As screenwriters, we probably all have some variation of this dream—to make a film, and get accepted into a prestigious festival like Sundance or SXSW, and stand on the stage afterward to face an applauding crowd.

It’s a great dream. But how do you create a screenplay, and final project, that stands out among thousands of submissions? 

To add another layer of potential difficulty, what if you’re making a genre film that some might see as overplayed? In this case, what if you make a movie with zombies? 

Since George Romero took us into that isolated farmhouse in Night of the Living Dead, zombies have been something of a mainstay, appearing in almost every flavor of story under the sun.

Except, perhaps, as stand-ins for grief in a post-apocalyptic story following a snarky podcaster.

That’s loosely the plot of Didn’t Die, which premiered in the Midnight section at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

Co-written and directed by Meera Menon, the film follows Vinita (Kiran Deol), a podcast host working during the zombie apocalypse while clinging to a thinning audience. 

Rather than following traditional zombie tropes, Menon and co-writer Paul Gleason created something more intimate and smaller in scale—a quiet meditation on loss, survival, and finding meaning at the end of the world.

Menon is an experienced writer/director, whose work as director includes episodes of Westworld, Ms. Marvel, For All Mankind, The Terror, and even The Walking Dead (hey!). As a writer, her experience is in shorts and indies. 

What’s interesting about her team’s approach is the film’s unconventional development. Working from a 40-page script, they built scenes through actor collaboration and on-set improv.

We talked with Menon about her writing process to uncover insights for screenwriters who want to play in established genres. She suggests that sometimes the best path forward isn’t following traditional rules. It might be more important to find your voice, and stick to it.

Final Draft: You talk about the film coming from a place of experiencing a lot of loss and catastrophe. What do you think is so therapeutic or cathartic about writing from these experiences?

Meera Menon: It’s interesting because we made the film before experiencing a lot of loss recently. I think we wrote it from a place of fear and a search for answers. 

Our movie has a lot of ideas batting around, and the script was developed in conversation with the actors. We asked ourselves, “What would you hold onto if the entire world around you fell apart?” Unfortunately we find ourselves asking that question too often these days. 

Final Draft: What came first—the zombie story or the podcast host character? How did you develop the initial idea?

Menon: The initial concept was to make a more character focused, meditative film set in the zombie apocalypse. We were very explicitly not looking to make a horror film, but rather, use the world to tell more of a ghost story, about living with the dead. 

So the zombie story came first, and we felt that Kiran would be a dynamic hero at the center of the story, one who could carry the microphone quite literally. 

Final Draft: You co-wrote the film with Paul Gleason. Could you describe your collaborative writing process?

Menon: Paul and I wrote an outline for the film that we gradually fleshed out with the actors. We held Zoom sessions with them in various groups to fill out their backstories and then let them largely improvise on set. 

The entire process was very quick, very collaborative, very iterative. We wrote the first outline in September and were shooting in December. 

Final Draft: The film is described as a dramedy. What’s your advice for finding that tone on the page?

Menon: For me, this film was an experiment. The story navigates a journey through grief, and that is not a linear journey. One moment you are crying, the next laughing hysterically. I deliberately wanted to switch track between humor, dread, and poignancy because I feel like that is the journey that grief takes you on. 

So I think tone is all about intention. And as long as your intention is clear, you can go anywhere you want. 

Final Draft: The press notes mention you worked from a 40-page script. What made you decide to keep the script shorter and leave room for improvisation?

Menon: I wanted to keep a light foot because we made this film quite quickly, with so few resources and the smallest of crews. Being loose with a script allowed us to make choices based on what worked, and not what the script was dictating. 

You have to be open to the moment, always, but especially when the fun of the moment is your only and primary resource. 

Final Draft: What’s your daily writing routine like when you’re working on a screenplay?

Menon: I’m a morning person, so it’s usually 3-4 hours at my computer in the morning and then a lot of watching other movies in the afternoon. 

Final Draft: What was the biggest writing challenge you faced with this project?

Menon: I did not want to make a horror film, but rather, a story about family, loss and finding meaning in the zombie apocalypse. 

As such, the flow of the movie was always going to be something crafted through feeling, and less through conventional structure. Making people okay with our approach in this genre will be a challenge, but one I am excited about as I think the zombie world is under-explored in terms of tone and genre.

Final Draft: What advice would you give to writers working on their first feature screenplay?

Menon: Don’t be afraid to get weird. 

Final Draft: Do you have any advice for getting a film into Sundance?

Menon: I don’t, other than sticking to your guns. I think Sundance is still a place that appreciates truly unique voices, and the only way to stand out is to be yourself.