Screenwriters from Centraland Eastern Europe could have better

chances of finding a producer to come onboard their projectthanks to the

CentralEuropean Pitch Forum (CEPF) initiative which was unveiled at the Pecs InternationalFilm Festival in Hungary this week.

The event, which is to beheld for the first time in Pecs ina year's time, has been developed by Hungarian script consultancy FadeIn with supportfrom the Motion Picture Public Foundation of Hungary, the local screenwritersand editors guild and several Hungarian productioncompanies.

According to FadeIn's GaborKrigler and Balazs Lovas, the Pitch Forum would be 'open for screenwritersand/or writer-directors who do not yet have a producer attached to theirprojects. Indeed, the prime objective of the forum is to facilitate meetingsbetween talented writers and producers who can help them realise theirprojects.'

The call for projects waslaunched at the festival in Pecs andwill be open to

individual screenwriters and production teams with a projectfrom the newest EU member states (Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Malta, Hungary, Slovenia) and the Balkan countries (Bulgaria, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia).

An international panel ofscript doctors will analyse the submissions - which

have to be at least at first draft stage - and select 12screenplays to be presented in Pecs in 2007 to leading European producers.

The CEPF will be held overtwo days, the first day being devoted to the participants honing their pitchingskills before the actual forum of 12

half-hour pitches. At the end of the second day, the invitedproducers will

award a cash prize and further script consultation for themost outstanding and promising screenplay presented at the CEPF.