The Writing Process That Won a Screenplay Competition [Podcast]
She was a full-time mom of two with no screenwriting experience. Then came a single image at 3 a.m., so terrifying she knew she had to write it. What started as a personal project became a screenplay that captured thousands and landed her a debut film called Due.
But this isn't about overnight success. It's about taking one crazy idea and following it, even when you have no idea what you're doing. It's about finishing something when the odds feel impossible. Kathryn wrote this screenplay without trying to sell it. No market research. No trend-chasing. Just pure storytelling that moved people.
In this episode, Kathryn walks us through the entire journey: zero screenwriting knowledge to a polished first draft in three months. The reverse-engineering technique she used to build her story backwards from one pivotal scene. Why the hardest scenes were the ones about healing. And the habits, like using midnight waking moments to refine scenes in her head that kept momentum alive.
Whether you're staring at a blank page, convinced you don't have time to create, or sitting on an idea you think is too weird to pursue, this episode is for you. Stick around as we talk about finishing what you start, trusting your instincts, and why sometimes the best creative advice is the simplest: just get the clay on the table.
Full Transcript: Kinolime Podcast Episode 53: The Writing Process That Won a Screenplay Competition
Participants:
John Schramm - Head of Development, Kinolime
Kathryn Zizek - Writer DUE, 2026 Kinolime Feature Film Competition Winner
John: Hey, everybody, welcome to the Kinolime Podcast. I'm John Schramm. Guys, I don't want to spoil it, but we have our Script to Screen Kinolime winner with us today. Kinolime is a studio essentially that operates through a screenplay competition. Screenwriters from all around the world can submit their screenplay in English, and it goes through a variety of voting rounds where the audience gets to vote. We have 45,000 and growing community members who voted. The winner doesn't get a trophy. They get a director as well as up to $15 million in production financing. We have our Script to Screen Kinolime winner with us today. Kathryn, how are you?
Kathryn: I'm just breathing right now - in and out. The script is only being made because of everyone who came out and voted for it.
John: How has life been since winning the Script to Screen competition?
Kathryn: It has been incredible. I think that I didn't realize at the start what could come from this. I'm so glad that I entered, obviously, but I feel like it was just...
Yeah, sorry. I'm like a little too nervous.
John: This is great though, you're doing fantastic.
Kathryn: My phone was running hot the morning of the competition. I've been contacted by more people in my life.
John: So you have friends and family just checking it out, seeing what happened?
Kathryn: Yes. So many people just saying congratulations. Even strangers online, obviously, contacting me on Instagram.
John: You get the fan club now. I mean, this is a big deal. That's a true testament to your writing.
Kathryn: Sometimes I just forget that I won and I'll have this moment in the day where it pops into my head and I just find myself sort of smiling and nobody really knows why. And it's been really nice.
John: It's not the kids, not the husband, not the great weather. It's the fact that you're going to have a movie made. That's huge. And what's also incredible is, yo, this is the first time you wrote a screenplay. You're like Diablo Cody with Juno, writing her first screenplay, getting produced and winning an Oscar. I mean, that's a big deal. It's huge.
Kathryn: This is maybe my greatest achievement outside of my personal life. It's come so quickly. It's indescribable.
The Inspiration Behind "Due"
John: Well, let's talk about things you can describe. First of all, how did you come up with the idea for "Due"?
Kathryn: I can pinpoint the exact moment that inspired "Due." It was an intrusive thought or an image that came into my mind. I was up in the middle of the night breastfeeding my son and it was dark. I was alone and I just saw it to myself, how terrifying it would be if I just looked down and instead of my son, I saw a man latched to my breast. That was my first look. I was actually thinking, I would watch that movie.
John: So you like horror. Horror is something that you're into.
Kathryn: Yeah, totally. Super into horror. I just thought it was something that could be something bigger and more. Then my next thought was, well, who would that be? Who would that have the most effect on? Who would that person be that it would be the most horrifying to? And the answer wasn't just a mother. It was someone who had experienced a major violation before and thought they had escaped that. I think that's a really scary thought too, because the thing that makes it so scary isn't physical harm as such, it's that it's a violation. Yeah, I think I just really dove deep into that and what made it scary, and then I just saw that there were the bones for a horror film there.
John: So was that all in the same moment that you answered these questions, or was this over the course of days?
Kathryn: I would say over the course of the next few days. So at first I just had that image and I knew it could be something.
John: Yeah, yeah, yeah, you could not shake it. I get it. And so when did you decide, because were you screenwriting at the time?
Kathryn: No, I was not screenwriting. I've been a writer sort of casually through my life, but screenwriting, I had never touched it.
John: So you're a full-time mom with two kids, and then boom, you get this idea. So what made you take that step into deciding to write your first screenplay?
