Georgia film talent to represent Peach State in Hollywood

ATLANTA, June 16, 2006 - One Georgia screenwriter will soon see the bright lights of Hollywood. The eighth annual 'Perfect Pitch' competition will be held at 4:30 pm, Saturday, June 17 at the Georgia State University Student Center, in the Sinclair room. This competition, sponsored by the Georgia Film, Video & Music Office, a division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD), gives local screenwriters the opportunity to pitch their scripts to Hollywood executives. The 10 semi-finalists competing this year were selected from more than 40 applicants, based on a one-page abstract of their scripts. The panel of judges for the competition includes executives from Magnolia Productions and Turner Classic Movies. 'We are pleased to be a part of the Perfect Pitch competition again this year,' said Lee Thomas, interim director of GDEcD's film, video and music division. 'Two of our previous winners had films screened at the Sundance Film Festival this year, which shows what a great opportunity this is for Georgia screenwriters. Perfect Pitch, in conjunction with the Atlanta Film Festival, is a great way to highlight the assets our state has to offer the film industry." At the Perfect Pitch competition, each screenwriter will deliver a three-minute pitch of his or her script. Judges will then choose three scripts, based solely on the screenwriters' pitches, to move to the next level, where they will be read by a panel of industry representatives. That panel will choose one winning script out of the three. The author of the winning script will receive an expenses-paid trip to Los Angeles this winter where he or she will have the opportunity to pitch the script to Hollywood industry representatives. While in Los Angeles, the winner will also attend Georgia Night in L.A., a networking event giving representatives of Georgia's film industry a chance to mingle with entertainment industry decision-makers, past and prospective producers of projects filming in the state, and Georgia-affiliated residents and businesses located in Los Angeles. The films of Georgia screenwriter/director James Ponsoldt, a past winner of the Perfect Pitch competition and Hadjii, a finalist, had their world premieres during the 2006 Sundance Film Festival in January. Somebodies, by Brunswick, Ga. screenwriter and director Hadjii, was one of 16 films selected from 1,004 submissions to screen in Sundance's American Dramatic Independent Feature Film competition. James Ponsoldt's Off the Black was included in Sundance's new Spectrum program, which presented 24 out-of-competition dramatic and documentary works by some of the most promising new independent filmmakers from the U.S. and abroad. Perfect Pitch is one of the highlights and final events of the 30th Annual Atlanta Film Festival, which ends June 17. Sponsored by Turner Broadcasting, the festival is produced annually by IMAGE (Independent Media Artists of Georgia, Etc.) Film & Video Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering independent film and video as unique forms of individual expression. For more information on IMAGE programs visit www.imagefv.org. The Atlanta Film Festival premieres animation, narrative, documentary, student films and videos of the highest artistic quality. The film festival includes both feature films and short films. Over nine days, audiences will have attended more than 150 films and learned about the art of filmmaking from visiting industry experts. The public is encouraged to attend Perfect Pitch, watch the pitches and cheer for their favorite script. Tickets are available at the Atlanta Film Festival or on its Web site, www.atlantafilmfestival.com. The Georgia Film, Video & Music Office is a division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development. Since the inception of the office in 1973, more than 500 major motion pictures and television movies have filmed on location in the state. As a result, more than $3 billion has been generated for the state's economy. In 2005, 261 productions including movies, TV series, commercials and music videos accounted for an economic impact of $145.6 million in Georgia. Visit http://www.georgia.org/Business/FilmVideoMusic/ for more information. The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) is the state's sales and marketing arm, the lead agency for attracting new business investment, encouraging the expansion of existing industry, locating new markets for Georgia products, attracting tourists to Georgia, promoting the state as a point of origination for film, video and recording projects, as well as planning and mobilizing state resources for economic development. For more information, visit www.georgia.org.