We recently connected with Curt Fulster and have shared our conversation below.
Curt, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
For some, this may be a simple question. For me, it has been a journey to find my purpose and I’m still not where I want to be.
My journey started at a roller hockey rink where I taught a “Learn-To-Play” roller hockey class for kids. After a few years of getting whacked in the shins with hockey sticks, I started talking with one of the parents which led to me trying my storytelling craft with Children’s Picture Books. That led to working with some amazing charities like Punk Rock Saves Lives, the Tony Sly Music Foundation for Kids, Colorado Veterans Project, and Youth On Record. I’ve met some incredibly weird and inspiring people and I’ve made some great friendships from this. The biggest takeaway I had from writing Children’s Books was realizing that I love storytelling and I want to see my stories on a bigger screen than my TV.
I, then, moved on to feature screenplays and began pulling story ideas from issues I see in the world, quotes that hit me, and people that I believe want to feel seen. I’ve been using my dark times, dad jokes, and my depression/anxiety to try and reach what I think other people could be struggling with. From depression, to loss, to simply feeling alone I want to make everyone feel seen by laughing one minute then crying the next,
I am currently working on several animated feature screenplays to reach more adults and kids that just want to feel seen and understood. That is where I found my purpose. Now I’m just hoping to hit it big enough one day that I can start selling my movie ideas so I can quit my day job and write in my pajamas for eighty hours a week.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
The author/illustrator side of me has fifteen Children’s Picture Books that are available under my pen name, C. Fulsty. They range from subjects like bullying (Blake and the Turtles), to the loss of someone (Tony’s Butterflies), to Pitbulls being judged (I Bark You), to being proud of who you are (Elly’s Super Secret). I’ve even tried to incorporate coloring pages into my rhyming books along with some free downloadable songs/lullabies in Tony Fly Tames The Sky.
The screenwriter side of me released my first animated short film last November, which has won seventeen Film Festival awards with several other accolades. I’ve used that motivation to roll right into my first animated movie script which has just been submitted to some management companies and a few competitions. Fingers crossed some sad soul decides to take a chance on an ADHD person with a mind that is going a thousand miles-an-hour like me. My first animated movie script is about three creatures that feel alone in three different ways as one of them is trying to escape a maniacal, egotistical robot factory owner. I’m following that up with a script about a wizard dealing with family issues while trying to be evil, like his dad, when he truly can’t hack it, and an adventure tale about two different worlds of beings and the strong female that finds an ancient, mythical weapon to stop a gargantuan creature that could destroy both worlds. Plus I have two passion projects one is about Pinocchio and other fairytale creatures and one that only Warner Bros. could approve of. Which I’m planning on them not doing that, but I still want to write the script. I have way too many ideas. This isn’t even all of the story ideas I’m working on.
Aside from too many words above this, I play hockey, have a family, and work as an Electrician to pay the bills. Plus I have C. Fulsty branded merchandise through my good friend and his company The 6th Clothing Co. That’s about all I have going on. not too much.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I think the most important things for me, in terms of chasing my dream job, was going through tough times, patience, and falling in love with learning.
Going through tough times helped give me perspective and a little fire to go after what I want. I’ve been through losing twelve close people in my life through a seven year period, driving to work on “E” and somehow hoping I could get to work and back for three days on that, and lots of judgement and “friends” putting me down for what I’m chasing. I understand that these may not be that bad, but mixing in depression, anxiety, and a traumatizing car accident, and it’s been enough to give me a spark that I’ve been to my bottom, and now it’s time to reach my top. For anyone that is feeling like they’re at their bottom, or have hit it, turn it around and find your top.
When it comes to patience, I suck at it. I mean it, I really do suck at patience. Working on it for years and I still haven’t gotten much better, but I have learned how to manage being bad at patience. Working on several projects at once and changing my focus to different things so I can go a thousand miles-an-hour in different directions helps me to not need patience. I basically go straight ahead and allow myself to keep jumping from project to project so I’m not bouncing around waiting for something to happen or overthinking on what could happen. Being bad at something doesn’t have to be bad if you learn how to work with your negative traits instead of covering them up.
Falling in love with learning always helps. Listening to Podcasts, I love The Screenwriting Life, reading, audio books, practicing, you can always find ways to get better at things. I feel that learning has gotten so easy that a lot of people ignore it. They think because they can learn anything with a few clicks, that it’s not worth clicking. Click away! Thinking about doing something will never be as good as doing something. I went to a local library and borrowed six “How-To” books on writing Children’s Books. Now I’m listening to podcasts and reading screenplays to get better at screenwriting so I can hang with the Big Hitters. Even just talking to people can give you a new insight or idea of how to do something. Sometimes I just talk to friends about story ideas, even if I know they’re not interested in writing or even seeing that type of movie, because they may even throw out a single word that can give you a new perspective on your work which can lead to bigger and better things. Learning is incredibly underrated and I just wish I didn’t have a day job getting in the way of me learning and writing more.
How would you describe your ideal client?
My ideal client/partner would be a Literary Manager that is looking for new, fresh ideas and willing to take a chance on someone and build a partnership together. I’d love to find a Lit Manager that is patient and willing to help me with some guidance and is someone I can also bounce ideas off of while I grow and learn as a creative. Someone who can also help me grow and learn in the most proficient way.
I want to just create and not necessarily go with whatever the hottest trend is, but I hope to eventually have my name known for creating trends. I want to build a career where people see my name on a project and know that it could create a new trend of movies while capturing movie-goers hearts and making them feel like they’re not alone in this lonely world. I’ve always been big in building something with trustworthy people. I want to build a fruitful writing career while bringing everyone up with me if I can just manage to kick my career off with someone who understands and knows things I don’t. Trust, patience, knowledge, humble, and hungry would be my ideal Literary Manager.
Contact Info:
- Website: cfulstyproductions.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/curtfulster/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/curt.fulster/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/curt-f-a4117aa9
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/curtfulster
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXEXr0a1jCQz2AuDjK4BOTg
- Other: Stage 32: https://www.stage32.com/cfulstyproductions Punk Roquette Podcast: https://punkroquetteshow.podbean.com/e/ep-32-%E2%80%93-tony-fly-tames-the-sky-with-author-curt-fulsty/ C. Fulsty Merch: https://the6thclothingco.com/pages/c-fulsty-books
Image Credits
T.A.C. Records for the image of the man holding my book, Tony’s Butterflies, translated into Italian for an Italian podcast. Old 121 Brewhouse for the image of me reading at Kids Corner.
