Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio are American screenwriters. They are primarily known for writing screenplays for animated films, including '' Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who'', ''

Despicable Me ''Despicable Me'' is a computer-animated media franchise centering on Gru, a reformed super-villain (who later becomes a father, husband, and secret agent), and his yellow-colored Minions. It is produced by Illumination and distributed by ...

'', ''

Dr. Seuss' The Lorax ''The Lorax'' (also known as ''Dr. Seuss' The Lorax'') is a 2012 American 3D computer-animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. The second screen adaptation of Dr. Seuss ...

'', ''

Despicable Me 2 ''Despicable Me 2'' is a 2013 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. The sequel to ''Despicable Me'' (2010), it is directed by Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin, and ...

'', ''

The Secret Life of Pets ''The Secret Life of Pets'' is a 2016 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is directed by Chris Renaud, co-directed by Yarrow Cheney (in his feature directorial ...

'' and ''

Despicable Me 3 ''Despicable Me 3'' is a 2017 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Illumination and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is the sequel to ''Despicable Me 2'' (2013), the third main installment, and the fourth installment overal ...

''. Paul is also the creator, executive producer and songwriter for the 2021

Apple TV+ Apple TV is a digital media player and microconsole developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is a small network appliance hardware that plays received media data such as video and audio to a television set or external display. Since its secon ...

musical comedy series ''

Schmigadoon! ''Schmigadoon!'' is an American musical comedy television series created by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, with all songs written by Paul, who also serves as showrunner. The series airs on Apple TV+ and premiered on July 16, 2021. The series has b ...

.''

Life and career

Paul

Paul was named after

Cinco de Mayo Cinco de Mayo ( in Mexico, Spanish for "Fifth of May") is a yearly celebration held on May 5, which commemorates the anniversary of Mexico's victory over the Second French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862, led by General Ignacio Zaragoz ...

, a celebration held on his birthday. After graduating from Yale University, Paul served a mission for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

in Tokyo. Shortly after returning from his mission he married his girlfriend whom he had met at Yale and to whom he was engaged just before leaving on his mission. He then won a short film competition and received a fellowship at the

USC School of Cinematic Arts The University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) houses seven academic divisions: Film & Television Production; Cinema & Media Studies; John C. Hench Division of Animation + Digital Arts; John Wells Division of Writing for Sc ...

, where he graduated in 1993 from the Graduate Screenwriting Program. The following year, he sold his first screenplay to

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

Daurio

Daurio started making films with a Super 8 camera at age 9. After high school, he began directing music videos and directed more than 100 videos.

Collaboration

Paul and Daurio have been collaborating since 1999. They met when Paul wrote a musical for

' 150-year celebration of the pioneers' arrival in Utah, in which Daurio had one of the leads. Hitting it off, having similar senses of humor, they formed a band called the Otter Pops, playing at local outdoor malls. Within a year they sold their first script, and a year later their second script, '' Bubble Boy'', was made into a film, which was a critical and commercial failure. To get noticed, they used to sing story pitches to film producers. Although not always successful, this strategy resulted in several produced films, including ''Bubble Boy'' and ''

College Road Trip ''College Road Trip'' is a 2008 American family comedy film directed by Roger Kumble and starring Martin Lawrence, Kym Whitley, Raven-Symoné, Brenda Song, Margo Harshman, and Donny Osmond. The film centers on college-bound teen Melanie Porter (R ...

'' (2008). They were personally chosen by Audrey Geisel, the widow of

Dr. Seuss Theodor Seuss Geisel (;"Seuss"
'' computer-animated feature film adaptation of ''

Horton Hears a Who! ''Horton Hears a Who!'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Theodor Seuss Geisel under the pen name Dr. Seuss. It was published in 1954 by Random House. This book tells the story of Horton the Elephant and his adventures saving Whovi ...

'' for

Blue Sky Studios Blue Sky Studios, Inc. was an American computer animation studio based in Greenwich, Connecticut. It was founded on February 22, 1987 by Chris Wedge, Michael Ferraro, Carl Ludwig, Alison Brown, David Brown, and Eugene Troubetzkoy after their e ...

via 20th Century Fox Animation, led by

Chris Meledandri Christopher Meledandri (; born May 15, 1959) is an American film producer and founder and CEO of Illumination. He previously served as President of 20th Century Fox Animation, and has worked as the producer of the ''Despicable Me'' franchise ...