Kathryn: Part of it was that I needed something like, as I just said, I wasn't employed and I just needed something that was mine, that I could do that was about me, because being a mom, you don't get a lot of time to yourself. And when you do get that time, so many things have been stripped away that you're not even sure what to do with yourself anymore when you've got that moment. Writing was something I loved that I had abandoned in a way, and I just wanted to go back there. So I thought that I would do it. And I never wrote the screenplay thinking I would show it to anyone. It was just something that I wanted to do for myself. I wanted to finish something. And really the goal was just to finish a screenplay.
The Writing Process: Research and First Steps
John: What was day one like? Did you start outlining? How did you, as a first-time writer, know where to start? Did you read any books on screenwriting?
Kathryn: Yeah, so I started by researching the rules of screenwriting. I needed to know obviously all the formatting, but as well, I was watching videos on YouTube. I was signing up to every newsletter, just really trying to absorb as much as I could about the craft before I started because I really just didn't have any idea what was involved.
John: Was there a book or a YouTube channel? Like what was something that really helped you in this early stage?
Kathryn: I found Tom Vaughan pretty early. I don't know if you've heard of him, but he's got some incredible tips. That was more about the refining than the formatting. The formatting, I mean, a lot of it was just whatever the first Google search result was.
Building the Story: Reverse Engineering
John: When did you start getting into the story? Did you start with "I gotta create my protagonist"? Like, were you thinking of scenes? How did you start building out "Due" in those very early days?
Kathryn: I knew that whatever I wrote had to lead to that scene. So it had to earn that scene. I actually worked backwards from the breastfeeding scene. I worked out who my character needed to be, who my protagonist needed to be. And from knowing who she needed to be, I then could see what her arc needed to be. Once I knew that she needed to go from victim to fierce protector, and that she needed that emotional transformation, then I decided what sort of antagonist could push her there.
John: So you did like a little reverse engineering. You knew a point in the screenplay you wanted to get to, and then you had to build to there. That's interesting. I love that. You just had this scene that inspired you and you reversed engineered everything around it. I think that's great. Writers often have an ending in mind and then build a whole movie around that, but this wasn't the ending. This was probably around the midpoint-ish, right?
Kathryn: Somewhere in the middle. And it really could have gotten cut. It just was like the DNA.
John: The inspiration. That's what you needed, the spark.
The Spark That Kept Her Writing
John: For everyone at home, I want to zero in on the spark part because I think for a lot of writers, and I can speak to myself, there's a spark that gets me going every day to get my ass in the chair and put in the hours. Kathryn had the spark of the scene and she needed to get there. You were relentless in getting there and you did it masterfully. So now the question is, once you got to that scene and you satisfied that spark, what kept you going?
Kathryn: I felt like I really had something. So I knew at that point I had a movie and a screenplay. Yeah, I get it. And it just felt good enough that it wasn't just for me anymore.
John: I love that it wasn't just for you. Look at this metaphor, I was like birthing something, so to speak, this entity of a story. As you were writing it, what were you latching onto, besides getting to that scene, that really kept you wanting to go? Was it a character you just always wanted to revisit every day? Was it that you wanted to write more of the crazy freaky stuff that was in there? What was it that you couldn't wait to get back to the computer the next day?
Kathryn: I had just these ideas that would come to me, and sometimes it would be in the middle of the night, and I just had to get them on paper. And some of it was the freaky stuff. Some of it was just connecting something that wasn't connected before and realizing that that would be a big payoff. And that kind of thing really was exciting. It was just like the story was building itself almost.
Challenges and Momentum
John: But for a first-time writer, what were some of the issues you had? Writing is a muscle. As Aaron Sorkin says, it's the only profession you can get better at with age. It's something you have to put the hours in to learn. And when you get to writer's block, how do you overcome it? But it's your first time writing screenplays. What were some of your challenges when you were writing? Tell us your experience with that.
Kathryn: I think if you love doing it, it doesn't even feel like that. I was having so much fun with it that I would just come in with the energy and I would just keep going. And I feel like another thing is that it was obviously my time to myself. Sure, it was just my time. It actually didn't feel difficult, even when I hit a point where I didn't know where to go with it. Sometimes I would write a different scene that I knew was coming up, and I would leave that scene. And then later on, I would come back and fill that gap. So I always just kept going. I didn't stop. There wasn't a big period where I wasn't writing. I really just went from nothing to first draft in three months.
John: Wow, that was three months. Okay, that's a very solid timeline. When you were in those moments, though, how did you get unstuck? So you just did another scene to keep things moving. Did you outline? Did you know what scenes you were following?
