“As a kid, I was so moved by these things,” said author Christopher Vogler about the world of cinema. “What made stories so exciting? I followed that trail to Film School at USC, where I encountered some of the ideas of Joseph Campbell.”

Vogler’s Professor encouraged him to further explore the mythological signs that stood out to him, which led him to Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces. This collection broke down the “universal motif of adventure” that runs through essentially all storytelling.

Vogler later turned this idea in a 7-page memo that summarized the “Hero’s Journey,” explaining how to use Campbell’s ideas in modern storytelling. “That went viral, in primitive means at the time, by fax machines, but it went all over Hollywood.”

The memo led Vogler to a job at Disney working on The Lion King. “It seemed new and fresh to them, so that was good timing for me.”

Over the years, Vogler has worked on films like 101 Dalmatians, Fight Club, Courage Under Fire, Volcano, and The Thin Red Line.

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