The Writers' Guild of Great Britain (WGGB), established in 1959, is a trade union for professional writers. It is affiliated with both the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in England and Wales, representing the majority of trade unions. There are 48 affiliated unions, with a total of about 5.5 million members. Frances ...

(TUC) and 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 IAW ...

(IAWG).

History

The union was founded in 1959 as the Television and Screen Writers' Guild (commonly known as the Screen Writers' Guild), the successor to the Screenwriters' Association dating back to 1938. During the 1960s it expanded to cover radio and book writers and adopted its present title in 1966. It sponsored the campaigns of the Writers' Action Group to establish the Public Lending Right and the

Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society The Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) is a British organisation that works to ensure that writers are fairly compensated for any of their works that are copied, broadcast or recorded. It has operated in the United Kingdom since 197 ...

which – starting from a single room in the Writers' Guild premises – has collected and distributed over £100 million in payments to writers for photocopying and overseas retransmission of broadcasts. WGGB also hosts the annual Writers' Guild Awards. In 1997 WGGB merged with the Theatre Writers Union, and membership now stands at around 2,600. Presidents, chairs and leading activists of WGGB have included: Lord (Ted) Willis,

Jimmy Perry James Perry, (20 September 1923 – 23 October 2016)Simon Morgan-Russell, "Perry, James (Jimmy) (1923–2016)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Jan 202available online Retrieved 25 August 2020. was an Engli ...

, Bryan Forbes,

Denis Norden Denis Mostyn Norden (6 February 1922 – 19 September 2018) was an English comedy writer and television presenter. After an early career working in cinemas, he began scriptwriting during the Second World War. From 1948 to 1959, he co-wrote the ...

, Maureen Duffy, Alan Plater, Rosemary Anne Sisson, Wally K. Daly, Ian Curteis, J.C. Wilsher,

David Nobbs David Gordon Nobbs (13 March 1935 – 8 August 2015"C ...

, Anthony Read, Olivia Hetreed and David Edgar, the noted playwright, TV and film writer ( ''Nicholas Nickleby'' for the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

; ''Pentecost'', which won an ''Evening Standard'' award in 1994; ''The Jail Diary of Albie Sachs''; ''

Albert Speer Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as the Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of World War II. A close ally of Adolf Hitler, h ...

'', based on Gitta Sereny's biography of

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

's architect; ''Playing With Fire''; etc.) The current president is Sandi Toksvig OBE.

Activities

It represents writers working in television, radio, film, theatre, books and

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradit ...

. It negotiates a series of Minimum Terms Agreements governing writers' contracts and covering minimum fees, advances, repeat fees, royalties and residuals, rights, credits, number of drafts, script alterations and the resolution of disputes. The most important MTAs cover:

BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

Drama;

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

Drama; ITV Companies; PACT (independent TV and film producers); TAC (Welsh language independent TV producers);

Theatrical Management Association UK Theatre (formerly the Theatrical Management Association) was founded in 1894 as the Theatrical Managers Association, with Sir Henry Irving as its first president. There are however records of the activity of a Theatrical Managers Association g ...

; Independent Theatre Council; and an agreement covering the

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

and

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...

. These agreements are regularly renegotiated and in most cases the minimum fees are reviewed annually. WGGB advises its members on all aspects of their working lives. This includes contract vetting, legal advice, help with copyright problems and representation in disputes with producers, publishers or other writers. Regular events are organised for members. Examples include a Meet the Agents event in London, Television Writing: Women's Work? in Leeds, an exclusive ''Archers'' event in the West Midlands, plus screenings of new and upcoming film releases. The Annual General Meeting features an address by an industry professional/s, an opportunity to debate issues of importance to writers and amend WGGB's rules.

Lobbying

WGGB is a campaigning union and effective lobbying efforts have concentrated on MEPs considering the European copyright directive, and MPs, peers and the media over the Communications Bill and the

BBC Charter The BBC Charter is a royal charter setting out the arrangements for the governance of the British Broadcasting Corporation. An accompanying agreement recognises its editorial independence and sets out its public obligations in detail. The ini ...

renewal. WGGB made strong protests when crowd violence halted performances of ''

Behzti ''Behzti'' (Punjabi ਬੇਇੱਜ਼ਤੀ, ''Dishonour'') is a play written by the British Sikh playwright Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti. The play sparked controversy in the United Kingdom in December 2004. A controversial scene set in a Gurdwara (Si ...