. In 2007, when Meledandri founded a film production company named

Illumination Entertainment Illumination (formerly known as Illumination Entertainment) is an American computer animation studio, founded by Chris Meledandri in 2007. Illumination is owned by Meledandri and the Illumination brand is co-owned by Universal Pictures, a divisi ...

, Paul and Daurio followed him. At Illumination, they wrote screenplays for the highly-successful animated film ''

'' and its sequel, ''

''. They also wrote for Illumination's other films, the live action/animated Easter-themed ''

Hop A hop is a type of jump. Hop or hops may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hop'' (film), a 2011 film * Hop! Channel, an Israeli TV channel * ''House of Payne'', or ''HOP'', an American sitcom * Lindy Hop, a swing dance of the 1920s and ...

'' and

adapted In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...

another Dr. Seuss book into a computer-animated film, ''

The Lorax ''The Lorax'' is a children's book written by Dr. Seuss and published in 1971. It chronicles the plight of the environment and the Lorax, the titular character, who "speaks for the trees" and confronts the Once-ler, a business magnate who cause ...

''. Although Paul and Daurio are screenwriting partners, they prefer to work independently. They divide up scenes and read pages to each other, trying to make each other laugh. Paul, having an education in screenwriting, generally works on scenes that contain emotion and require the three-act structure, while Daurio, being a more visually oriented person, usually does scenes with action, sight gags and physical comedy. Both being members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, their beliefs have had significant impact on their careers. They prefer "to write movies that are uplifting, optimistic and for everybody," while avoiding being "preachy." The pair adapted ''Bubble Boy'' into a

stage musical Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

featuring original songs, for which an original cast recording was released on

Sh-K-Boom Records Sh-K-Boom Records is an independent record label and producer of recorded and live entertainment, which was founded in 2000 by Kurt Deutsch with the mission of bridging the gap between pop music and theater. In 2004 Sh-K-Boom created their second ...

in 2017 produced by Paul,

Justin Goldner Justin Goldner is an American music producer, songwriter, arranger and session musician based in New York City, originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His performances have been featured on Grammy, Latin Grammy and Tony award-winning projects ...

Kurt Deutsch Kurt Deutsch is an actor, director, record producer and film producer. He is the Senior Vice President for Theatrical & Catalog Development for Warner/Chappell Music, and President of Sh-K-Boom Records, a division of Warner Arts Music. Sh-K-Boom/ ...

. Paul is also developing an original musical, ''A.D. 16'', with playwright

Bekah Brunstetter Rebecca Leah "Bekah" Brunstetter (born June 13, 1982) is an American writer. Her published plays include ''F*cking Art'', which won top honors at the Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival, ''I Used to Write on Walls'', ''Oohrah!'' ...

centered on the relationship between teenage Jesus Christ and

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cru ...

. On January 29, 2018, Paul and Daurio were hired to a film adaptation of ''

Birthright Birthright is the concept of things being due to a person upon or by fact of their birth, or due to the order of their birth. These may include rights of citizenship based on the place where the person was born or the citizenship of their paren ...

'' for

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

and

Skybound Entertainment Skybound Entertainment is an American multiplatform entertainment company founded by Robert Kirkman and David Alpert. History Skybound Entertainment is the company behind the long-running comic, '' The Walking Dead'', created by Robert Kirkman. ...

. Paul will be making his feature directorial debut with the live-action animation film ''Winter Wonderland'' and will also write original songs for the project.

Filmography

*'' Bubble Boy'' (2001) - screenwriters *''

The Santa Clause 2 ''The Santa Clause 2'' is a 2002 American Christmas comedy film directed by Michael Lembeck in his directorial debut. It is a sequel to '' The Santa Clause'' (1994) and the second installment in ''The Santa Clause'' franchise. All of the princip ...

'' (2002) - screenplay *''

'' (2008) - screenwriters *''

'' (2010) - screenplay *''

'' (2011) - story and screenplay *''

'' (2012) - screenwriters, executive producers, and songwriter (Paul only) *''

'' (2013) - screenwriters *''

'' (2016) - screenwriters *''Weenie'' (2016) - directors and writers *''

'' (2017) - screenwriters *''

'' (2021) - creators, writers, songwriter (Paul only), and executive producer (Paul only)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paul, Cinco American male screenwriters Animation screenwriters NBCUniversal people Illumination (company) people Screenwriting duos Living people American Latter Day Saints USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Primetime Emmy Award winners