomas films was one of the lower echelon production companies on the Warner Brothers loct and huge production companies like it.

Kevin Goetz (10:15):

Golden Girls and so many others.

Basil Iwanyk (10:17):

Totally. But on the film side, it was more of a TV company and I had to meet with two executives. I meet with one. That person was like, we love you. This is gonna be great. We're gonna hire you. You just need to meet with this other executive. She's coming back from vacation and you're all good. I told everybody that I'm getting this job. She comes back from vacation. She's like, no, no, there's already somebody else I wanna hire. I just didn't tell my other partner. I was so devastated that the other executive said, Warner Brothers, the studio is looking for a creative executive. I can't even get a job as.

Kevin Goetz (10:48):

An assistant. How am I gonna get the CE role?

Basil Iwanyk (10:51):

And I remember thinking to myself, you never turn down an interview, right? You just never turn down an interview. And I'm telling you, Kev, I was so close. It was when I started realizing, oh okay, these are my two years in la. I'll go back to the east coast, get a real job. And I meet with Channing Dungey who was another CE at the time

Kevin Goetz (11:11):

On the film side. She came from film.

Basil Iwanyk (11:13):

Oh yeah. And Channing was like, okay, this is Lorenzo di Bonaventura's guy, like this role is to work closely with Lorenzo who is tapped to be the next president. He hasn't done there yet. Bruce Berman was the president. But he is like, this is a good opportunity. And Channing's like, I bet Lorenzo would like you. You have to do these notes on these scripts. And so I do the notes on the scripts and Channing calls me and goes, they're good. I'm gonna send you up to the next executive. To me it was Courtenay Valenti and Courtenay meets with me and she's like, I really like your notes and I think you'd be a breath of fresh air here, I was 24. We need some youth and we need some like edge and some craziness. And Lorenzo is edgy and crazy.

Kevin Goetz (11:56):

Were Bob and Terry still running the whole ship?

Basil Iwanyk (11:59):

Oh yeah.

Kevin Goetz (11:59):

Okay. Bob Daly and Terry Semel. I'm talking about listeners.

Basil Iwanyk (12:03):

Yeah, they were Gods. And so then I just met every executive at Warner's over like three months. And then I finally met Lorenzo. And to me it was, you know, you ain't got nothing. You got nothing to lose. I'm like, I'm just gonna be really blunt and really open 'cause I have no chance of getting this job. And I remember I walked into Lorenzo's office and he had a poster and it was a poster of Falling Down that Michael Douglas movie.

Kevin Goetz (12:29):

Yeah, I tested that movie. I remember.

Basil Iwanyk (12:31):

Did you really?

Kevin Goetz (12:32):

Yeah.

*Basil Iwanyk (12:33):

I walked in there and I'm like, you know, I think that's Joel Schumacher's best movie. He's done some really good movies and really bad movies. And Lorenzo's like, did you know I worked on that movie? I go, no, I don't even know what that means. Work on that movie. He goes A, I can't believe you actually have the balls and the stupidity to say that about Joel who's like a god here at Warners. And B, you're right. I totally agree with you. <laugh>. Yeah. And so then I got hired and I met Bruce Berman and I got hired and it was, again, I have this gigantic opportunity. Everyone else is smarter than me. Everyone else is better connections. But I will work harder than everybody at that damn studio. And I remember Kev, it was my first weekend reading.

Kevin Goetz (13:11):

How many scripts?

Basil Iwanyk (13:13):

13 and like a book. And I remember there were two scripts that didn't make any sense to me that were like priority projects. One of 'em was Kundun, the Martin Scorsese movie.

Kevin Goetz (13:21):

Oh.

Basil Iwanyk (13:22):

I read it, I'm like, this is nonsensical but it's Martin Scorsese. I'm gonna keep my mouth shut

Kevin Goetz (13:25):

I remember working on that one. That was a very tough picture.

Basil Iwanyk (13:29):

Very tough picture. And then it was US Marshals.

Kevin Goetz (13:32):

From Fugitive, right?

Basil Iwanyk (13:33):

Yep.

Kevin Goetz (13:33):

Oh I love that one.

Basil Iwanyk (13:35):

And it gets to me, they're like, Basill, what do you think? And I'm like, oh my God. And I was honest. I was like, I don't think this is good. I don't think this is what blah blah blah. I didn't realize the politics of the weekend read, which is you badmouth someone executives projects on their enemy list. The irony is that I became the executive on US Marshals like three years later.

Kevin Goetz (13:54):

Who was the executive then?

Basil Iwanyk (13:56):

Lorenzo and Tom Lassally.

Kevin Goetz (13:58):

Ah, Tom Lassally.

Basil Iwanyk (13:59):

But yeah, those days at Warners. Listen, I say it all the time, you know Hemingway say about Paris, it was a movable feast. I will always be ingrained those years there.

Kevin Goetz (14:08):

Sure.

Basil Iwanyk (14:09):

It was so magical.

Kevin Goetz (14:10):

What happened after that meeting when you left? Did Tommy sort of read you the riot act?

Basil Iwanyk (14:14):

Yeah, they all came gently and they were, they were really cool about it. They're like, we appreciate your brashness, but just understand the politics here.

Kevin Goetz (14:24):

Do not be a project killer. <laugh>

Basil Iwanyk (14:26):

Do not be a project. The person that I owe everything to was Courtenay Valenti.

Kevin Goetz (14:30):

She's one of my favorite people on the planet. I just want to tell you.

Basil Iwanyk (14:33):

She's amazing.

Kevin Goetz (14:34):

She's such a delightful executive, so inclusive, so collaborative, and so insightful herself.

