Writers Guild of Ireland » screenwriters

EU Agrees Unwaivable Right to Fair Remuneration

Maura McHugh — Tue, 11 Jul 2017 16:03:30 +0000

This a joint press release from FERA, FSE, and SAA on “European Copyright: Parliament committees vote for an unwaivable right to fair remuneration for audiovisual authors.”

Today, the European Parliament Industry and Culture committees voted in favour of an unwaivable right to fair remuneration for authors and performers for the making available of their works. Supported by the European audiovisual authors’ community, such a remuneration right would ensure that screenwriters and directors receive royalties when their works are exploited on on-demand services, wherever in Europe, thanks to its collective mechanism.

The ITRE committee opinion, drafted by Polish ECR MEP Zdislaw Krasnodebski, was adopted including such an unwaivable right to fair remuneration introduced by S&D MEPs led by British MEP Theresa Griffin with the support from across the political spectrum. Drafted by French EPP MEP Marc Joulaud, the Culture committee adopted a compromise amendment with a similar positive provision for authors and performers based on amendments introduced by S&D, EPP and Greens but undermined by a possible derogation for original agreements which would raise the costs and sap the functioning of any collective agreement. Taking into account the weak individual bargaining power of audiovisual authors, such a derogation is not justified and will need to be reexamined.

The SAA encourages the European Council and the lead committee in the European Parliament, the Legal Affairs Committee, to support and adopt ITRE’s unwaivable right to remuneration.

The Legal Affairs committee, will discuss the Copyright Directive tomorrow and vote after the summer. The Council Intellectual Property Working Party held a meeting on this issue yesterday.

Quotes:

Cécile Despringre, SAA Executive Director said “The Culture and Industry opinions sends a clear and powerful message to the European Parliament’s lead committee and the Council. They have recognized that Europe’s screenwriters and directors must be financially rewarded when their works are successful online and have adopted the appropriate provisions to make sure that happens.“

Pauline Durand-Vialle, FERA Chief Executive added “The unwaivable right to fair remuneration received support from across the political spectrum this morning. It’s great to see the European Parliament stepping up in support of the audiovisual creative community.“

David Kavanagh, FSE Executive Officer said “This Directive is a unique opportunity to bring fairness to audiovisual authors by allowing them to share in the economic success of their works online: let’s hope this step forward in the EU Parliament paves the way for positive discussions in the Council.”

FERA – Founded in 1980, the Federation of European Film Directors contains 39 directors’ associations from 29 countries. It speaks for approximately 20,000 European screen directors, representing their cultural, creative and economic interests both in Brussels and in the Member States. www.filmdirectors.eu @Film_directors

FSE – The Federation of Screenwriters Europe is a network of national and regional associations, guilds and unions of writers for the screen in Europe, created in June 2001. It comprises 25 members from 20 countries, representing more than 7,000 writers in Europe. www.scenaristes.com @ScreenwritersEU

SAA – Founded in 2010, the Society of Audiovisual Authors (SAA) is the association of European collective management organisations representing audiovisual authors. Its 31 members in 23 countries manage rights for over 120,000 film, television and multimedia European screenwriters and directors. www.saa-authors.eu @saabrussels

2017 ZeBBie Awards Nominees

Maura McHugh — Fri, 05 May 2017 12:56:25 +0000

The Writers Guild of Ireland is delighted to announce the nominees for the 2017 ZeBBie Awards:

Best Television Script

Sharon Horgan for Divorce (Pilot ep.)
Graham Linehan & Sharon Horgan for Motherland (Pilot ep.)
Stefanie Preissner for Can’t Cope Won’t Cope (Ep. 4)

Best Radio Script

Lucy Caldwell for Dear Baby Mine (Ep. 1)
Rory Duffy for Paulo in the Underworld
Kate Gilmore for The Wickedness of Oz

Best Theatre Script

David Ireland for Cyprus Avenue
Margaret McAuliffe for The Humours of Bandon
Laurence McKeown for Green & Blue

Best Feature Film Script

Emma Donoghue for Room
Peter Foott for The Young Offenders
Darren Thornton & Colin Thornton for A Date for Mad Mary

Best Short Film Script

Graham Cantwell for Lily
Emmet Kirwan for Heartbreak
Natasha Waugh for Terminal

Best Game Script

Kevin Beimers for Wailing Heights
Christopher Conlan for The Little Acre
Barry Keating for Steep

Congratulations to all the nominees!

ZeBBie Awards Ceremony

The 2017 ZeBBie Awards Ceremony will take place on Wednesday, 28 June 2017 in The Sugar Club, 8 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2, and it will be hosted by Senator David Norris.

Doors open at 7.30 pm, and the ceremonies begin at 8.00 pm.

The ceremony is free to fully paid up members of the Guild.

Dress Code: writer chic.

Voting

Voting is now open and Guild members should have received an email with details on how to vote.

Voting closes at 3pm on Monday, 22 May 2017.

About the ZeBBie Awards

The ZeBBie Awards are annual awards created by the WGI — named in honour of O. Z. Whitehead — to acknowledge the best script(s) written by Irish playwrights and screenwriters during the previous year.

Meeting on Equality in Irish Film

Maura McHugh — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 18:14:07 +0000

At 6.30pm on Wednesday, 24 February the Writers Guild of Ireland and the Screen Directors Guild of Ireland will hold a meeting in the Central Hotel (Function Room 1 & 2) on Exchequer Street, Dublin, to discuss the Irish Film Board’s new goals on gender equality in the film industry, and how they can be achieved.

