Shhh. If you’re down in L.A. next month don’t tell anyone that Signe Olynyk is from Canada. It might not go over too well, she admits, given the political mood in Hollywood these days, that the organizer of The Great American PitchFest is, in fact, about as American as maple syrup and affordable tuition.

‘I don’t want to draw a lot of attention to that,’ she laughs.

Olynyk, a producer from Alberta, has teamed with the American Screenwriters Association to run a one-day pitch fest, Jan. 31, at the Los Angeles Convention Center, exporting an event she put together with some success at last year’s Banff Television Festival. Some 100 reps from nearly as many top companies – DreamWorks, Lightstorm Entertainment, Out of the Blue – will hear ideas for movies and TV shows, including features, docs, reality, kids shows and game shows. It is billed as the largest event of its kind ever held and, adds Olynyk, is the best organized.

‘I’ve been going to pitch fests in L.A. for a few years. They’re a great idea but they’re not done very well. Like you only get five meetings – they don’t tell you that till you go there – or they were very expensive. And I’ve never been to one that was well organized. Usually there’s mass chaos,’ she says. Schedules quickly fall apart, decision makers don’t show up, and everyone just gets angry and frantic. ‘I thought there’s got to be a better way to do it.’

At her fests, each company has a table and hopefuls line up wherever they want, waiting for a strictly timed five minutes of face time with the rep. At Banff, writers got dozens of meetings and made a lot of valuable contacts, she says. Olynyk is working on similar fests for the U.K., Australia and other countries.

-www.pitchfest.com