UP! Producers Training Programme announces participants as it expands in the Baltics

Event is the only emerging producers programme in the Baltics.

Helping producers develop their international careers through a programme of intensive training and networking opportunities, the second edition of the Emerging Producers Training Programme ‘UP!’ will return to Vilnius between October 5 th and 9 as part of the Baltic Pitching Forum, the largest short film industry event in the Baltic States.

The event will see leading Lithuanian and international film industry professionals give a series of lectures, seminars and workshops concerning the pressing issues of today’s film industry with a view to giving a new generation of producers from the Baltics the necessary tools to navigate the complexities of the film industry and to flourish on the international scene.

UP! will welcome 15 emerging producers from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – representing an evolution of the event which previously drew its participants from Lithuania alone – all with different professional backgrounds and levels of experience.

Between October 5–7, all participants will attend lectures, seminars and workshops led by Lithuanian and international film industry professionals. They will learn about today’s film industry and navigating the international film market, principles of international co-production, film promotion, sales and distribution strategies.

Following this, between 7-9 October, they will join the activities of the 14th Baltic Pitching Forum, where they will introduce themselves and their projects to an audience of industry representatives, including producers, distributors, sales agents, festivals, and television.

In 2026, UP! was developed in partnership with the European film training program TalentBridge – a series designed to help emerging filmmakers navigate the film industry, powered by T-Port. The head of studies of the training program UP! is Marija Razgutė, one of Lithuania’s most active film producers, a member of the European Film Academy and known for her collaborations with acclaimed filmmakers such as Marija Kavtaradze, Vytautas Katkus, Karolis Kaupinis Andrius Blaževičius, and Amos Geva (Germany) – T-Port TalentBridge Mentor at UP!, producer, co-founder and managing director of an industry platform T-Port.

The Lithuanian participants will include post-production manager Adelija Ribokaitė, producer Leticija Čiužauskaitė, producer and director Marija Stonytė, producer and production coordinator Morta Verbickaitė and producer’s assistant Saulė Žvikaitė. From Latvia, UP! will welcome emerging producers Grēta Grebže, Nikola Ozola, Rēzija Grēta Štrausa and writer-director, producer, actress, and stunt performer Victoria Alexandria Lele. The Estonian cohort includes producers Grete Kaio, Henry Laasalu and Uku Pärtel Rand, producer, director, and screenwriter Jaanika Kozlova, head of development Johannes Magnus Aule and casting manager Robin Marten Leppik.

Throughout training sessions, participants will deepen their knowledge and skills in project presentation strategies, co-production practices, the international short film circuit, and festival and other distribution methods. In addition, they will receive individual feedback, complete practical assignments and have direct consultations with the program’s lecturers. Confirmed mentors are Vanya Rainova (Portokal, Bulgaria), Anne-Laure Guégan (Need Productions, Belgium), Gabriele Brunnenmayer (BPF tutor, Germany), Dagnė Vildžiūnaitė (Just a Moment, Lithuania), Stine Wangler (Kurzfilm Agentur Hamburg, Germany) and Brigita Beniušytė (M-Films, Lithuania).

The full list of selected UP! participants can be found HERE.