Paul Castro is an American screenwriter and educator. He's best known for the musical fantasy, August Rush. Former Disney CEO/President, Michael Eisner said of Castro, "What clearly resonates with me is Paul's love and dedication to great storytelling. He is a practical artist, yet highly imaginative and talented."
Early life
Castro attended Catholic parochial school in middle school and military school during his high school years. He later wrote a script about a nun he met in grade school named Sister Eileen. Castro earned a BA in speech and communications from the University of Richmond and worked for seven years in high-tech corporate recruiting before getting into the film industry.
Career
Castro received his MFA from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in 2000, where he graduated #1 in his class. While pursuing his MFA, Castro was a finalist for the Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmaker's Award for directing and producing his original screenplay Healing, and landed a three-picture screenwriting deal worth $1 million. After graduating from UCLA, Castro became a professional screenwriter in Los Angeles. In December 2016, Castro sued David Goggins, a retired Navy SEAL, who had purportedly given Castro the rights to use his personal story in a screenplay and was now reneging on his obligations. Goggins countersued, claiming Castro had publicly defamed him.
''August Rush''
Castro won and accepted a Movie Guide for being the creator and original writer of August Rush. The final screenplay was credited to Nick Castle and James V. Hart. The romantic musical drama, with music by Mark Mancina, was released November 21, 2007 by Warner Bros. The film is directed by Oscar-nominee Kirsten Sheridan, and stars Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Terrence Howard and Robin Williams. August Rush grossed $65.3 million, and received mixed to negative reviews from film critics. In a review by USA Today, Claudia Puig commented that "August Rush will not be for everyone, but it works if you surrender to its lilting and unabashedly sentimental tale of evocative music and visual poetry." The Hollywood Reporter reviewed the film positively, writing "the story is about musicians and how music connects people, so the movie's score and songs, created by composers Mark Mancina and Hans Zimmer, give poetic whimsy to an implausible tale." Castro signed a deal with Warner Bros. to bring August Rush to Broadway as a stage musical. August Rush premiered on May 3, 2019, at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, Illinois. The book was written by Glen Berger, the music was composed by Mark Mancina, and the lyrics were written by both Berger and Mancina. The play was directed by John Doyle.
Teaching
Following his Hollywood successes, Castro taught screenwriting at UCLA, and created the online course The Million Dollar Screenplay. Castro created the online screenwriting course, INSPIRATIONAL SCREENWRITING, on udemy.com. INSPIRATIONAL SCREENWRITING and his other course THE BUSINESS OF SCREENWRITING has over 12,000 students in 137 different countries. Castro was also a visiting professor at Elon University in Elon, North Carolina from 2010 until 2015.
Personal Life
Castro started dating actress and Krav Maga blackbelt Shannon Marshall in July 1999. They married in September 2002 and welcomed daughter Cherokee on July 28th, 2009. For six years in L.A., Castro volunteered as a suicide prevention counselor.
Military Service
Castro left Hollywood after 9-11 and was commissioned as a Navy Officer, where he graduated from OCS. He was then ordered to Naval Special Warfare Command and became the PAO of the Navy SEAL Teams. There, he participated in the center's Superfrog Triathlon. After his service, Castro returned to Hollywood.
