Castro received his master of fine arts from the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television in 2000, where he graduated first in his class.
[1] While pursuing his degree, Castro was a finalist for the Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmaker's Award[2] for directing and producing his original screenplay Healing, and landed a three-picture screenwriting deal worth $1 million.
[4] In a review by USA Today, Claudia Puig commented, "August Rush will not be for everyone, but it works if you surrender to its lilting and unabashedly sentimental tale of evocative music and visual poetry.
"[5] The Hollywood Reporter reviewed the film positively, writing "the story is about musicians and how music connects people, so the movie's score and songs, created by composers Mark Mancina and Hans Zimmer, give poetic whimsy to an implausible tale.
[7][8][9] Following his Hollywood successes, Castro taught screenwriting at UCLA,[10] and created the online course The Million Dollar Screenplay.