Basil Iwanyk (14:40):

She's soulful, she's wise, she had all the time and patience for me. And I was a meathead. I was an unformed idiot. And if I had trouble with notes and by the way, and same with Channing. Channing was incredible. I was just really blessed by people who had my back. And I know it was a blessed time. I'm very, very lucky.

Kevin Goetz (15:02):

What made you leave there and go to Intermedia?

Basil Iwanyk (15:04):

Intermedia? So I became a vice president and I had a great stretch.

Kevin Goetz (15:09):

How long were you there?

Basil Iwanyk (15:11):

Six years.

Kevin Goetz (15:12):

And in those six years just rattle off a few of you movies. You were involved with

Basil Iwanyk (15:16):

Oceans 11, Training Day, Insomnia, <laugh>. Here comes some good ones. Batman and Robin

Kevin Goetz (15:23):

<laugh>. Oh man.

Basil Iwanyk (15:23):

Wild Wild West by the way. They put me on Wild Wild West as like a gift. They're like, here you are, you're gonna get promoted, you're on Barry Sonnenfeld and Will Smith's next movie After Men in Black

Kevin Goetz (15:34):

Turned out to be a disaster at the box office, didn't it? 

*Basil Iwanyk (15:37):

Oh my God. I remember we previewed the movie in Northern California. We took the Warner Jet and remember Barry Sonnenfeld is like, here's the deal, my movies have loopy tones so trust me, everyone's gonna laugh at these jokes because we saw the movie and we're like, it's not that funny. And we go on the Warner jet and I'm like, this is so great. I'm on the Warner jet with like Bob and Terry and everybody and we preview the movie, it's like stadium seating and John Peters is on the top top row and he's having this gigantic box of peanut m and ms and halfway through the movie it's like dead silence. No one's laughing. And he knocked the peanut m and ms over and you're like tick <laugh>. And it rolls down the right aisle and someone yells out in the theater goes, what was that? And John <inaudible> goes, those are my balls <laugh>. And I remember at those moments where it's pure terror at the minute, but within a couple days I realized, God, these are becoming great stories. One day if I keep my job and keep working this business, I'm gonna have a collection of great spectacular flame out story.

Basil Iwanyk (17:21):

No, Joe had a stranglehold with Bob and Terry.

Kevin Goetz (17:24):

Oh yeah, they were very close. Very close.

Basil Iwanyk (17:27):

And Joe had like Hocus Pocus, right? You kind of go the numbers of the numbers, but he would just be like, no, you don't understand the numbers. It's really this. We're like what <laugh>. But he was good to me. But yeah, he was powerful. And this and Bob and Terry were massively powerful as you remember.

Kevin Goetz (17:44):

So why did you leave that six years of really good run?

Basil Iwanyk (17:48):

I actually, early on I'm like, I like what producers do. I like that lifestyle. I was single at the time, no family. I'm like, that sounds fun. To be able to go out of town and to live somewhere. I like the that producers had with the filmmakers and the writers and the directors. We'd be in like hair and makeup tests as an executive to sign off and approve 'em. And I remember thinking to myself, God, I wanna be in the meetings that devise the hair and makeup test for the studio.

Kevin Goetz (18:16):

Mm. Yeah.

*Basil Iwanyk (18:17):

Also, I am no genius, but I was smart enough to go, hold on one sec, I have no ownership, I have no real upside. I'm an employee, a complete straight employee. I need to build something on my life. And I was like, okay, I want to be a producer. And the the reason why Intermedia came up, one, they offered me a fortune to go over there. But two, we made movies, everything from like small movies that were academy movies to like Terminator three. And I remember thinking to myself, I wanna work on movies that are big, small, medium sized movies that exist just for awards. I wanted just that whole breadth of things. And also I love Lorenzo. Lorenzo's like my father when it comes to the film business. But it was tough, right? You can never be a king where you're once a prince.

Kevin Goetz (19:05):

You were only gonna go so far.

Basil Iwanyk (19:07):

Only go so far. And in my arrogance I was like, I want to be the guy.

Kevin Goetz (19:12):

It's not arrogance, it's the jersey chip.

Basil Iwanyk (19:15):

It's a jersey chip. And the other thing, and I hate to say it, is I also am so fearful of complacency.

Kevin Goetz (19:23):

I got that from what you said about your parents and grandparents.

Basil Iwanyk (19:27):

Yeah. For me, you always have to be innovating and moving. And it's funny, I'm not restless, but the moment I am, I am. You know, the moment that you notice that thing in the room, you can't get it outta your head. And I'll never forget the guy Nigel Sinclair, who is head of Intermedia came to me and said, listen, do you have any suggestions for this executive role? Here's what the responsibilities entail. I'm like, okay. And I drove home and I'm like, that sounds like a job I would want. And Kevin up to that moment, I never in a million years I was happy forever. But you know what? Listen, it's Hollywood, right?

Kevin Goetz (20:06):

Did they reach out to you or did you pursue it?

*Basil Iwanyk (20:09):

Well they reached out to me for ideas for the job, different executive ideas. I called them, I'm like, listen, I don't wanna put you in a tough spot or make it awkward, but I'd be interested in that. And they're like, that was our whole point. We want you there. We just didn't wanna offend you and offend Warner Brothers. But you know, listen, you know what it's like. You could be really seduced into a lifestyle at the studio. Like you drive onto that lot. It's like magical. You know, you wear that suit every day, you're in that office, the commissary, if you're not careful, you look up one day and go, God, I've lost all my edge. I've lost maybe what I'm gonna do. And and at the time I was 30 and I remember thinking, if I'm gonna make some stupid choices, this is the time to make it <laugh>. And so I went to Intermedia, which there were three moments in my career where I had good friends of mine sit me down and go, you're making a mistake. One was going to intermediate, two was becoming a producer and three was becoming an independent producer. But yeah, so I left Warners. It was devastating. I thought I would never be invited back ever. And Lorenzo was heartbroken at the time. I thought he was an asshole for being heartbroken. Now I looked back and realized I was the asshole for being angry at him, for being heartbroken. He was right. He invested a lot in me and he had my back and empowered me. And I got a profile and I left.

