The New Zealand Writers Guild (NZWG) is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

which represents writers in the fields of film, television, radio, theatre, video and multi-media. The guild's name in

Māori language Māori (), or ('the Māori language'), also known as ('the language'), is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. Closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and ...

is Puni Taatuhi o Aotearoa. It provides services, events, networks, lobbying, and legal advice to writers mostly in the film and television industry. The Guild is affiliated to three major union organisations, the

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU or CTU; mi, Te Kauae Kaimahi) is a national trade union centre in New Zealand. The NZCTU represents 360,000 workers, and is the largest democratic organisation in New Zealand. History It was form ...

, the

International Affiliation of Writers Guilds The International Affiliation of Writers Guilds is an international trade union federation representing guilds of professional screenwriters and playwrights. Some affiliates also belong to national trade union federations. Activities The IAWG st ...

and the

Union Network International UNI Global Union, formerly Union Network International (UNI), is a global union federation for the skills and services sectors, gathering national and regional trade union. It has affiliated unions in 150 countries representing 20 million workers ...

Description

The Guild's members include most of the professional script writers working in New Zealand. There were 517 registered members of the Guild as of 2 November 2016. The Guild was founded in 1975. It was initially established to set minimum rates and conditions for writers working in television. It has expanded to encompass all script writing fields. The NZWG lobbies government to improve conditions for writers, comments about matters relevant to writers and represents the interests of writers when dealing with funding bodies and other industry organisations. The guild also publishes and provides information and advice to writers. Some of the services offered include negotiating on script credits, advice fo
contracts
with producers
minimum rates for writers
and
script registration service
to help writers to protect their ideas. The NZWG provides members with a weekly e-bulletin. Members are also provided with access to th
NZWG library
which includes film and television scripts, books on screen writing and industry publications from around the world. Full members host their profiles on the NZWG website (updated from Dec 2016).
Script to Screen
emerged from the guild and now operates as an independent entity. Recent successful initiatives include NZWG Seed Grants - providing NZ writers with support to develop scripts, and the annua
SWANZ Awards

Governance and office

The NZWG board is made up of several screenwriters working in the NZ entertainment industry. Board members have included: Pip Hall, Steve Barr, Allan Baddock, Alan Brash, Kathryn Burnett, Andrew Gunn,

Fiona Samuel Fiona Samuel (born 1961) is a New Zealand writer, actor and director who was born in Scotland. Samuel's award-winning career spans theatre, film, radio and television. She graduated from Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School in 1980 with a ...

, Peter Cox, Caroline Grose, Benedict Reid, Alison Davie, Barry Duffield, Roseanne Liang, Mark Prebble, Mike Riddell, D F Mamea, Sean Molloy, and Athina Tsoulis. Executive directors have included: Alice Shearman, Steven Gannaway,

Philippa Boyens Philippa Jane Boyens (born 1962) is a New Zealand screenwriter and film producer who co-wrote the screenplay for Peter Jackson's films ''The Lord of the Rings'' series, ''King Kong'', ''The Lovely Bones'', and the three-part film ''The Ho ...

, Dominic Sheehan and Susy Pointon. The main office for the NZWG is located in the

Grey Lynn Grey Lynn is an inner suburb of Auckland, New Zealand, located to the west of the city centre. Originally a separate borough, Grey Lynn amalgamated with Auckland City in 1914. Grey Lynn is centred on Grey Lynn Park, which was not part of the ...

area of Auckland.

References

External links

NZWG
official site. {{Authority control New Zealand Council of Trade Unions International Affiliation of Writers Guilds Trade unions in New Zealand Scriptwriters' trade unions New Zealand writers' organisations Trade unions established in 1979 Guilds in New Zealand