[Watch the video interview on YouTube here]
Film Courage: If a student from College of the Canyons were to ask you if it’s possible for them to sell a screenplay while being a student, what would you tell them?
Ron Mita, Professor of Advanced Screenwriting at College of the Canyons/Screenwriter: I would tell them it’s very possible.
And the reason is it’s a personal experience I had of myself.
I was a grad student at Loyola Marymount University.
I was studying towards my degree but at the same time I was working in the industry and at the same time I was writing screenplays, working, writing, taking classes and meeting people.
But I sold my first screenplay maybe a year and a half before I got my graduate degree.
Film Courage: Would you say that’s typical?
Ron: It’s not typical. I wish it was.
It wasn’t typical but a lot had to do with the fact that I was kind of slowing down my education and increasing my work out in the industry.
I got jobs, low-level jobs, and I was meeting people, and I kept thinking, Well, this is almost better than going to class.
I was still taking one or two classes a semester, working, networking, expanding that network. So, is it typical? No, definitely not.
But it doesn’t mean that you have to wait till you’re out of school to try to sell something to reach out and make those connections to sell.
Definitely could happen anytime.
Film Courage: Looking back on it now, having met so many people in the industry, having taught for years, do you realize how unique your situation is?
Ron: I do. My situation was very unique.
It was unique in that things lined up.
And let’s face it, no matter who sells anything in Hollywood, there’s a certain amount of luck involved.
But it wasn’t that I was extremely lucky.
I had worked very hard to get to the point where I could actually make a sale.
As I said, I was a grad student at Loyola. I was still going to school at the time when I sold my first screenplay.
I was an assistant at Universal, so I was working full-time.
I was meeting people, networking there. I still had my school work to do.
Ultimately, when it came that opportunity to sell, I was in the right place at the right time…(Watch the video interview on YouTube here).
About:
After beginning his career as a graphic artist, Ron quickly realized his true passion was storytelling. That realization led him to Loyola Marymount University, where he pursued a graduate degree in screenwriting and before graduating, sold his first screenplay to Columbia Pictures in 1993, launching a career that now spans more than three decades.
That early success opened the door to work with many of Hollywood’s major studios, including Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures, Columbia Pictures, TriStar Pictures, Warner Bros., DreamWorks, HBO, TNT, Screen Gems, and CBS.
Ron’s produced credits include the animated hit Robots for 20th Century Fox, S.W.A.T., starring Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Farrell, Sniper II, starring Tom Berenger, and 24 Hours to Live, starring Ethan Hawke.
Since 2002, Ron has helped shape the next generation of filmmakers as a screenwriting professor at College of the Canyons and as a filmmaking instructor at Antelope Valley College.
Early in his career, Ron developed the Magnificent 7–24 Method, a screenwriting architecture that helps writers move from idea to page with clarity and confidence. Built as a flexible framework rather than a rigid formula, it removes the fear that often keeps aspiring screenwriters from beginning. The method remains the foundation of both his professional work and his teaching.
A working screenwriter and dedicated educator, Ron continues to move between the classroom and the industry, where story always comes first.
MORE VIDEOS WITH RON MITA
STUDY SCREENWRITING WITH RON MITA
CONNECT WITH RON MITA
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