Kathryn: Sometimes I had no idea what was coming next. I did not write an outline at the start of what the end would be. I obviously knew that scene I was working towards with the breastfeeding, but I didn't know how I was going to get there. It all just was instinct, and I feel like I was drawing from what I thought it would look like as a movie. So I would imagine what would come after this. If I was watching this, if I was sitting in the cinema, what would I expect to come after this? And what would I expect these people to say if I was watching this as a scene?
Character Development and Revision
John: Let's focus on your characters, right? So you created this Nina character. Now, has she evolved at all from your first draft to the draft we read? What has changed in your early drafts to now?
Kathryn: Originally, I wrote Nina a little harsher than she is in regards to her substance abuse. I had ideas that she would be well-addicted, and I wound that back a little and had her just have a lingering issue with substance abuse. I just felt like it was a little, I think sometimes extremes feel less real. So I had to wind her back a little bit in that regard.
John: Was there a particular scene that you had trouble with writing? Like, it just stands out - man, I couldn't crack it. What do I do here?
Kathryn: Yeah, so the most difficult scenes to write were the ones where there was some healing happening. So when Nina was talking with her mother, and when her mother says that she believes her, that scene, the dialogue in that scene was really hard to nail without being too obvious, too on the nose, and just knowing what they would authentically do in that moment. And the other one was the scene on the pier at the end, where she's facing her father. I think that was obviously the moment that matters the most.
Theme and Feedback
John: Did you write theme? Like, when did theme for you sort of emerge?
Kathryn: I think it was early. It's so much about Nina's emotional arc. I feel like the theme was just there from the beginning. It really underpins everything. And even the littlest decisions seem to still echo.
John: Now, when you had your first draft in three months, did you have people read it? Were you getting feedback at that time?
Kathryn: My husband was my first reader. And I really trust his opinion. I mean, I trust his movie instincts. Like, we both enjoy the same movies and we'll both talk about them after they finish. So I knew that he would give me an honest and valuable feedback. Yeah, my husband was the first reader, and then I just started editing like crazy after he gave me his notes.
John: Did you have any other people read it or just him?
Kathryn: Yeah, I had a couple of friends who I trust. My cousin's an actor. I had him read the script and give me his notes. And so I reached out to a couple of people, but maybe three max. And that was all the people in my life that even knew that I had written a screenplay. I kept it on the down-low. It was a bit like my little secret. So this competition actually made me just blow it wide open. I had to tell everybody.
John: And there's something about getting it out there, which I think is important for every writer to go through. So going back to the first pass, was there a note that you got that dramatically altered your subsequent passes? Like, was there something that someone said that helped you improve the screenplay?
Kathryn: Yes. So I think a lot of things weren't very clear in that first draft. There were major clarity issues, things that I thought came across and it didn't come across. Definitely the rules of the antagonist and that sort of thing. It didn't come across enough. So the first big revision that I did was to just make sure that what I wanted to come across came across.
Setting and Influences
John: You're based in Australia, right? So was Australia an influence to you in this story as you were crafting it? Or do you feel like this can be anywhere?
Kathryn: I do think it could be anywhere, but I definitely picked locations that I had in my head. Everything that I wrote, I could see in my head. So I don't feel like I was creating a fictional environment. I was taking Nina to places that I've been. And actually, when I first started writing the script, I was writing it as if it was an Australian suburban house. Yeah, I was writing it with Australia in mind.
John: Because Australia has some amazing cinema. Was there any Australian horror influences that you had potentially for this?
Kathryn: Oh, The Babadook.
John: Yeah. Oh yeah.
Kathryn: Huge one. Yeah, that's the main one I'd say from Australia.
John: Yeah. What about worldwide?
Kathryn: Obviously Hereditary was another big one. And Rosemary's Baby.
John: I was about to say you've gotta mention Rosemary's Baby. Did you consciously try to avoid what they did in their films to make yours stand out a bit, or not fall into the same choices that they made in their stories?
Kathryn: I think the whole time that I was writing, I was trying to avoid doing anything that had been overdone. But not specifically trying to avoid anything in those movies. Because I was writing it for myself, I was just staying really true to what I thought should happen. I wasn't trying to engineer it so that it would sell. It was just like, how can I make this story cool? How can I make this land? And that was the main goal.
John: I love it. And it does come out. Especially in the imagery, the fly and all that stuff. You were definitely focusing on visual cues and images, which I think was great because there's an eerie sense throughout the whole read, which I think you did a marvelous job of.
The Teaser Scene
John: If you had to film one scene from your screenplay tomorrow and show it to the world to get them on the "Due" bandwagon, what scene would it be?
Kathryn: Oh, that's difficult. I feel like the breastfeeding scene is jumping in too deep.
John: Just get it right away. Let's just show them. Why not?
Kathryn: Maybe it's, I don't know. People like that kind of thing. Like, they like that they're going to see something that's going to shock them. Confronting. But maybe it wouldn't be that scene. Maybe just one of the uncanny valley moments. I like the jam scene where Casey has it in her teeth.
