[Watch the video interview on YouTube here]
Film Courage: Does the main character that you’re writing always have to be damaged in some way?
Ron Mita, Professor of Advanced Screenwriting at College of the Canyons/Screenwriter: So, it’s interesting. When I start with a character, I first start with, I’ve got the story,
I’ve got the idea, and then I said, time to build a character.
The first thing I look at is who is the typical character we put in there?
He’s a hero and well, okay, hero is to be expected.
Is he the John Wayne hero? The wearing white, the perfect hero.
Then you start to realize that it makes them a little more interesting if they’re a little more flawed.
Ultimately people really love anti-heroes.
They love darker guys.
As a kid, I didn’t even know what an anti-hero was, but I love The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
And Clint Eastwood, when you kind of look at him in almost all his movies, he’s really the anti-hero.
Dirty Harry, he’s not a good guy.
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He’s not a nice guy.
Ultimately he’s got good intentions as most anti-heroes do, but he does in a dark way.
So, I realize damage is kind of fun.
Damage kind of works really well.
I look at the character and say, who would fit in here?
And then I say, well, what if we changed him or her a little bit and gave him damage?
Now, I’m afraid of making them damaged if that kind of turns him into a cliche…(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.
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