Four Spanish partners are preparing a May launch for their new consulting company abc guionistas (abc scriptwriters) which will offer a range of services related to film and television scripts.

If successful, the company could help streamline practices in Spain for scriptwriters and those who hire them. "Agents for scriptwriters are rare in Spain," says veteran writer Valentin Fernandez-Tubau, co-founder of abc with writer Angel Garcia Roldan, actress Amparo Climent Corbin and accountant David Gonzalez Marquez.

"This unfortunately means that contract negotiations are often done individually, which explains the wide range of contracts out there." As a governing member of Spanish scriptwriters' association ALMA, Fernandez-Tubau has also been involved in recent negotiations with local producers' federation FAPAE to fix a series of minimum fees for scriptwriters.

Script consultations and doctoring, plagiarism follow-ups, legal and fiscal advice, courses and on-line job- and contact listings are just some of the services to be offered.

Others, including translations and assessment of local story elements or documentation, could attract international clients.

A website (www.abcguionistas.com) has already received more than 3,000 requests for information.