Kevin Goetz (21:34):

How long were you at Intermedia?

Basil Iwanyk (21:36):

Only three years.

Kevin Goetz (21:38):

And you learned about the international space more so

Basil Iwanyk (21:41):

That's what it was. I had no idea how the sausage was made. I had no idea about how the foreign business worked. I had no idea what a bond contingency financing. I had no idea about cost of money.

Kevin Goetz (21:55):

That's what it was. I had no idea how the sausage was made. I had no idea about how the foreign business worked. I didn't, no idea what a bond contingency financing. I had no idea about cost of money.

*Basil Iwanyk (22:05):

I pretended I knew what I was doing 'cause I don't think people at intermedia realize that studios, you're in your silo and you have everybody else do something. So you're in rooms where they're discussed. But usually when they start talking about certain budgets or certain financial things, you start doodling, right? You're like, I'm the creative guy. And so what you do is you teach yourself, you surround yourself with line producers who you trust and you never say, I don't know what I'm doing. Because these are tough men and women, they look at you and they don't respect you. But what you do is you subtly start learning, asking questions over time. You see mistakes that are made. And I don't wanna say it's not brain surgery, it's tough. It takes a time. But I taught myself. I taught myself being around really smart people that did it well.

Kevin Goetz (22:52):

You just paid attention. Basil, how would you characterize the biggest aha moment in budgeting that you got? In other words, my next book that's coming out in November is called How to Score in Hollywood. And it's really about getting to a green light, comping correctly, making good business decisions, pre green light. That's really the thesis of the book. How did you do that to try to mitigate risk as much as possible because you learned it was baptism by fire.

*Basil Iwanyk (23:22):

I think the mistakes that are made to this day are punting financial problems to the future, post. Right? Like, oh we'll do a post and we get the post and understand that if you have a problem on that day, that's gonna be a problem six months down the road. And so deal with it at that moment. Second thing is, if a filmmaker says, I see this movie and it's 50 days, I don't see how I could do any shorter. And you get a 40 day schedule, that is going to be a 50 day schedule. So you have to be a realist and you have to listen and you have to understand what the filmmaker wants and needs.

Kevin Goetz (23:59):

I would also challenge that to say that a filmmaker's gonna ask for 50, but really they only need 40. So you have to be able to monitor the sandbagging too.

Basil Iwanyk (24:08):

Oh yeah. No. At a certain point, you know there's a dance, but at a certain point they'll say to you, I don't know how to get it. And you go through, you don't just hear what they have to say. You have to go through it. The schedule and what they're gonna do. Everything. And sometimes you're like, oh don't worry, let's cut out five days and we'll put it in other days. Like you have to be a realist. I mean it's funny, the creative process is dreamlike. I mean your head has to be in outer space sometimes and you, you have to go with your heart and your gut and you gotta completely almost get rid of all earthly things sometimes when you're in the creative process. And then you shift to the budget process and you have to do the complete opposite. You know, the assistant cameraman needs X amount of man hours. It's the details, the specifics of it. Like it's you could die of a thousand cuts. Right? And I think that's what was so jarring for me because I had no idea.

Kevin Goetz (25:03):

What was one of them that you failed at? In other words, I made this movie for too much f-ing money. I should not have succumbed to that. I should not have given over my instincts told me this should have been $15 million less than it was made for

Basil Iwanyk (25:16):

Gods of Egypt. This is later on as a producer, seventh Son. Seventh Son was a really cool series of English books.

Kevin Goetz (25:28):

But it didn't have the audience to stand by it to have that level of budget.

Basil Iwanyk (25:32):

Exactly right. So here's what happens. At the time the books were great. It was about a 11-year-old kid who was the princess of a, they call it a spook, which is like someone who kills witches and he falls in love with another 11-year-old girl who's a witch. And it's that kind of triangle. We said, okay, well let's make the kid older so there could be romance

Kevin Goetz (25:53):

Aspirational. Yeah,

Basil Iwanyk (25:54):

Aspirational. And then next thing you know, we had Dante Ferretti as our production designer. We had Jeff Bridges, we had Julianne Moore. The movie was like a hundred and something million dollars. And it was always supposed to be a weird edgy Tim Burton.

Kevin Goetz (26:09):

Incredible. Great, great example. And it just took on a life of its own.

Basil Iwanyk (26:15):

Yep.

Kevin Goetz (26:15):

And you somehow knew it in your gut, didn't you?

*Basil Iwanyk (26:18):

We did. Because you drift to this weird middle number, you know, let's say 70. And you're like, fuck, we're in a weird middle number. Most adults would go, okay, let's trim to get up below the middle number. But we movie business geniuses, we go, no, let's go higher and let's have more action and more visual effects and more monsters like we added big visual effects monsters. We just added on top of that. And I look back and I'm like, damn, we did a disservice to the underlying team.

Kevin Goetz (26:51):

God, I love this Basil. I can't tell you. And I don't think people would do that if they read this book. I shit you not. Listen, when we come back, we're gonna talk about your career as a producer because that's really where you made your mark. You had your base, yes. But as a producer you did some pretty wild and cutting edge stuff. We'll be back in a moment.

