Austin Kolodney walked into Regal Edwards Valencia in the beginning of January staring at a movie poster for “Dead Man’s Wire.”
To moviegoers passing by, one could just assume that Kolodney was reading about the upcoming film, which is being released on Friday in theaters throughout the nation.
Little did they know that Kolodney was staring back at his name in big, bold letters.
The film, which is a crime thriller, was written by Kolodney and directed by Gus Van Sant, starring actors including Bill Skarsgård and Al Pacino.
Taking place in 1977 Indianapolis, “Dead Man’s Wire” is about Tony Kiritsis’ kidnapping of Richard Hall.
“‘Dead Man’s Wire’ is about a real event that happened in 1977, where on Feb. 8, a man named Tony Kiritsis … had a plan that he followed through with, which was essentially rigging a sawed-off shotgun to Richard’s neck with a wire that goes from Richard’s neck to the trigger, and then the trigger to Tony’s own neck, so that if any cops were to wrestle them away from one another, it would pull the trigger,” Kolodney said.
Kolodney had heard about this story in 2020, and knew that it would be a studio hit.
“Tony basically listed his demands, that he felt that his mortgage company was screwing him over, and he wanted the rest of Indianapolis and the country to know that. I don’t want to spoil too much, but it does result in this surreal press conference where it happens live, and Tony threatens to kill Richard, and everyone is glued to their screens. It was just surreal imagery that I felt needed to be turned into a movie,” Kolodney said.
Kolodney was raised in Newhall, and attended Meadows Elementary School, Placerita Junior High School, Hart High School and College of the Canyons, where he created the college’s film club. From then on, he went to the University of Southern California and studied film.
“It started here. I saw most of the movies at Regal Edwards Valencia. [My love for movies] comes down to my mom. She just loves movies. She would take me to the theater once a week, and I had a collection of VHS tapes,” Kolodney said. “Movies are a place where human beings gather and hear stories, and I hope we keep the torch of cinema alive.”
Having graduated from USC in 2015, Kolodney discussed his trajectory — from being a production assistant to working at a zoo — while also working on sketches and other projects simultaneously.
“I’ve done tons of (production assistant) work. If you want to direct, these opportunities to get paid to direct don’t come lightly and do not come quickly. I started to produce some commercials and music videos, scraping by and taking what money I would earn from those jobs and putting them into my short projects,” Kolodney said. “I did around 50 sketches with ‘Funny or Die,’ that led to me getting a manager, and then getting a digital series with Comedy Central called ‘Second Chances with Jason Nash.’”
While slowly building momentum, Kolodney had to suddenly endure the aftermath of not only the pandemic, but also the Hollywood strikes.
“In 2020, I was doing a ton of these little digital things and sold a series to Audible, and was starting to co-write a longer-form audio series, which is fun, but when the pandemic hit, that put everything on ice. Then you’re back to square one, burning through your savings, trying to get little PA gigs when you can,” Kolodney said. “I’d be lying if I said it was consistent. It kind of is feast or famine. When I first heard about Tony Kiritsis, I couldn’t direct because it was too hard with COVID-19 procedures, but I could always write.”
Within the six years of writing, and now seeing his product on the big screens, Kolodney was ready for his “big break.”
“I have multiple scripts, and I am confident in my ability to direct and be a filmmaker, but I needed something to pay the bills. I live in Silver Lake, and the Los Angeles Zoo is in Griffith Park, so it’s not that far. I’d wake up at 4:30 a.m., I’d bike to the zoo, clean the zoo from 6 to 10:30 a.m., and then I would have the rest of the day and week free,” Kolodney said. “I basically worked there a full year, until Gus came on board. They finally had a start date, and they booked my plane ticket to Kentucky.”
Kolodney quit his job, hopped on a plane to the Midwest in January 2025, and worked on writing revisions with some of Hollywood’s icons.
“I felt ready. I think what I found is that most stars and really successful people are actually very present and normal. Even meeting Al Pacino, which is a pretty surreal thing, he was just a friendly actor on set. He kind of reminded me of my grandpa who was from New York and from that era — he had that kind of same sense of humor,” Kolodney said. “This is a film that has my name on it, in an authorial way, but I think I’ve been paying my dues for a while now. But, it all happens for a reason, because now I feel even more qualified to direct [my other] scripts.”
The film may be an hour and 45 minutes, but the success of securing a blockbuster film, to Kolodney, will last a lifetime.
Paying homage to Santa Clarita, Kolodney referenced his hometown in the dialogue for other residents to appreciate.
“I have sprinkled some SCV/Newhall Easter eggs into the dialogue of ‘Dead Man’s Wire.’ I wanted to slip those in, as I am proud of where I am from. While I didn’t grow up with a family in the film industry, I was raised around many friends who were. Unfortunately, we have seen productions leaving, despite many of the best filmmakers and crew living here,” Kolodney said.
Although the industry may not always be consistent, Kolodney hopes to work with the “best filmmakers and crew, to continue making Santa Clarita a wonderful breeding ground for world-class filming,” as his career grows.
Kolodney urges anyone who dreams of being in the film industry, as well, to take on any and every job to be open to the opportunity when it comes.
“My advice would be to be on set as much as you can, if possible. Sometimes, you have to be open to running coffee to someone you know or cleaning up the set afterwards. Every time you step on set, you’re going to learn something. If you want to work in film and make movies, you need to be seeing them,” Kolodney said. “Sometimes you need to take those Lyft, barista jobs that pay enough to cover your basics so that you can keep the dream alive a little bit longer. You shouldn’t be ashamed to take those part-time gigs to pay the bills.”
