Marcus Dunstan is an American screenwriter and director who, along with

Patrick Melton Patrick Melton is an American screenwriter, producer and novelist. Film career In 2004, Melton won the third season of Project Greenlight, along with Marcus Dunstan and John Gulager. The television show premiered on Bravo and resulted in the ...

, 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 ''Project Greenlight'' is an American documentary television series focusing on first-time filmmakers being given the chance to direct a feature film. It was created by Alex Keledjian, developed by Eli Holzman and produced by Ben Affleck, Matt ...

''. 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'', ''

Saw IV ''Saw IV'' is a 2007 horror film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman from a screenplay by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, and a story by Melton, Dunstan, and Thomas Fenton. It is the fourth installment in the ''Saw'' film series and sequel to 2 ...

'', ''

Saw V ''Saw V'' is a 2008 horror film directed by David Hackl, in his directorial debut, from a screenplay by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan. It is the fifth installment in the ''Saw'' film series and sequel to 2007's ''Saw IV''. The film stars T ...

'', ''

Saw VI ''Saw VI'' is a 2009 horror film directed by Kevin Greutert, in his feature directorial debut, from a screenplay by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan. It is the sequel to 2008's ''Saw V'' and sixth installment in the ''Saw'' film series. The fil ...

'', and ''

Saw 3D ''Saw 3D'' (also known as ''Saw: The Final Chapter'') is a 2010 American 3D horror film directed by Kevin Greutert and written by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan. It is the sequel to 2009's ''Saw VI'' and seventh installment in the ''Saw'' ...

'', 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 university, 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 org ...

. 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, educ ...

often using himself as the guinea pig in poorly executed

stunts A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat or an act requiring a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually on television, theaters, or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Before computer generated imagery spec ...

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 Uni ...

clinic, and a video store while spending his nights writing on a computer borrowed from fellow screenwriter,

Career

In March 2005, Dunstan and Melton won Season Three of ''

'' with their screenplay, ''

'', 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, mad ...

. The film starred

Krista Allen Krista Allen (born April 5, 1971) is an American actress, model and stand-up comic. She is best known for her work in the television series '' Days of Our Lives'', '' Baywatch Hawaii'', and the erotic TV series '' Emmanuelle in Space''. Allen a ...

and

Eric Dane Eric William Dane (born November 9, 1972) is an American actor. After multiple television roles in the 1990s and 2000s, which included his recurring role as Jason Dean in ''Charmed'', Dane was cast as Dr. Mark Sloan on the ABC medical drama te ...

, and was produced by Dimension Films and

Neo Art & Logic Joel Soisson is an American filmmaker. He works primarily in the field of independent film. His numerous credits include ''Dracula 2000 ''Dracula 2000'' (also known internationally as ''Dracula 2001'') is a 2000 American gothic horror film ...

. Dunstan has written the screenplays for ''Feast'', '' Feast II: Sloppy Seconds'', '' Feast III: The Happy Finish'', ''

'', ''

'', and ''

''. 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 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'', ''Feast'', and ''The Collector'', appearing in the later two through the same puppet show clip shown on TV screens. He, Melton, and Stephen Romano co-wrote the thriller novel ''Black Light - Don't Look Too Deep'', which was published on October 5, 2011, over

Mulholland Books Mulholland Books (US) is an imprint of Little, Brown and Company, a division of the Hachette Book Group. It specializes in publishing mysteries, thrillers, and suspense novels. History Little, Brown and Company announced the creation of Mulhol ...

hardcover A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as case-bound) book is one bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other cloth, heavy paper, or occa ...

. 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 Best ...

will produce for

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

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 co ...

'' 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 Be ...

's attention, and then were attached to a film version of ''

God of War A war god in mythology associated with war, combat, or bloodshed. They occur commonly in both monotheistic and polytheistic religions. Unlike most gods and goddesses in polytheistic religions, monotheistic deities have traditionally been po ...

''. In October 2016, Dunstan, along with partner Melton, were selected to write for the adaptation of Brandon Sanderson's

The Way of Kings ''The Way of Kings'' is an epic fantasy novel written by American author Brandon Sanderson and the first book in '' The Stormlight Archive'' series. The novel was published on August 31, 2010, by Tor Books. ''The Way of Kings'' consists of one p ...

. 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)