Interview - Screenwriter Terrance Henry
Terrance Henry is the writer of the competition winning screenplay, THIS END UP:
When a courier picks up a package marked "THIS END UP," he discovers that everyone who wants it believes it contains something different—but what they're really hunting may not be in the box at all.
After the competition win, we spoke with Terrance about the story and the journey to this win.
How did you first become interested in a career in screenwriting?
I've been a storyteller my entire life. My background spans professional comic book writing and extensive game mastering experience, both of which taught me visual storytelling, world-building, and how to keep audiences engaged. Comics showed me economy. Every panel has to earn its place, just like every scene in a screenplay. Game mastering taught me pacing, character motivation, long-form narrative structure, and perhaps most importantly, how to adapt organically when the unexpected happens while keeping the story cohesive.
When I finally sat down to write my first screenplay, I realized all those skills translated directly. The tight structure, the visual language, the need to show rather than tell. What hooked me was discovering I could blend the depth of world-building with the immediacy of film. That intersection became my creative sweet spot.
Who or what inspired you to write this particular story?
THIS END UP was born from a simple question: What if the hero's journey we're watching isn't the story at all? We're at a point where audiences intuitively understand they're being watched constantly via social media posts, traffic cameras, doorbell cams, credit card tracking. What used to sound like paranoia is now just documented reality. What struck me was this idea: what if someone thinks they're just doing a job, navigating a dangerous situation, when actually they're being systematically evaluated by forces watching from above? The paranoia isn't paranoia when the surveillance is real.
The concept came together when I realized I could structure an action thriller that feels like one genre for the first half, then completely recontextualizes everything you've watched. Mason thinks he's delivering a suspicious package and trying to survive the fallout. The audience thinks they're watching a courier caught up in something deadly. But we're ALL being misdirected from the actual story, which is that Mason's entire experience has been orchestrated. At its core, it's about control, manipulation, and what happens when you realize you were never the target—you were the weapon.
What movies or filmmakers would you consider your greatest influences as a screenwriter?
I'm drawn to filmmakers who understand misdirection and structural innovation. THE GAME showed me how to build an elaborate manipulation where the third act recontextualizes everything. INCEPTION demonstrated how to layer reality and make audiences question what they're seeing. SOURCE CODE proved you can ground high-concept premises in genuine emotional stakes while maintaining relentless pacing. MINORITY REPORT blended action spectacle with themes about surveillance states and institutional corruption without compromising either.
I love writers who trust their audience. Christopher Nolan, the Russo Brothers, and David Fincher build complex narratives that reward attention without spoon-feeding. That's the kind of screenwriting I'm striving for: entertainment that doesn't insult intelligence.
How much planning and outlining went into your process of writing this script?
THIS END UP required meticulous planning because the misdirection had to be airtight. I couldn't afford plot holes that would break the reveal. I started with the revelation, the moment when everything recontextualizes, and worked backward. Every scene had to serve double duty: advancing Mason's perceived story while secretly building the real one. I outlined every beat, marking which moments would land differently on a second viewing.
The structure came together over several weeks of pre-writing, but the actual first draft poured out relatively fast. Maybe 4-6 weeks. Then came the hard part: making sure every planted detail paid off, that nothing felt like cheating, and that the action sequences remained visceral even while serving the larger manipulation.
The current draft sits at 130 pages, and every single scene earned its place. Nothing's there just for spectacle. It all serves the story's central deception.
What advice would you give to aspiring screenwriters who are working their first script?
Finish the script. Don't spend six months polishing Act One. Get to FADE OUT, then fix what's broken. You learn more from completing a flawed script than perfecting twenty pages that go nowhere.
Make sure audiences actually care about your protagonist. THIS END UP works because Mason’s frustrations, his determination, his vulnerability all feel real. The surveillance conspiracy only matters because we care about the person being manipulated. High concept means nothing if the human story doesn't land.
Trust your audience's intelligence. Don't over-explain. Don't hand-hold. If your execution is tight and your concept is strong, readers will keep up.
Finally, learn structure deeply before you try to break it. Know the rules, then decide which ones serve your story. THIS END UP works because I understood exactly how thriller structure creates audience expectations. I needed those expectations locked in so I could systematically subvert them.
Is there anything else you'd like to share about yourself?
I'm a genre storyteller who specializes in high-concept narratives with philosophical depth. My brand is "genre stories that entertain first, then blow your mind." Beyond THIS END UP, I've got multiple scripts gaining industry traction: ROTATOR (psychological thriller, currently with management companies), SQUAT (consciousness-swap sci-fi thriller), WHISPERBOUND (animation pilot), and DEAD QUEUE (philosophical sci-fi, currently with literary management).
I come from a storytelling background spanning professional comic book writing and decades of game mastering, which taught me world-building, visual storytelling, and narrative craft. Every project I write explores identity, control, and the systems that shape us, but always through the lens of entertaining genre cinema. I'm drawn to stories that make audiences think without making them feel lectured. Intelligence and entertainment aren't opposites. They're the most powerful combination when done right.