Mark Steven Johnson grew up as a huge fan of Saturday Night Live. Mesmerized by comedy, he thought he could make it as a writer from an early age. Eventually, Johnson found his voice from reading scripts and watching new films.

Soon, he wrote ‘Grumpy Old Men,’ which brought a fresh voice to Hollywood as most people were unaware ice fishing even existed. As the writer-director made a transition from character films to Marvel movies, he noticed the theme of the underdog stood out in all of his work.

As he writer, Johnson has credits for the ‘Grumpy Old Men’ series, ‘Simon Birch,’ ‘Daredevil,’ ‘Ghost Rider,’ and ‘Christopher Robin.’ In his newest film, he’s back in the director’s chair for ‘Finding Steve McQueen.’

The ironic true story heist film takes place in 1972. According to IMDB, “A gang of close-knit thieves from Youngstown, Ohio attempt to steal $30 million in illegal contributions and blackmail money from President Richard Nixon's secret fund.”

In this interview, Johnson discusses the missing middle movie in today’s film world, the key to original characters, the importance of a backstory, the importance of character limitations, and why writing what you feel may be more important than writing what you know.

If you enjoyed this interview, join thousands of viewers for the new YouTube series, Creative Principles, which dissects new films, series, and more: bit.ly/2FARJz5