This year more than 150 professional and non-professional scriptwriters sent outlines for projects starring Romanian actors Anamaria Marinca and/or Vlad Ivanov. Of these 150 scriptwriters, only 31 are professional scriptwriters, while the others do various jobs and are of different ages. Maria Avram, the winner in the feature film category, is only 18.

HBO representatives together with scriptwriter Alexandru Baciu (a regular collaborator of the director Radu Muntean) read the outlines and chose 10 projects for the online pitching sessions, while the third stage consisted of group and one-on-one online sessions with tutors Alexandru Baciu and Ioanina Pavel (development producer with HBO).

The winning projects will receive 1,000 EUR each and professional feedback during the writing process. Their first draft is due on 1 October 2020.

The contest was organised within the fourth edition of the American Independent Film Festival, whose April 2020 edition was postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic for later this year.

In 2019 Write a Screenplay for… was dedicated to the Romanian-born American actor Sebastian Stan. HBO Europe is currently developing the winning mini-series of the first edition of the contest, Uruc written by Alex Molico.