Screenwriting : Zombie Redefining Book Adaptation by Curt Fulster

Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

So, I'm currently tweaking a screenplay and pitch deck for my recent novel's book adaptation, Martha's Notebook: A Zombie Apocalypse Trilogy, and I've been back and forth on who to reach out to for the book adaptation, so I thought I'd bring my question here.

I believe that my story had the potential to become a big-budget movie, but at the same time I understand I'm not a big-budget writer who can demand that or possibly even beg for it. Do I begin by reaching out to low-budget producers/directors and just let things play out as they do? Do I take homerun swings over and over and hope one of them connects? Or do I just wait for these 2025 book competitions to wrap up and hope my book wins a couple awards, or at least gets a nomination or two to flaunt?

Would love some ideas on direction and where to begin my search. Of course, I would love to connect with writers and directors that might be interested in this type of movie idea, too. I'm going to paste the book description below if anyone is interested in the idea.

"Before the incident, Martha’s biggest worry was her parents’ divorce. Now she’s hiding from a zombie horde hell-bent on annihilating humankind nicknamed “Chippers.”

However, this attack wasn’t spurred by a viral outbreak. Rather, these zombies seem to be puppets of an AI technology gone rogue, and with every day that passes, it’s learning more about how to accomplish its sinister goal.

But why is an AI creating, controlling, and upgrading zombies—and more importantly, how do you stop an ultra-intelligent, world-ending technology that can shift course at a moment’s notice?

Only one thing is clear: there’s no going back."

And no this is not a Shaun Of The Dead type of movie. I envision this as more of a 28 Days Later or The Last Of Us.