Marcus Dunstan is an American screenwriter and director who, along with
Patrick Melton, wrote screenplay for the film ''
Feast
A banquet (; ) is a formal large meal where a number of people consume food together. Banquets are traditionally held to enhance the prestige of a host, or reinforce social bonds among joint contributors. Modern examples of these purposes i ...
'', which was the winner of Season Three of the filmmaking competition reality TV series ''
Project Greenlight''. Dunstan has since written the screenplays for ''Feast'', ''
Feast II: Sloppy Seconds'', ''
Feast III: The Happy Finish'', ''
The Collector
''The Collector'' is a 1963 thriller novel by English author John Fowles, in his literary debut. Its plot follows a lonely, psychotic young man who kidnaps a female art student in London and holds her captive in the cellar of his rural farmhous ...
'', ''
The Collection The Collection may refer to:
* The Collection (Lincolnshire), a county museum and gallery in Lincolnshire, England
Film, television and theatre
* ''The Collection'' (film), the 2012 sequel to the 2009 film ''The Collector''
* "The Collection ...
'', ''
Saw IV'', ''
Saw V'', ''
Saw VI'', and ''
Saw 3D'', and in some cases, making cameo appearances in those films as well.
Early life
Dunstan was born in
Macomb, Illinois
Macomb is a city in and the county seat of McDonough County, Illinois, United States. It is situated in western Illinois, southwest of Galesburg. The city is about southwest of Peoria and south of the Quad Cities. A special census held in 2 ...
. He spent his formative years working in movie theaters and studying film at the
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 coll ...
.
While in college Dunstan experimented with
16mm film
16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, ed ...
often using himself as the guinea pig in poorly executed
stunts that left him dragging behind a car, the target of flying knives, and thrice being set on fire. He holds the record for spilling the most fake blood ever in a student film. Since moving to Los Angeles in 1999, Dunstan toiled in several odd jobs including a retirement home, an
Optometry
Optometry is a specialized health care profession that involves examining the eyes and related structures for defects or abnormalities. Optometrists are health care professionals who typically provide comprehensive primary eye care.
In the Un ...
clinic, and a video store while spending his nights writing on a computer borrowed from fellow screenwriter,
Patrick Melton.
Career
In March 2005, Dunstan and Melton won Season Three of ''
Project Greenlight'' with their screenplay, ''
Feast
A banquet (; ) is a formal large meal where a number of people consume food together. Banquets are traditionally held to enhance the prestige of a host, or reinforce social bonds among joint contributors. Modern examples of these purposes i ...
'', which was directed by
John Gulager
John Thompson Gulager (born December 19, 1957) is an American actor, cinematographer and film director.
Biography
Film career
The production and filming of '' Feast'' was the main focus of season three of '' Project Greenlight''. The film, ma ...
. The film starred
Krista Allen and
Eric Dane, and was produced by
Dimension Films and
Neo Art & Logic.
Dunstan has written the screenplays for ''Feast'', ''
Feast II: Sloppy Seconds'', ''
Feast III: The Happy Finish'', ''
The Collector
''The Collector'' is a 1963 thriller novel by English author John Fowles, in his literary debut. Its plot follows a lonely, psychotic young man who kidnaps a female art student in London and holds her captive in the cellar of his rural farmhous ...
'', ''
Saw IV'', ''
Saw V'', ''
Saw VI'', and ''
Saw 3D''. He is also in pre-production and post-production for several of his other screenplays. In addition to writing the screenplay for ''The Collector'', he directed the film. He also directed the sequel to ''The Collector'', titled ''
The Collection The Collection may refer to:
* The Collection (Lincolnshire), a county museum and gallery in Lincolnshire, England
Film, television and theatre
* ''The Collection'' (film), the 2012 sequel to the 2009 film ''The Collector''
* "The Collection ...
''. The film, produced by Liddell Entertainment and Fortress Features, was released in 2012.
In addition to writing and directing, he and writing partner Patrick Melton have made cameo appearances in ''Saw V'', ''
Supergator
''Supergator '' is a 2007 horror film directed by Brian Clyde, produced by Roger Corman, and starring Brad Johnson and Kelly McGillis. The music was by Damon Ebner; it was a parody of the film ''King Kong''.
Background
After Corman produced '' ...
'', ''Feast'', and ''The Collector'', appearing in the later two through the same puppet show clip shown on TV screens. He, Melton, and
Stephen Romano
Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; h ...
co-wrote the thriller novel ''Black Light - Don't Look Too Deep'', which was published on October 5, 2011, over
Mulholland Books as
hardcover. The novel will adapt in a feature film written by Melton and Dunstan, under the direction of Romano,
Michael De Luca
Michael De Luca (born August 13, 1965) is an American film studio executive, film producer and screenwriter. The former president of production at both New Line Cinema and DreamWorks, De Luca has been nominated for three Academy Awards for Bes ...
will produce for
Warner Bros. Dunstan co-wrote with Patrick Melton a screenplay for potential eleventh film of the
''Halloween'' franchise.
In 2013, Melton and Dunstan were enlisted to perform uncredited rewrites on ''
Pacific Rim
The Pacific Rim comprises the lands around the rim of the Pacific Ocean. The '' Pacific Basin'' includes the Pacific Rim and the islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Rim roughly overlaps with the geologic Pacific Ring of Fire.
List of ...
'' when their
spec script
A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned and unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or ...
''Monstropolis'' caught
Guillermo del Toro
Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born October 9, 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and actor. He directed the Academy Award–winning fantasy films '' Pan's Labyrinth'' (2006) and '' The Shape of Water'' (2017), winning the Academy Awards for ...
's attention, and then were attached to a film version of ''
God of War''.
In October 2016, Dunstan, along with partner Melton, were selected to write for the adaptation of
Brandon Sanderson
Brandon Winn Sanderson (born December 19, 1975) is an American author of high fantasy and science fiction. He is best known for the Cosmere fictional universe, in which most of his fantasy novels, most notably the '' Mistborn'' series and '' Th ...
's
The Way of Kings. He also wrote additional dialogue for the Saw Escape Room in Las Vegas.
Filmography
Film
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunstan, Marcus
Living people
Horror film directors
American male screenwriters
People from Macomb, Illinois
University of Iowa alumni
Film directors from Illinois
Screenwriters from Illinois
Year of birth missing (living people)