[Watch the video interview on YouTube here]
Film Courage: What is the Magnificent 7-24 method?
Ron Mita, Professor of Advanced Screenwriting at College of the Canyons/Screenwriter: Originally I just called it the 24-plot point method.
I’ve been teaching it for years.
Then I saw people have these methods like Save the Cat, and all this kind of…I need something flashier even though I’m not like selling it, promoting it, doing it online or like that.
So, let me start at the beginning.
The 24-plot point system, which is The Magnificent 7-24, it’s something I worked out by watching just tons of movies.
In watching these movies, we determined, okay, what do all these movies, and I’m talking about war movies, dramas, comedies, you name it, what do they all have in common?
Story Questions: How To Unlock Your Story One Question At A Time (PDF) on Payhip
What?
We started to realize, well, they all move forward at a similar pace.
We started to recognize, and of course, they all have three-act structure.
We know that.
We know the basics.
But I started to realize that almost every story advances at a very similar pace.
And what is that pace?
Well, I said, “Okay, I’m going to make a note every time a story advances…(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
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New book from Film Courage! – See it on Payhip here
New book from Film Courage! – See it on Payhip here
