How to Get Real Feedback, Find Your Voice, and Break In [Podcast]
Breaking into screenwriting can feel like a lonely climb, but it doesn’t have to be.
In this week’s episode of the Kinolime Podcast, John and Danny dive deep into something that sits at the heart of every great film: community.
Whether you’re finishing your tenth feature or staring at a blank Final Draft document wondering where to begin, this episode is for you. John and Danny explore how Kinolime is expanding beyond competitions and analyses to become a true creative home for writers, a place where you can share pages, trade notes, join prompts, and find collaborators who “get it.”
From the magic of honest feedback to the power of showing up consistently, from building pitch decks to choosing which scene deserves to become a short, they unpack how a supportive network can transform not just your writing, but your entire filmmaking journey.
Full Transcript: Kinolime Podcast Episode 27: How to Get Real Feedback, Find Your Voice, and Break In
Participants
John Schramm - Head of Development, Kinolime
Danny Murray - Creative Executive, Kinolime
Building a Writing Community
JOHN:
I want writing prompts. I want to get people actually writing, even if it’s just a scene, a page, a first act, an inciting incident, whatever. I’d love to see people submit pages every week or every other week. We’ll read some of it. Our readers will read some of it. People can read each other’s work.
It’s all about building that muscle memory, putting your ass in the chair and writing.
JOHN:
But sometimes people just want community. They want to dip their toe in. They want to come to the party but maybe hang by the wall before they start mingling. That’s why we’re building this community at Kinolime.
We already have a forum on our site, on all our platforms, where anyone who loves what we’re doing can join and talk. It’s been great but I want to make it the place for aspiring writers. Not just filmmakers, writer-centric, writer-first.
JOHN:
Danny, what do you think we could be doing for the screenwriter out there who wants to get involved at the edges of the film business? What can we at Kinolime be doing better? We truly want to help writers get into the stratosphere of filmmaking. We want to read your screenplays. We want the forum to reflect that mission.
Breaking Into the Industry & Reducing Isolation
DANNY:
I mean, when you’re trying to break in as a writer, it’s honestly one of the most isolating ways to enter the business. You write a script, you don’t know what to do with it, you send it to The Black List or something, get a review back… and that’s kind of it.
Unless you have a writers’ group, which the Kinolime forum could become, you don’t really have a world to understand how to perceive what you wrote.
Notes, Feedback, and Getting Better
DANNY:
What I’d love to see more of is a real way to trade notes. Not necessarily full-script swaps but structured, focused feedback.
DANNY:
CoverflyX, rest in peace, did this great thing: you’d read someone’s script, give them notes, earn coins, and then someone would read yours. I tried it years ago and it was amazing because strangers were giving honest reactions.
That one note can change everything.
JOHN:
For me, I once put a script on CoverflyX and multiple readers said they loved my supporting character more than my protagonist. So I rewrote the script with the supporting character as the lead, and it made the whole thing better.
Industry friends won’t always tell you that. They try to preserve what you have or avoid hurting your feelings. But fresh eyes? They’ll just tell you what they feel.
I’d love for us to replicate that in the Kinolime forum, an incubator for improvement, excitement, collaboration.
Writing Prompts & Building Discipline
JOHN:
And to add to that, our social media manager, Kole Lee (screenwritinginla on Instagram, ranked #1!), had this feature in his old forum that we want to implement: writing prompts.
Weekly scenes. Pages. Setups. Inciting incidents. Whatever gets people writing.
Our team can read pages. Writers can read each other.
It builds discipline. James Cameron wrote five pages a day, good or bad, it didn’t matter. It’s about showing up.
Rewards, Consistency & Participation
JOHN:
I don’t know what the reward should be, maybe a free month of Criterion?
DANNY:
Stop spending the company’s money.
JOHN:
Fair. Maybe it’s more about consistency. If you complete ten weeks of prompts, then you unlock something. It’s less about winning and more about doing the work.
Tools for Writers: Pitch Decks, AMAs, and Resources
DANNY:
Another idea: helping writers build pitch decks.
Once someone feels confident in their script, they need to know how to position it, how to pitch it, sell it, or make it.
We could do AMAs where people ask us questions, anything from the executive side, development side, or just general industry guidance.
JOHN:
Or even community-sourced advice. Let everyone help everyone.
Interactive Ideas for the Forum
DANNY:
Another fun idea: if someone has a finished feature script, they could put scenes up for people to vote on.
Like:
“Which scene should I turn into a short?”
That sort of thing.
JOHN:
We literally just did that a couple of weeks ago! More of that would be great.
Building the Forum Together
JOHN:
What we’re really saying is: reach out to us. Tell us how you want this forum to be. It’s not our forum, it’s yours.
We want the best outlet for everyone’s creativity, a place where people can gather, collaborate, and grow. We genuinely want to build this with you.
Let us know what you want to see. We listen to everything.
JOHN:
Community is how good movies get made. You bleed together. You go to war together. It’s all about the people around you.
Shorts, Features & the Spark of an Idea
DANNY:
And this all ties back to what we were saying about making shorts and features. Every feature starts with a spark, a short film, feedback from a lab, or just going out and shooting something with your friends.
That’s where the magic starts.
Final Call to the Community
JOHN:
So let us know what you want to build. Find us everywhere at Kinolime, you know where to reach us.
Our tagline is: “Let’s make a movie together.”
Now it’s: “Let’s build a forum together.”
Let’s build a community together.
Let’s comment together.