John: Yeah, that's cool. That's a moment that jumps to mind.
Kathryn: Yeah.
John: Yeah, that made me very uncomfortable reading that, by the way.
The Value of Finishing
John: What's a piece of writing advice that you would give to first-time writers?
Kathryn: I think just to get something finished. That is the first step because if you can get it, if you can just get a first draft, then you've got the clay. Yeah, I've heard this somewhere, but you've got the clay.
John: Yeah, and Jordan Peele always talks about shoveling sand in the sandbox on the first draft. Just shoveling sand and don't worry about it. And I love that. That's one of my favorites because it does. It's shoveling sand. Just get in the sandbox and we'll make a castle later out of it. But right now, just get it in the sandbox.
Kathryn: Yeah, and I think there's a lot of things that can discourage you. There's a lot of talk on social media about how hard it is. When I started, because I had no idea how hard it was to get a movie made, but also I didn't care because I was just writing this for myself.
John: You're writing for fun. You just wrote in your own personal time. This was great.
Kathryn: And I think if I had seen some of that, I would have maybe not even done it.
John: Yeah, that's so James Cameron. One of the biggest directors ever said, if I knew the stats of making it, I was so ignorant starting out that if I knew today the probability, I probably would never try it because it's like one in a million or more. So you're right. I think ignorance is bliss, as they say. And it's good that you just wrote a cool story. You did it in your spare time and let's see what happens. I think that's a nice approach because it's less pressure. I think so many writers put so much pressure on themselves to try and get it made. They say I need to be successful. It's just like, dude, write a story. Get it out there. You know, if you have a crazy image when you're breastfeeding, write that movie. I think it's great.
Kathryn: That's so true. And when you've got it in your head that you're planning to sell it, I think that you sometimes make creative choices that are compromised.
John: Oh yeah, you try and play to the market or what's hot now. You should always write what's into you, what moves you, what's that spark?
Speed Round
John: All right, we're going to do a little speed round. This is going to be quick and painless. I'm going to ask you a series of questions. The goal is to answer as quickly as possible. I don't want you to think as much. Just gut reaction. Alright, first question: What are your top three movies?
Kathryn: The Shining, 28 Days Later, and Sixth Sense.
John: Oh, okay. Speaking of 28 Days Later, did you see 28 Years and The Bone Temple?
Kathryn: I did.
John: What do you think?
Kathryn: Both of those were good. I'm like, I don't think anything will ever be the original.
John: Nah.
Kathryn: But they were good. I enjoyed them.
John: They were fun. All right, screenwriting advice that you disagree with.
Kathryn: Oh, okay. Show, don't tell. But not like, I think you can definitely tell a little. I think that's something you can make work.
John: I like that. I agree. I think a lot of people tend to be quick to dismiss any sort of exposition. Everything's got to be visual. I agree with you on that. All right, what's a movie that you wish you'd written? Nothing that you've mentioned so far on this podcast.
Kathryn: Interstellar.
John: Oh my God. Someone else kind of mentioned that. Interstellar is coming up a lot. I love that movie. What's your favorite scene in that movie?
Kathryn: When he's watching the video.
John: Oh, he's crying. Oh yeah. That gets me every time.
Kathryn: Yeah, I would cry now about it.
John: Chris Nolan, I love you. Chris Nolan and Jonathan Nolan.
John: What's a habit that made you a better writer?
Kathryn: This isn't really a planned habit, but I wake up in the middle of the night and then instead of wasting the time just laying there, I use that time and I'm like, "Okay, this is my working time." Then I get to work in my head looking through my scenes and seeing if I can tweak them. But just all in my head in the dark. I used to just waste that time laying there trying to get back to sleep.
John: Now you put it to work. Every minute counts, especially if you're a mother of two. You don't get many moments by yourself. So it's good that you take advantage of the moments when you can't go back to sleep.
Closing Advice
John: Kathryn, any parting advice?
Kathryn: Just believe that it can happen. Believe it. I think, believe it, yeah. Believe that it can happen to you. Why not you? There's no reason why it can't be you.
John: Love it.
Kathryn: And don't let the negative in, I think.
John: That's right. We don't want bad entities entering the house. Spoiler alert. Yeah, that's it. Kathryn, thank you so much. You're a pleasure as always. And by the way, we cannot wait to get going on your movie. So for everyone, we're going to keep you posted on updates regarding "Due" and the process once we get everything going. You wrote an amazing screenplay. Thank you for trusting Kinolime with your story. And we'll see you soon.
Kathryn: Thank you.
John: All right, if you got something out of today's podcast, please share it with your filmmaking and screenwriting community and hit subscribe. It genuinely helps us keep making these. We need them. And we'll see you in the next one.