(27:14):

If you are curious about how movies actually turn a profit, I've got something for you. My upcoming book How to Score in Hollywood dives into the intersection of creative instinct and audience insight. And where the business of film meets the art of storytelling. The book is available for pre-order now on your favorite bookseller platform. I'm also putting together a book launch team and I'd love for you to be a part of it. We're looking for people to help spread the word ahead of our November release and also to leave a short book review after its release. In exchange you'll get early access to the book, exclusive behind the scenes content and more. Sign up to join my launch team or for book updates at KevinGoetz360.com. And as always, thank you for your support. We're back with the exceptionally gifted producer, Basil Iwanyk, who has such a good story coming up. By the way, I never asked you earlier what even got you to go to the mail room as a boy. Did you have a passion for.

Basil Iwanyk (28:17):

For mail?

Kevin Goetz (28:18):

That's good. <laugh>.

Basil Iwanyk (28:20):

Here's the thing, I didn't wanna be in business, whatever that meant because I saw my dad commute every day for two hours a day into the city and he would get home at eight 30 at night.

Kevin Goetz (28:28):

So did my dad. 

Basil Iwanyk (28:30):

Yeah, it did not look fun. You saw it on their face. It was just the wipe out. I didn't have

Kevin Goetz (28:36):

Suburban transit.

Basil Iwanyk (28:37):

Suburban transit. Yeah, the bus. The bus. And I couldn't be a doctor 'cause I can't stand inside of blood, which is ironic. And the lawyers at that point, it was before LA Law, so lawyers were like, it wasn't sexy. And I was like, okay, I'm gonna be in the movie business, I'm gonna go out to LA spend a couple years there.

Kevin Goetz (28:57):

Why did you see a movie that you said, I've gotta do that

Basil Iwanyk (29:00):

My whole life. I've loved movies.

Kevin Goetz (29:04):

See I didn't know that about you.

Basil Iwanyk (29:06):

Oh my God, it has been one of the greatest moments in my life is when my dad came home was like, well I go, what's in that box? It's called a VCR and down the street from my house, which I could bike to was a video store.

Kevin Goetz (29:21):

Like a mom and pop store, right?

Basil Iwanyk (29:23):

Yeah, exactly.

Kevin Goetz (29:23):

A hundred percent. Are we in Asbury Park now or are we still in

Basil Iwanyk (29:26):

No freehold

Kevin Goetz (29:28):

For those of you don't know, it's like next door.

Basil Iwanyk (29:30):

<laugh>. Yes,

Kevin Goetz (29:31):

It's Bruce Springsteen territory.

Basil Iwanyk (29:33):

<inaudible>.

Kevin Goetz (29:34):

Thus the title Thunder Road, by the way. Correct.

Basil Iwanyk (29:37):

Yeah.

Kevin Goetz (29:37):

Springsteen song.

Basil Iwanyk (29:39):

Although you know it's interesting, you smoke out people's experience and who they are by Thunder Road. Most people go Springsteen song. Some people say, oh, the Robert Mitchum Tough Guy movie from the sixties. And some people go, oh, that was where they raced in Grease, they raced on Thunder Road at the end of the movie. So it's like you solicit people's life experiences from where they know Thunder Road.

Kevin Goetz (30:02):

Most people. What was the truth though?

Basil Iwanyk (30:04):

Thunder Road. 

Kevin Goetz (30:05):

Oh, Springsteen song.

Basil Iwanyk (30:06):

Yeah. I mean, but with my name, you can't put my name in a, in a

Kevin Goetz (30:09):

Iwanyk productions.

Basil Iwanyk (30:11):

I know.

Kevin Goetz (30:11):

Better known as Billy Productions.

Basil Iwanyk (30:14):

Exactly.

Kevin Goetz (30:15):

Yeah. So you were saying, by the way, was there a movie that you saw and was like, that is my absolute favorite that changed my life.

*Basil Iwanyk (30:24):

Two and I should say Star Wars, Raiders, all those movies were religion to me, right, growing up. But there were two movies that I realized that movies weren't just about the rollercoaster ride. One was Lawrence of Arabia, which I couldn't believe what I was watching. I couldn't believe the scope and the complexity of the characters and I'd never heard anything so beautiful that music. It was so overwhelming to me. And it was on the 4:30 movie. Remember the 4:30 movie on channel nine when you were growing up?

Kevin Goetz (30:58):

Do I remember the 4:30 movie and the Sunday night movie?

Basil Iwanyk (31:02):

Yeah, exactly. I remember the Planet <crosstalk>.

Kevin Goetz (31:05):

Yes, yes, yes.

Basil Iwanyk (31:07):

Yes. But I remember weirdly enough, which is so strange, the second movie which changed my life was Ordinary People because my parents went through a rough divorce, like really rough divorce. And I watched that movie and I still almost tear up. I watched that movie and it wasn't about divorce, but it was about the

Kevin Goetz (31:29):

Alvin Sargent.

Basil Iwanyk (31:30):

Exactly. Remember it was the son who drowned whatever and the family falling apart and

Kevin Goetz (31:37):

And the wrong son died in Timothy Hutton's mind.

Basil Iwanyk (31:41):

Exactly like the self loathing and the guilt. And I remember when my parents got divorced, it was a drawn out process. It was awful. I was the oldest son, I blamed myself. All the other stuff. I watched that movie and it was so impactful to me and I realized, holy shit, movies aren't just about entertainment and like distracting me, but sometimes I learn about myself. I learn about some dark complex things. Sometimes movies can help you on a journey for enlightenment or redemption or whatever it was. And that movie just shook me to the core 'cause I don't know how else I was 11 or 12.

