about

mario moreno

Bronx-born, Miami-raised, LA-based, Mario Moreno is an award-winning Cuban-Colombian-American author, screenwriter, filmmaker, creative coach, and former graffiti artist.

He is also the Product Manager for Final Draft, driving the design and development of the industry-standard screenwriting software while advocating for storytellers and content creators.

This is a fitting role as Mario is also a Writers Guild of America West scribe, working across various mediums. His credits include Maker Studio's LA Series, executive produced and co-directed by James Franco; and Boogie and Omission, produced by the National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA).

Additional projects include an adaptation of the book “Reckless Road” for Rabbit Bandini. The resulting script, Appetite for Destruction, chronicles the early days of Guns N’ Roses. The music video Magicman, which he wrote, directed, and co-edited for Trifekta Studios. And a secretly-titled, original feature-length script for Sony’s Columbia Pictures.

He co-authored The Pocket Screenwriting Guide: 120 Tips for Getting to FADE OUT.

He’s written articles on the craft of storytelling for Script Magazine, Save The Cat!, The Writers Store, and others.

And he’s coached thousands of writers on novels, plays, and scripts for the screen, including the first 3 winners of the Industry Insider Contest. One of which, “The Disciple Program,” was acquired by Universal Studios in a bidding war.

The grandson of Cuban bandleader Belisario López, Mario once dreamt of playing bass. But after his father went to prison for crimes involving the White House and the mob, Mario ended up writing noirs about the American Dream.

His latest release, KILLA: A Mixtape Novella, adapted from his Austin Film Festival-finalist script, is a dark love letter to hip-hop and gothic horror, and a winner of a 2024 Best Indie Book Award®.

Mario holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film from Miami International University, where he gained experience writing, producing, directing, and editing short films. He won the Outstanding Filmmaker award for his thesis The Sellout.