Interview - Screenwriter Amadeo Coria
Amadeo Coria is the writer of the thriller screenplay contest winning project, LEDGER ZERO:
When a fugitive hacker steals a financial ledger worth trillions, a haunted federal agent relentlessly chases him into a deadly game of betrayal and blood - and both become pawns in a war neither was meant to survive.
After the competition win, we spoke with Amadeo about the story and the journey to this win.
How did you first become interested in a career in screenwriting?
I didn’t plan this. Screenwriting wasn’t some childhood dream, it came from obsession. This was my first script, and I became absolutely consumed by it. Every day felt like a battle: trying to crack scenes, live with characters, feel out tone. I wanted to quit more times than I can count, but I couldn’t let it go. I didn’t write this because I thought I could I wrote it because I had to. Somewhere along the way, I realized I don’t just love film. I need to be part of making it.
Who or what inspired you to write this particular story?
The seed came from a conversation about power, not the kind politicians pretend to have, but real power. The kind that hides in shadows, shapes outcomes, and silences truth. I wanted to explore what happens when someone tries to rip that mask off. It started as an idea about control, and it grew into Ledger Zero. I didn’t outline it traditionally, the script came to life scene by scene, like it was leading me. I just followed the gravity of the story.
What movies or filmmakers would you consider your greatest influences as a screenwriter?
Sicario was a huge one for me. That creeping dread, the quiet tension, the raw atmosphere , it showed me how silence can be louder than action. I’m drawn to slow burns like The Witch, where you feel the weight of every frame. I respect filmmakers who trust their audience and build unease through mood and realism. That kind of storytelling sticks with you and that’s the kind I aim to write.
How much planning and outlining went into your process of writing this script?
Almost none in the traditional sense. I didn’t have an index card board or a beat sheet. What I had was the story fully formed in tone, in feel, in outcome, living in my head. I knew where it needed to go emotionally, and I built it scene by scene. Sometimes that made it harder. It felt chaotic and frustrating. But that’s what made it real. Every breakthrough felt earned. I trusted my gut, and this is what came out.
What advice would you give to aspiring screenwriters who are working their first script?
Be ready to suffer for it. Because if you’re doing it right, it’s going to break you a few times. You’ll think it’s not working. You’ll hate your pages. You’ll feel like a fraud. But if the story has weight, if it keeps pulling at you keep going. Perfection isn’t the goal. Finishing is. Find the rhythm that’s yours, not someone else’s. And most of all: write what you need to write, not what you think the market wants. The real ones will feel the difference.
Tell us a little more about yourself as a writer
This is my debut script. I don’t come from a film background, I wasn’t formally trained, and I didn’t follow any industry “playbook.” I just had something to say and I forced myself to learn how to say it. My voice leans toward grounded tension, slow-burn thrillers, morally gray characters, and worlds that echo our own. I want to tell stories that stick in your bones.
Congrats to Amadeo on the competition winning screenplay!