'' by

Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti (born Watford) is a British Sikh writer who has written extensively for stage, screen and radio. Her play '' Behzti'' (''Dishonour'') was cancelled by the Birmingham Rep after protests against the play by Sikhs turned violen ...

at the Birmingham repertory theatre in December 2004, and subsequently revived its Anti-Censorship Committee. WGGB makes a point of highlighting the importance of writing for children in all media. It co-operates closely with other unions including

Equity Equity may refer to: Finance, accounting and ownership *Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them ** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business ** Home equity, the diff ...

, the Musicians' Union and the

Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. , it represents over 12,000 members and ass ...

; and is affiliated to the British Copyright Council, Creators' Rights Alliance,

Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom The Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom was a UK pressure group, based in London. History Originally founded in 1979 as the 'Campaign for Press Freedom' by the London Workers' Control Committee (on the instigation of that body's Secretar ...

and other pressure groups. WGGB representatives attend regular briefings with the Arts Council, Ofcom, the Public Lending Right agency and other national bodies. Recent campaigns include the Equality Writes campaign, tackling inequality in the screen industries.

International affiliations

International connections include:

(screenwriters guilds in the UK, US, Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, France and Mexico); European Writers Congress (over 50 organisations); Fédération des Scénaristes d'Europe (screenwriters' groups in 14 countries); UNI-MEI (worldwide trade union organisation representing millions of workers in the TV, film, media and entertainment industries). WGGB has a reciprocal membership and services arrangement with the Irish Playwrights and Screenwriters Guild. UK WGGB members who achieve TV or film writing contracts in the US can join the

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO * The Writers Gu ...

without paying the usual $2,500 initial fee.

Welfare

The Writers' Guild Pension Scheme provides personal pension plans customised for freelance writers who may need to make irregular and sometimes small pension contributions. The scheme is coupled with clauses in several Guild MTAs entitling members to pension contributions in addition to their writing fees. Over the years the Writers' Guild Welfare Fund has accumulated more than £40,000, which is available to provide loans or grants to members in financial difficulty.

Membership

Full Membership is open to anyone who has received payment for a piece of written work under a contract with terms no less than those negotiated by WGGB. Writers who do not qualify can join as Candidate Members, or Student Members.

Awards

The WGGB Awards were first given out in 1961. The WGGB also awards the Tinniswood Award for radio dramas, which are incorporated into the BBC Audio Drama Awards. The Olwen Wymark Theatre Encouragement Awards, named in honour of playwright

Olwen Wymark Olwen Margaret Wymark (née Buck, 14 February 1932 – 14 June 2013) was an American writer and playwright. Biography Olwen Margaret Buck was born on 14 February 1932 in Oakland, California, the daughter of Philip W. (a professor of political ...

(1932-2013), were established in 2005 by Mark Ravenhill and David James, and are awarded annually. WGGB members are invited to make nominations "to publicly thank those who have given them a positive experience in new writing over the previous year."

General Secretaries

:1964:

Alan Sapper Alan Sapper (18 March 1931 – 19 May 2006) was a British trade unionist. Born in Hammersmith, Sapper studied at the Latymer Upper School, then worked as a botanist at Kew Gardens while studying with the University of London External Programme. ...

:1967: Alan Griffiths :1970s: Elaine Steel :1980s: Walter Jeffrey :1990s: Alison Gray :2000: Bernie Corbett :2017: Ellie Peers

References

External links

*
Catalogue of the WGGB archives
held at the

Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collecti ...

{{Authority control British writers' organisations Scriptwriters' trade unions International Affiliation of Writers Guilds Trade unions in the United Kingdom 1959 establishments in England Trade unions established in 1959 Screenwriting organizations Communications and media organisations based in the United Kingdom Guilds in the United Kingdom Organisations based in the London Borough of Southwark Trade unions based in London Trade unions affiliated with the Trades Union Congress