Kevin Goetz (32:20):

We share this, you and I, I didn't know that I use that as what I call the perfect screenplay.

Basil Iwanyk (32:27):

Yeah.

Kevin Goetz (32:28):

And if you read it today, you can see the subtlety, the economy of words, the economy of description. I like to talk about that moment when Mary Tyler Moore is going up the stairs and right before she makes the turn to go up the stairs, there's a picture frame, just a little bit off center. And she moves it to be perfect. Told you everything about the character.

Basil Iwanyk (32:46):

The thing about the genius of the casting, Mary Tyler Moore was America's sweetheart. Donald Sutherland always played an oddball. But I remember that last scene, Donald Sutherland sitting on a step and he is sitting next to Timothy Hutton and then it goes to credits. I'm like, oh my God, what did I just see? And so that for me was, I realized there's magic here and but you know, listen, the world was bigger than it was now, right? I mean it was a great thing to my kids and they think they could do. And my kids' friends, they think they can go and do whatever they want. Back then being in the movie business was like, if I would've brought it up, they would've thought I said I wanna be a Jedi Knight or something. <laugh>.

Kevin Goetz (33:40):

Sure. I'm gonna ask you a few movie titles to get into the producer conversation. And I'm gonna start of course with John Wick.

Basil Iwanyk (33:49):

Yes.

Kevin Goetz (33:50):

How the hell did you come across it? Why didn't anyone else see it?

Basil Iwanyk (33:55):

So the script was called Scorn and it was a 75-year-old man. We optioned it for 15 grand.

Kevin Goetz (34:05):

When you say we, Thunder Road.

Basil Iwanyk (34:07):

Thunder Road. Now I got really lucky because I have two best friends in the world, but they both work in showbiz. One of 'em is Jimmy Darmody, who you know well

Kevin Goetz (34:15):

Jimmy Darmody call out to you Jimmy.

*Basil Iwanyk (34:17):

Another one's Charlie Ferraro. Charlie represented the script. Everybody passed on it. I'm like, there's something interesting here. We went to Clint Eastwood, they never even read it. And I remember Harrison Ford, who I knew because I made a couple of movies with Harrison Ford and who I love, like I legitimately, he's a great man. I remember he said something interesting. He goes, revenge is the weakest motivation for a character. I was like, oh shit, I'm hanging out with Jimmy. And Jimmy's like, Hey, you know Keanu just finished directing, his movies in post. He just did 47 Ronan, he wants to be back in action as an action movie. Do you have anything? And I said, well I have the script but it's a 75-year-old man. He is like, send it to me. Jimmy sent it. He goes, this is good. We sent to Keanu, Keanu was like, I like this movie. This is cool. I know how to make it younger. I like how sparse it is. I like how noble the character is. I like the cleaner motion. This is before Gun Fu. This is before any of the action. This was on the page and we went into a nine month development process with him that went up and down and up and down.

Kevin Goetz (35:23):

But wasn't revenge his principle motivation.

Basil Iwanyk (35:25):

It was. Keanu didn't care. Keanu thought that's clean.

Kevin Goetz (35:28):

Do you agree with Harrison's assessment? I'm not sure I agree with it.

*Basil Iwanyk (35:31):

I don't agree with it at all. But I think the genius of Derek Kolstad's script was most of the audience members don't understand if like your partner who was a police officer was killed, or your squad in Iraq was ambushed and everyone was dead or whatever the case may be. But the idea that some punk took away your puppy, the puppy that your wife who was dying gave to you saying maybe you could learn how to love again. It was hope. It doesn't matter who you were, you got that right away. You're like, oh my God, I would fucking totally do it. Now I knew that it was gonna be a potentially absurd premise that people were gonna reject, but the people that didn't reject it, I knew were going to connect with it 'cause it was Keanu and this puppy, it was like so brutal. We brought Chad and Dave in.

Kevin Goetz (36:23):

Chad and Dave, they're amazing.

Basil Iwanyk (36:25):

I know.

Kevin Goetz (36:26):

What even got you thinking that they could bring this to life? Because so much of it, I mean Keanu was great in it and the writing is solid, but really these two guys, I call them choreographers.

Basil Iwanyk (36:39):

You gotta remember I left Warner Brothers. I was a producer at Warner Brothers for a long time. So after I left as an executive, I went back as a producer and I loved it. I had a great time. And just like I got restless when I was an executive, I saw, again, restless as a producer. And I'll never forget it, it was a Saturday morning and I get a call from, you know, one of the very senior executives at Warners, and it was the Saturday after The Town comes out. And he is like, congratulations on The Town. But more importantly, where's the clash of Titans two script? And I remember going, God, I don't know if I want to make small movies. Same thing I said before. I want make small movies, I want big movies. I want some ownership that's I want some upside. And John Wick was our first independent movie

Kevin Goetz (37:27):

Who financed it.

Basil Iwanyk (37:28):

We coupled together the financing from a bunch of random people. But here's the great part of it, which I know this has been told before. There was this one guy who put up the financing who clearly didn't have the financing. I mean, it was a joke. And we found out the last minute he gets the money and he finances it. We find out later it was Eva Longoria giving him the money to give it to us. <laugh>. So Eva Longoria has made tens of millions of dollars on John Wick one.

Kevin Goetz (37:55):

Wow. Now let's call out Jason Constantine.