You can read the IFB’s Six Point Plan on Gender Equality which it published in December.

All writers and directors are welcome, however since space is limited you must book your spot in advance by emailing info (a) script.ie to confirm your attendance.

IFB on Gender Equality in Irish Film

Maura McHugh — Fri, 13 Nov 2015 14:27:39 +0000

On Thursday, November 12 the #WakingtheFeminists meeting took place in a packed Abbey Theatre. Chaired by Senator Ivana Bacik, the meeting featured thirty women theatremakers talking about their experiences getting work made (or not made) in Ireland, along with a number of contributors from the audience, and an assurance from the director of the Abbey, Fiach Mac Conghail, that action will be taken to address gender imbalance in future programmes.

The Irish Theatre Institute also released information “on the Irish new play repertoire, illustrating the number of new Irish plays by women presented in the period 2000-2014 and highlighting the statistics for the Abbey Theatre (main stage and Peacock stage).”

On the same afternoon the Irish Film Board released a statement about Gender Equality in Irish Film

Bord Scannán na hÉireann/ the Irish Film Board recognises and accepts that major underrepresentation of women exists in Irish film. The IFB acknowledges that there are many talented women writers, producers, directors, cinematographers, editors, actors, animators and designers out there that are not fully represented either in terms of accessing funding for film or in public recognition of their talent.

Gender inequality is an area of major concern to current board members and has been the subject of discussion at our recent meetings and in a number of external fora, including at the Galway Film Fleadh in July 2015. The IFB is currently developing a new strategy which will declare its strong and heartfelt commitment to gender equality and diversity as a strategic priority.

Dr. Annie Doona, Acting Chair of the Irish Film Board commented “We recognise that words are not enough; actions are needed to address the gender inequality issue. The IFB is concerned enough to act and indeed to take a lead on this issue. Members of the current IFB board are active members of the recently formed Women in Film and Television Ireland and as Acting Chair of the IFB I have been in contact with that organisation to look at what action we can take together to raise the representation of women in film in Ireland”.

The IFB has also engaged in particular with the Writers Guild of Ireland and the Screen Directors Guild of Ireland on this issue and will be continuing to work with them and with the other representative organisations in Irish film. The IFB has been working with the Eurimages Council of Europe co-production fund which has recently adopted a detailed strategy on gender equality in the European film industry.

Dr. Doona continued: “The issue of funding for women filmmakers is an important one. The Irish Film Board is finalising detailed statistics in relation to gender equality in Irish film; it is important to gather and publish this information but we know what the statistics are likely to tell us. The next step is to actively discuss the best way forward in terms of positive action to redress the imbalance including the issue of access to IFB funding. We will be in a position to announce details of a range of actions around gender inequality we are proposing to take in December”.

The IFB will also be taking this issue up with fellow public funders in Irish film including the public service broadcasters (RTÉ and TG4) and the BAI Sound and Vision Fund. It is only by the IFB taking a lead and working in partnership with others that we can find ways to address the gender inequality issue. The IFB welcomes the opportunity to be a key player in addressing gender inequality in the Irish film industry.

It is hoped that these commitments to change will be followed up by significant action to adjust the current imbalance of representation in Irish theatre and film.

Wash Your Eyes talks

Maura McHugh — Fri, 05 Jun 2015 07:13:49 +0000

Dearbhla Walsh, Steven Benedict, and Malcolm Campbell talk heroes.

The first talk in the SDGI’s Wash Your Eyes series of discussions, in association with the WGI, took place last night. The three evenings will focus on harnessing the success of Irish writers and screenwriters, and connecting them with directors with the hope of future collaborations.

Last night Dearbhla Walsh, Steven Benedict, and Malcolm Campbell talked about ‘Adaptation: The Hero’s Journey’.

The topic for the next meeting is The Secret Life of Contracts: Everything creatives need to know about legal issues, and will take place from 6:30-8:30pm, Thursday, 18 June in The Palace Bar, 21 Fleet Street, Dublin 2.

It will feature Colin Kavanagh (Arthur Cox), Birch Hamilton (SDGI), and David Kavanagh (Writers Guild), and the panel intends to empower directors to formalise creative agreements to get that project pitch ready.

This session is valuable for both novice and veteran directors as it explores the complex legal process that directors should understand when embarking on their film projects. Colin Kavanagh will guide you through the steps and challenges necessary to take your project from a creative relationship to a formal legal arrangement.

The theme of the final session will be The Creative Mind: How I tell stories, and will take place from 6:30-8:30pm, Wednesday, 1 July in The Palace Bar, 21 Fleet Street, Dublin 2.

The panelists will be: Lenny Abrahamson, John Banville, Brendan & Niall Heery, Lisa McInerney, Terry McMahon, Paul Murray, Christian O’Reilly, and Carmel Winters.

The discussion will explore why they choose their medium of film/TV making, literary fiction, and/or novel writing. They will also examine the evolving relationship between the narrator and the audience and how this impacts storytelling. Is the medium the message and does the artist pick the medium or the medium pick the artist?

Please RSVP to events@sdgi.ie or contact SDGI at 01-6337433 – this event is open to SDGI and WGI members only.