The Script Pool competition, established in 2017, is part of Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event film market activities and Discovery Campus educational program. Each year it highlights five international projects and the team behind them—director, scriptwriter, and producer. The aim is to gather film projects with international potential, high distribution value, a final draft in place, and some financing secured.
Focusing on the script and the overall project presentation, the projects and their teams will be presented to the international industry decision-makers (sales agents, financiers, and co-producers) whose contribution will increase their sales and distribution potential.
While taking part in the Script Pool program, the participants will work together with a well-known script editor and pitching mentor. Each project will be able to pitch its story to a top specialist in the field and get one-to-one feedback. As of 2022 Script Pool program has partnered up with International Screen Institute which delivers three tailor-made workshops where participants will get more knowledge about film sales, distribution and festival strategy.
Script Pool Award was given to the most promising project receiving an exclusive opportunity to attend The Write Retreat in Mallorca, presented by Law Firm TGS Baltic.
Winner: Kingpins
Director and writer: Kristians Riekstins
Producer: Alise Rogule
Production company: Mima Films (Latvia)
Jury comment: “We are delighted to attribute the Script Pool Award to Latvian director/-producer duo Kristians Riekstins and Alise Rogule for KINGPINS, recognising an ambitious young team, who are bringing a promising genre project to the market. We are confident the Mallorca Writers Retreat will help them take the script to the next level, to reach its full market potential at home and abroad.“
The winning project was selected by the jury, including Moritz Peters, Director Marketing & Acquisitions at Plaion Pictures GMBH, Fabien Westerhoff, CEO and Partner at Film Constellation and Margrit Stärk, Director Acquisitions & Coproductions Feature Films ZDF.
The Public Favourite Award winner: Fabula Rasa
Screenwriters: Miriam Suad Bühler, Maurice Sinner
Producer: Steffen Gerdes
Production company: Red Balloon Film, maze pictures (Germany, Luxembourg, Canada)
The winner of the public favourite award was awarded with 2.000€ worth of Yamdu subscription credit for any annual Yamdu plan or Yamdu add-on (valid thru 31.12.2025).
Script Pool 2024 projects included:
Backstage - directed and written by Can Merdan Doğan, produced by Erkan Taskiran, Jamila Wenske, production companies: Gustav Film GmbH, Achtung Panda! (Turkey, Germany)
Fabula Rasa - written by Miriam Suad Bühler and Maurice Sinner, produced by Steffen Gerdes, production companies: Red Balloon Film, maze pictures and Red Lion (Germany, Luxembourg, Canada)
Kingpins - directed by Kristians Riekstins, produced by Alise Rogule, production company Mima Films (Latvia)
The Caregiver - directed and written by Miia Tervo, produced by Marko Talli, production company Yellow Film & TV (Finland)
The Queen Of Thule - directed by Ewa Wikiel, written and produced by Paula Redlefsen, production company ScriptDock (Germany, Poland, Norway)
All participants were pitching their projects as part of the competition. The winners of the Script Pool competition's main award—the most promising project—received an exclusive opportunity to attend The Write Retreat in Mallorca, presented by Law Firm TGS Baltic.
Bios of the jury members
Moritz Peters has been in charge of theatrical marketing and acquisition of films distributed by Plaion Pictures since 2009. These include the recent winners of the Palme d’Or in Cannes: PARASITE (2019) by Bong Joon Ho, TITANE (2021) by Julia Ducournau, and ANATOMY OF A FALL (2023) by Justine Triet. Plaion Pictures is also a regular distribution partner of award-winning directors Park Chan-wook, Nicolas Winding Refn and Joachim Trier.
Fabien Westerhoff is the founder of Film Constellation, an integrated production, finance and sales company headquartered in London and Paris. The company specializes in growing award-winning filmmaker brands, and continues to expand its diverse talent slate. A French and German national by way of England and West Africa, Fabien speaks fluent English, Spanish, French and German.
Margrit Stärk studied film in Munich. After graduation, she worked as a freelancer for TV stations & PR agencies. In 1994, she expanded her expertise with a degree in Media Marketing. In 1995, she moved to Mainz to start at ZDF Enterprises. Currently, Margrit Stärk serves as Director of Acquisitions & Coproductions at ZDF Studios, where she purchases & co-produces feature films for ZDF. Margrit is the co-founder of the SI STAR Award, which honours female directors since its inception in 2015.
In its 8th edition Script Pool also continues its co-operation with T-Port, the online short film market. T-Port has supported the selection process and also showcases past short films from Script Pool directors. See more here
The Sky is Pink - directed by Shonali Bose, premiered at the 44th Toronto International Film Festival Gala Screening and is now available on Netflix. The project was the 2017 Script Pool
Monica directed by Andrea Pollaoro, premiered as part of Venezia 79 Competition and won the Young Cinema Award(Best Italian Film). The project was part of the Script Pool in 2017.
20 000 Species of Bees directed by Estibaliz Urresola Sorragulen, premiered at the 73rd Berlinale Competition. The project was the 2020 Script Pool Winner.
In The Belly of A Tiger directed by Siddartha Jatla, premiered at the 74th Berlinale Competition. The project was the participant of Script Pool 2020.
Script Pool Award is given to the most promising project, receiving a 5,000 euro monetary prize by PWC.
Winner: What remains
Director and writer: Leon Yersin
Producer: David Fonjallaz
Production company: Lomotion AG (Switzerland)
Jury comment: “For a script that explores in depth the tragedy of the loss of the father not by destiny but by choice, and the way it can dramatically affect the life of his son, a beautiful and sensitive story that we look forward to seeing in the cinema, the award goes to What Remains by Léon Yersin.
In addition, the jury decided to give out a special mention.
Special mention winner: Rise of the Water Fox
Writers: Elisabeth Kužovnik and Carlos E. Lesmes
Director: Carlos E. Lesmes
Producer: Johanna Maria Paulson
Production company: Stellar Film (Estonia)
Jury comment: Special mention to Rise of the Water Fox, an inventive, imaginative and excellent project – we wish there were two prizes!
Script Pool jury included Teresa Cavina (festival programmer and script analysti), Aleksandr Fomin (Producer at Hype Stuidos) and Sam Taylor (Co-Founder of Film and Music Entertainment (F&ME).
Mirror of Nightingales - directed by Karla Lulić and produced by Jelena Mađarić and Karla Lulić. (Croatia, Romania, Serbia)
This Is It, the Apocalypse - directed by Balahan Gürel and produced by Aysun Karaman and Okan Üzey (Turkey)
Rise of the Water Fox - written by Elisabeth Kužovnik and Carlos E. Lesmes, directed by Carlos E. Lesmes and produced by Johanna Maria Paulson (Estonia)
Casa de Fieras - directed by Eva Saiz and produced by Raquel Pedreira (Spain)
What Remains- directed by Léon Yersin, co-written by Lois de Goumoens and produced by Léon Yersin (Switzerland).
Venus.me – written by Heinrich Sepp and directed by Rene and Carmel Köster, produced by Andreas Kask (Estonia)
Talitha Kumi – writer-director Hadar Morag, produced by Shira Hochman (Israel)
Transparency of Evil – writers Márcio-André de Sousa-Haz and Doruntina Basha, directed by Márcio-André de Sousa-Haz and produced by Julie Arrue, Gabor Dettre, Alexandra Hoesdorff (France, Luxembourg, Belgium)
And Thus It Will Go On – writer-director Marina Palacio, produced by Lara Izagirre (Spain)
Home – writer-director Or Sinai, produced by Adi Bar Yossef, Vladimir Yastenko (Israel, Ukraine)