Basil Iwanyk (37:58):

Oh,

Kevin Goetz (37:59):

May he rest in peace. One of the greatest guys head of acquisitions at Lionsgate who believed in it when no one else did.

Basil Iwanyk (38:06):

So I've had angels in my life along the way and I've had projects that have angels in their life along the way. The first one was Patrick Wachsberger, who was like, I could sell the crap out of this.

Kevin Goetz (38:16):

Oh, you had three angels on this particular project?

Basil Iwanyk (38:20):

Yes, Patrick was one of them. The other ones were Jimmy Darmody and Charlie Ferraro. Because Keanu was Jimmy's client and Derek Kolstad was Charlie's client. There was an ease there. And then when we finished the movie and we screened it for everybody, the movie that everyone's seen, the delivered movie, everybody in town passed everybody. And I remember we had this disastrous screening at the Cinerama Dome. I thought it was gonna be a feeding frenzy.

Kevin Goetz (38:45):

I don't remember that. 'cause I did them. I thought they were all enormously successful. Didn't it score through the frigging roof?

Basil Iwanyk (38:52):

So the first movie we previewed once and it scored like a 78.

Kevin Goetz (38:56):

Okay, so that's not through the roof.

*Basil Iwanyk (38:57):

Not through the roof. But it, we thought it was gonna be pure rejection, but it's something I'll never forget. People were watching the movie, there was dead silence. Everyone's like, what is going on here? You know, it's Keanu just moping around as a puppy. There's some action. And then there's this one moment when Michael Nyqvist calls John Leguizamo and says, I heard you struck my son. And John Leguizamo goes, sir, he stole John Wick's car and killed his puppy. And Michael Nyqvist just goes, oh, it hangs up the phone. The entire audience erupted in laughter. And they realized this movie is supposed to be fun. It's absurd and fun. And so I knew it was gonna work and I didn't preview it again. we did a lot of friends and families. We rented out the Cinemarama Dome, invited every acquisition executive in Hollywood and thinking, okay, this is gonna be one of the great days of my career. And everybody passed. Everybody. Jason Constantine loved it. But he is like, that's the good news. The bad news is I can't give you an mg. A minimum guarantee.

Kevin Goetz (40:00):

Why?

Basil Iwanyk (40:00):

Because there were a lot of people at the studio that didn't believe in it. And so he is like, we're gonna take it for free. We'll have a p and a commitment and a screen commitment. Now I realized in retrospect, the reason why they did a screen commitment is that a lot of Patrick's foreign sales were based on a minimum screen commitment. So I think they kind of balanced out the numbers and realized we gotta pay for this or at least buy this. And then the big event that happened after that is Tim Palin, who was the head of marketing at the time, calls me and goes, I got something to show you. Don't show it to anyone else. I think this is genius. Like, okay, he sends me a trailer for John Wick and he was genius. It was so well done.

Kevin Goetz (40:46):

He's such a talented guy.

Basil Iwanyk (40:48):

And then the equally crazy thing is David Spitz, who's head of distribution calls me and just said, we all watched this trailer. I think one of the Matthew Vaughn movies like Kingsman fell off a date in early October. This was late August Kevin, late August. Okay, this movie fell off a date in early October.

Kevin Goetz (41:07):

We wanna put it in that slot.

Basil Iwanyk (41:09):

Let's put it in that slot. It was a mad dash and it became John Wick.

Kevin Goetz (41:14):

How many sequels later?

Basil Iwanyk (41:17):

Well we did four John Wicks, we did Ballerina, we did a TV show. The Continental was a TV show. And then we have the Donny Yen movie, which we're gonna be shooting in January.

Kevin Goetz (41:27):

Incredible.

Basil Iwanyk (41:27):

It's insane. It's why we do it. It's like I tell people all the time.

Kevin Goetz (41:31):

But no one believed in it. But you did. And that's to me, I want listeners to hear that if you believe in something, you do it responsibly. You find those building blocks that keep adding on top of what you believe in. You really could come up with something. The Town is an example of a movie that is so, so good. Tell us about how that came to fruition.

Basil Iwanyk (41:57):

Well, you know what was interesting about The Town? You were talking about how movies look great in retrospect. At the time

Kevin Goetz (42:04):

It didn't score well, did it?

*Basil Iwanyk (42:06):

No, it was terrible. You were there, it scored horribly. We, we shot the ending. We had six previews and after the fourth screening, and everyone liked the, you liked the movie, the studio liked the movie. But you said something, you go, I have a theory and I'll never forget this. You go, I think a third of the audience has an issue that our guys are shooting at police officers and they have a moral issue with what they're doing and they're never gonna get behind these guys. Let's throw all them out. They're never gonna see the movie. And let's just focus on the people that are not passing moral judgment on these characters in this movie. And once we did that, we understood how to get through it.

Kevin Goetz (42:51):

I don't remember ever saying that, but that's exactly right. You weren't vanilla anymore.

Basil Iwanyk (42:56):

It reminded us that we are doing a noir gangster movie. Right. And that was a huge moment of that movie. People didn't get it. And also Jeremy Renner, Hurt Locker just came out. Right. So he wasn't even, I don't think he was nominated at the time Ben was Ben.

Kevin Goetz (43:11):

How'd you get Ben in?

Basil Iwanyk (43:13):

Ben was the one who came in with the book.

Kevin Goetz (43:15):

Ah

Basil Iwanyk (43:16):

Yeah. And the irony is the original plan was gonna be, I think Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg and then Ben was gonna play the John Ham part.

Kevin Goetz (43:26):

It's like the fighter <laugh>.

