ABOUT M. RUTLEDGE McCALL…
Author M. Rutledge McCall is one of the most widely acclaimed book ghostwriters in America. He also adapts books to screen, and screenplays to books; he doctors film and TV scripts; and he develops TV, film, and streaming projects. (Read comments about his writing here.)
McCall has been featured on news programs such as “NBC Today,” BBC News, PBS, CNN News, KNBC News “Nightside Cover Story,” PBS/KCET’s “Life And Times: Thinkers, Shakers and Newsmakers,” “Larry King Live,” ABC News 9 Australia, and others. (See some of the interviews here.)
He has worked on more than 130 books, screen adaptations and scripts with clients around the world, including people named in Newsweek and Forbes magazines’ “Most Powerful People” lists. His writing has been noted in Publishers Weekly and by writers for The New Yorker and the New York Times. He has worked with authors whose books have appeared on the best-seller lists of USA Today, Publishers Weekly, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Amazon.com. (See just a few of the books here.)
McCall writes and ghostwrites narrative nonfiction, fiction, memoirs, and film & TV screenplays with and for a high-profile clientele that includes major book publishing companies, Fortune 200 executives, university presidents, elite athletes, theologians, investors, scientists, cybersecurity experts, tech unicorns, CEOs, Ph.D.s, neurosurgeons, former members of law enforcement, U.S. military, the agency, U.S. special forces field operatives, and many other people with important information to impart and great stories to tell. (See a list of the services he offers here.)
The first book he wrote, titled Slipping Into Darkness: A True Story from the American Ghetto, was published in 2000 to critical acclaim and was optioned for film by David O. Sacks (Co-Founder and former Chief Operating Officer of PayPal). The book was re-released in 2020 in an updated 20th Anniversary Edition (watch a video about the book here). McCall has sold other screen options in the years since.
McCall served for several years as Founder and CEO of a boutique Los Angeles-based literary career management and consulting firm, representing published authors and writers worldwide. Prior to that, McCall worked as Managing Senior Editor at a niche traditional book publisher in Pennsylvania. Earlier in his career, he worked in the one-hour drama writers departments for most of the American television networks and in production management for many of the major legacy US film companies, on some of the highest-grossing movies and top Nielsen-rated one-hour drama TV shows. In the years since, he has also produced and developed TV & streaming content. (Read about how McCall became a writer, ghostwriter, screenwriter, and film/TV project developer here.)
Over the years, employees who started their careers working for McCall have gone on to editing, writing, and management positions at major and independent traditional and streaming film, television and music production, distribution and licensing firms, and publishing companies. (See a list of some of the film and TV projects he has worked on here.)
The books, scripts, movies, and TV shows McCall has been honored to work on have collectively grossed over one billion dollars during his career, which is guided by a simple code: “Legends are not built by following the pack; they’re made by blazing a trail…so get out of your comfort zone and build your legacy.”
