Jim Hirtle
Jim Hirtle
Patrick Cirillo Screenwriter
Patrick Cirillo Screenwriter
Patrick Cirillo Screenwriter
Saturday 28th March 2026
Screenwriter Patrick Cirillo shares dark sports stories, Hollywood lessons and honest advice on writing, identity and starting over.
66 minutes
Inspiring
Honest
Informative
Encouraging
Authentic
About this podcast
Author:
Jim Hirtle
Overview:
Categories:
Healing from Sexual Trauma
Comedic Journeys
Body & Mind
Spiritual & Personal Growth Journeys
Religion & Spirituality
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Episodes:
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Get the buttons here!From Lost Year to Screen Credits: Patrick Cirillo on Writing, Sport and Second Chances
Episode Overview
- Losing a sports‑based identity led Pat into a year of heavy drinking and feeling lost before he chose to return to education and start again.
- Creative writing classes and reading for pleasure became the turning point that gave him a new sense of self and long‑term direction.
- Breaking into screenwriting required years of unpaid work, low‑level jobs, constant writing and learning to handle rejection without giving up.
- His book on the dark side of sports focuses on real cases where fame, money and secrecy create serious personal and ethical fallout.
- For indie authors, Pat suggests writing several books before spending big on editors or marketers, learning covers and basic promotion yourself, and using Kindle Unlimited to reach avid readers.
"Before you can bleed, you first have to believe."
Curious about how someone goes from failed athlete, heavy-drinking dropout to award‑winning screenwriter and novelist? This conversation with Patrick Cirillo (Pat) offers a front‑row seat. Aimed at people who care about real stories of struggle, identity and second chances, it blends sports, Hollywood and writing in a way that lands surprisingly close to recovery themes.
Pat shares how losing his basketball dream at college left him adrift in “a lost year” of minimum‑wage jobs and drinking too much, until returning to community college and stumbling into creative writing changed everything. That shift eventually took him to UCLA Film School and into rooms with Jim Belushi, Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams and Billy Crystal. Yet he’s very clear: a master’s degree meant nothing without relentless graft, failed scripts and years of rejection.
Sports fans get hooked in with his book *True Stories from the Dark Side of Sports*, co‑written with his brother. It looks at the messy, often hidden stories behind sporting headlines, from scandal‑ridden athletes to painted greyhounds and huge betting cons. As Pat puts it, they set out to write the stories you “won’t forget” once you’ve read them. Writers and creatives will probably replay the sections on process.
Pat breaks down outlining, multiple drafts, treating even minor characters as if they’re the star, and why indie authors should write several books before spending serious money on editors or marketers. He’s blunt about bad spending, hybrid publishers, and hiring the wrong publicist, yet generous with what he’s learned about Kindle Unlimited, covers and doing it yourself. Threaded through is a bigger question: who are you when one identity dies—and what healthier story can you write next?
If you’re rebuilding life after loss, addiction or burnout, Pat’s journey might spark ideas for your own next chapter. What story are you writing for yourself today?