*Basil Iwanyk (43:27):

I know. Exactly. And then it morphed into the cast we had. And at the time it was not considered a movie that anyone thought would do. Well, I mean John Hamm was a TV guy. Blake Lively was on Gossip Girl, Jeremy Renner. We did some independent movies. It was a character actor Ben. People were like, we don't know about Ben. And then we had Chris Cooper and Pete <inaudible> and stuff. So it's funny a lot about our Thunder Road movies. In retrospect, they sounded good at the time. I'm telling you I was there. It sucked. At the time there were all those movies. I'm like, we're fucked here.

Kevin Goetz (43:58):

Well here's another one that ended up really cutting into the cultural zeitgeist, which is Sicario. Yeah. Another one that tested. Okay. But there was one particular very violent scene that the audience really responded to. You wanna talk about that?

Basil Iwanyk (44:13):

Yeah. Sicario, by the way, we optioned that script. 15 grand, $15,000. We bring Taylor Sheridan in to pitch him a border movie.

Kevin Goetz (44:23):

You brought Taylor in?

Basil Iwanyk (44:24):

Yeah, we bring Taylor Sheridan in.

Kevin Goetz (44:26):

What was he doing at that point? He hadn't really done much. Right.

Basil Iwanyk (44:30):

He was about three months away from quitting the business and going to Wyoming and working in the horse business.

Kevin Goetz (44:35):

Wow.

Basil Iwanyk (44:36):

He had three scripts that he wrote Hell or high water, which is called Comancheria, Wind River, and Sicario. And I think I read Comancheria, which is hell or high water we bring him in

Kevin Goetz (44:46):

That was CBS films, right?

Basil Iwanyk (44:48):

Yeah. And this is before these were made.

Kevin Goetz (44:50):

No, I did that one then I did Wind River also,

Basil Iwanyk (44:53):

Which is one, yeah, that was one of ours too.

Kevin Goetz (44:54):

I know. And you remember that call with Harvey Weinstein?

Basil Iwanyk (44:58):

Oh of course.

Kevin Goetz (44:59):

Oh that call, that was one of the last ones, <laugh>, where I had to really take him on. He said, if you have to cut that rape scene down and the scores are gonna come up. And I said, au contraire, I don't believe that. He says, well there's too much thrusting into, and I said, it's about the rape. The rape itself is so violent, it’s not going to, and I don't suggest you take it out. I think it's very powerful. And he was so pissed that I didn't side with him.

Basil Iwanyk (45:27):

Well that's what I was kind of saying about like the town. Sometimes you have to look at the DNA of the movie and just put your arms around it and protect it. And we all get in those situations where you dream of it overperforming. But I think if you keep your authenticity, audiences will find it. I mean, I think on both of those movies, they had the case and, and the thing about Taylor was he was in a really, really bad place in his life. Not personally 'cause he had a great wife and great kid, but professionally. And we pitched him this idea about the border. He says, no, I have my own border idea. You should read it. I remember thinking to myself, dude, you have nothing and you're still saying no. That shows Taylor's like stubbornness. He gave us Sicario and we're like, this script is unbelievable. It was around for about a year and a half. Anyone could have got it, anyone.

Kevin Goetz (46:12):

No one wanted to go near it though.

*Basil Iwanyk (46:14):

No one would go near it. Everyone's like, oh the border. We've seen it. We gave it to ca and all of a sudden people were like, this movie's genius. And then we heard Denis Villeneuve. I love on Incendies, this French Canadian movie he made. He did a thing called Prisoners. It was a post. It was supposed to be great. I called one of my friends of Warner's that like we saw, it is great, we bring Denis on. And for me, the lesson of that movie in terms of the testing process was process. We previewed the first cut of the movie in Clifton, New Jersey, which I loved. And they never tested Prisoners apparently. And Denis like, so what should I expect? I'm like, I can tell you right off the bat, I kind of indirectly invoked you. I'm like, there's gonna be people <laugh> who hate the scene where Benicio kills the kids. They're gonna reject the movie. That's just gonna happen. Just be prepared for it. Like be prepared for that to happen. And those people we will not pay attention to because we're not changing that scene. Everybody else is who we're gonna pay attention to. I couldn't have been any more wrong. It was statistically the audience's favorite scene in the movie. And not only that, we had more people saying that the kids got off easy 'cause Benicio shot them versus what happened to Benicio’s daughter was dipped in a vat of acid. And I'm not going, if you have the audience in the palm of your hand like that storytelling wise, you could do whatever want if they understand the logic of it emotionally and

Kevin Goetz (47:47):

Correct. Rooted in truth, rooted in authenticity.

Basil Iwanyk (47:51):

Yep.

Kevin Goetz (47:51):

But you're a genius once again. And I've learned a lot in this hour with you Basil about what makes you tick and bringing Denis on, bringing Taylor on, bringing all of these different folks. That is where your artistry meets this whole notion of without dumbing it down, gun fu. It's not gun fu sounds very basic, but you combine what you have said multiple times in this last hour, which is the notion of big and small. And I also take that as big concept, big ideas, but intimate stories, authentic stories, things that resonate for you. And I think they can go really hand in hand. And you've proven that.

Basil Iwanyk (48:39):

Appreciate.

Kevin Goetz (48:40):

Before we break, I just want to ask you about moving back to your place you grew up and opening a bookstore. I find it just extraordinary and I need to understand what psychologically went through your mind to do that?

*Basil Iwanyk (48:52):

Well, for the move, it's really funny. I leave Jersey and I'm ashamed that I was from the state. And then when I got to the halfway point of me living in la, I started daydreaming about where I was from. And I started accepting who I was for good and bad from how I grew up. I started missing things and not just like, oh, pizza 'cause I could always do that. I was back here all the time. And then, you know, having kids and seeing how they grew up and seeing what happened to LA. And you know, it was during COVID, we bought a house on the east coast and we always come here for the summer for about 10 years.

