The Despicable Me films — The Secret Life of Pets — “Schmigadoon!”. This week on the 5AM StoryTalk Podcast, I'm joined by screenwriter Cinco Paul whose credits include these titles and many, many more. We’re about to discuss his life, craft, and becoming the writer he always wanted to be 25 years into his career.
Cinco spent most of his career co-writing with Ken Daurio, with whom he shares credit on Bubble Boy, The Santa Claude 2, Horton Hears a Who, Hop, The Lorax, The Secret Life of Pets, and the first three Despicable Me films - a billion-dollar franchise if ever there was one. The duo also co-created the comedy musical TV series “Schmigadoon!”, based on an idea Cinco had been developing for 30 years.
When “Schmigadoon!” was greenlit in 2020, Ken walked away from the project for personal reasons, ending their decades-long partnership – which Cinco and I will get into. But as painful as that break-up was, it also coincided with a kind of professional reinvention Cinco had been itching for after so many years working in animated film.
What you’re about to listen to is an incredibly illuminating deep dive into professional success and how that can sometimes become a cage. I don’t want to suggest Cinco didn’t love a lot of it, but he needed more out of his creative life (which I can certainly relate to and maybe you will, too regardless of what career you have).
Cinco and I are also just going to get very granular about screenwriting craft, which I encourage you to jump into the comments to discuss if you have any questions about what you hear. Pay attention, screenwriters, this one is for you!
A bonus episode with Cinco is available, too, so be sure to come back and listen to that, too. In it, we discuss a foundational piece of art from his life — Frank Capra’s iconic, beloved, utterly magical 1946 film, It’s a Wonderful Life. Specifically, we’re going to dig into a perfect seven-minute-scene — the telephone scene, as you might describe it — in which George Bailey comes to the terrible (almost violent) conclusion that yes, despite all his hopes and dreams of getting out of his crummy town, he’s going to marry Mary Hatch anyway. This is another ep no screenwriter should pass up.
