If you want to learn how to write a great script in seven days and sell it for a zillion dollars, then you’ve come to the wrong place. Let me tell you what I can do. With my experience as a screenwriter, development exec and filmmaker, I can help you improve your screenplay and grow as a writer.

I produced the feature film Hard Scrambled starring Kurtwood Smith (That 70’s Show) and Richard Edson (Do the Right Thing), which had its world premiere at Cinequest Film Festival in 2006 and won best dramatic feature at Garden State Film Festival. March, the feature film I directed and produced, played opening night of the Lake Arrowhead Film Festival. I am currently executive producer of Hand in Hand, a feature film written by Dean L. Morini (writer of March).

I recently joined Dan Mirvish (Slamdance Founder) and Patricia Cardoso (Real Women have Curves) as a mentor at The Duke City Shootout. I was invited by Disney to teach story at SIGGRAPH. And I recently wrote and directed the bonus material for Hard Scrambled that includes an hour’s worth of filmmaking educational modules.

I am a former columnist for Creative Screenwriting magazine and am a ubiquitous presence at the annual Screenwriting Expo. I directed the original 41 Expo DVDs, which includes my popular class Killer Endings. My screenplay Dysfunction Junction won best dramatic original at Houston Worldfest and is currently in consideration for the Sundance Screenwriter’s Lab.

As a consultant, I immerse myself in your project—taking cues from your work, mining your current draft to help you hone your project to its fullest potential. My method is simple: I get to the bottom of what you are trying to accomplish as a writer, what your screenplay is trying to say. Then I help you say it more effectively. Having read over three thousand scripts, I know that not all screenplays fit into one mold. I am a flexible consultant who adapts to every script.

My background enables me to give you feedback from many professional points-of-view and adjust to your specific needs. The breadth of my dramaturgy and approaches are exemplified in the review I did for Creative Screenwriting magazine of the country’s top screenwriting teachers’ methods (read online | download PDF).

My approach is tailored to your learning style and material. Here is a quick example of how I use three different paradigms—dramaturgy, mythology, psychology--to explain the same concept: Character Arc.

Also included on this site are my reviews of several screenwriting books and seminars, and a few essays, analyses and interviews which should interest aspiring as well as working screenwriters.

Enjoy,
James P. Mercurio