Kevin Goetz (49:29):

Where?

Basil Iwanyk (49:29):

Spring Lake, where I live now,

Kevin Goetz (49:32):

That's the most tony kind of area. Beautiful homes close to the beach.

Basil Iwanyk (49:37):

Oh, I'm 200 feet from the sand out that door.

Kevin Goetz (49:40):

Damn.

Basil Iwanyk (49:41):

You know? And to my wife, who's an LA girl, she's like, this is where we're the happiest. We're content. We can work on Zooms and stuff like that. You can get office in the city, which I do. I have an office in Tribeca and there's great staff there in Santa Monica. And she's like, when else are we gonna do it? And I made a deal with her. I'm like, if we're gonna move here, let's do something that we've never done in LA. And I'm like, I wanna open a bookstore. I don't plan to make a dime, but bookstores.

Kevin Goetz (50:10):

Why

Basil Iwanyk (50:10):

I love books. My whole life, I'm a book nerd and all my travels, I've shot a lot of movies in the uk. Anyone would know this who has to go on location when you have a family. Sundays are miserable because Saturdays when you're traveling like Saturdays, you catch up on things at Saturday, you wake up Sunday morning, you're like, I miss home. And so I would spend so many hours in these bookstores and I would buy the most esoteric books. And I'm just a reading fanatic. Wow. I'm like, I wanna open a bookstore. I go, I wanna smell the books, I want that vibe. And I want some kid who's gonna be like me to go, oh my God, this knucklehead from Freehold was able to become a movie producer and he moved back home and he opened this bookstore 'cause he loves storytelling. Fuck it, I'm gonna take a shot.

Kevin Goetz (50:44):

Oh man.

Basil Iwanyk (50:46):

And I'm telling you, Kev, the bookstores become, I don't make any money on it. I mean, I don't lose money on it, but it's not that. But the impact it's had culturally on the area. All the authors that come back, I was there today and my 14-year-old son works there for the summer and I went there to bring 'em to lunch.

Kevin Goetz (51:17):

It's called Thunder Road Books. I'm wondering if I could ask Simon and Schuster to get it on my book tour.

Basil Iwanyk (51:24):

Please.

Kevin Goetz (51:25):

And I'll do a book signing there if you are up for it.

Basil Iwanyk (51:28):

Oh, a hundred percent please. Oh you'll love it. It's great.

Kevin Goetz (51:32):

So that means I'll see you towards the end of the year in person.

Basil Iwanyk (51:35):

Oh no, Kev, we have everybody come in. 'cause you know we're only 50 minutes to an hour south of New York, so we get anyone who comes into the city.

Kevin Goetz (51:42):

Oh, it's done. I'm so excited about that. Now you have a movie that just released that's getting a lot of buzz at Tribeca.

*Basil Iwanyk (51:50):

Yes. Relay, which I love. And it's one of my, I'll call it my, my old VCR movies when I was like 14, where do you go? Oh my God. Like Three Days of a Condor. You know, these movies that were like the Conversation, you know, things that I loved and I, I can't believe we were able to pull that off. Yeah, we had Ballerina just come out, Fight or Flight just came out and we have a bunch coming out. Listen, we have about six movies in posts. We're shooting one now. We have four movies in prep.

Kevin Goetz (52:14):

And you know, why does that excite me? Because it means I'm gonna get to see you.

Basil Iwanyk (52:18):

Yes, <laugh>.

Kevin Goetz (52:20):

And I love seeing you. Basil Iwanyk. This has been such a pleasure. Thank you so much for sharing your story with all of us today. I'm really grateful and you're such a good friend.

*Basil Iwanyk (52:32):

Well, Kev, I'm sure your audience knows this, but I'm just telling you as a filmmaker, when we go to Pasadena or wherever the hell we go and we see, we have you when you walk in, the relief that we all have not 'cause the movie's not gonna preview well and not preview well, but we know if the issues are, you're gonna navigate your way through it and find it. So I don't think you'll ever understand how much you're appreciated, how much people will say Kevin Goetz is here tonight. And what's great about it is for people to know you're not just like a star fucker. You're not just going, oh let's, what's the big Warner Brothers movie? Or Disney? No, no, you, you did John Wick like I don't even think I paid you for John Wick. I think I called you. I'm like, I have no money. Like here's <laugh>. I mean like, and so for you just to not only do like the big movies but do some of these small movies and, and just, you'll never understand how much we appreciate it. All of us.

Kevin Goetz (53:25):

Thank you so much.

Basil Iwanyk (53:26):

My pleasure. Kev.

Kevin Goetz (53:29):

To our listeners, I hope you enjoyed our interview today. I encourage you to watch many of the films discussed and also check out Basil's recently released suspense thriller, Relay. For more filmmaking and audience testing stories, I invite you to check out my book Audienceology at Amazon or through my website at kevingoetz360.com. You can also follow me on my social media. Next time on Don't Kill the Messenger, I'll welcome Hollywood Powerhouse executive and former Walt Disney Studio's Chairman Dick Cook. Until then, I'm Kevin Goetz, and to you, our listeners, I appreciate you being part of the movie making process. Your opinions matter.

Host: Kevin Goetz
Guests: Basil Iwanyk
Producer: Kari Campano
Writers: Kevin Goetz, Darlene Hayman, Nick Nunez, and Kari Campano
Audio Engineer: Gary Forbes (DG Entertainment)