A musical satirising the 1975 constitutional crisis has taken home top honours at the Australian Writers’ Guild’s annual AWGIE Awards, with The Dismissal: An Extremely Serious Musical Comedy winning the prestigious $100,000 David Williamson Prize for Excellence in Writing for Australian Theatre. It was the second win on the night for writers Blake Erickson and Jay James-Moody…
Continue readingAn outstanding field of Australian screen and stage writers has been recognised as nominees for the 57th Annual AWGIE Awards, which will be presented by the Australian Writers’ Guild next month in Sydney. Over 80 new works are celebrated from a cohort of Australian writers for stage, screen, audio and interactive. The nominees range from…
Continue readingThe Australian Writers’ Guild has received reports of scams targeting screenwriters and book authors. These can be sophisticated scams that expressly refer to your published work by name, or include details about your work. Scammers may claim to be representatives of studios, streaming services, book publishers or literary agencies. This is a widespread problem and many of…
Continue readingIndustrial contracts and rates available to AWG members have been updated for 2025, and are effective as of 1 January 2025. You can access the updated rates and contracts here. Further industrial resources can be accessed here. Rate cards available: Know another writer who would benefit from these resources? Your Guild is here to support them and ensure their rights are protected. Forward this email…
Continue readingA note-taking training program for First Nations screenwriters What’s the opportunity? Seeding Storytellers is a note-taking training program for emerging First Nations Screenwriters, supported by Screenrights Cultural Fund and Final Draft, and delivered by Screenworks in partnership with the Australian Writers’ Guild. Designed to provide the appropriate professional development required for the role of a note-taker, Seeding Storytellers will…
Continue readingThe Australian Writers’ Guild welcomes the recommendations of the Select Committee on Adopting Artificial Intelligence (AI), including an urgent call for transparency around the use of copyrighted works by AI developers and fair remuneration for creators. The report contains a damning assessment of the “widespread theft of tens of thousands of Australians’ creative works by big multinational…
Continue readingThe Australian Writers’ Guild welcomes the recommendations of the Select Committee on Adopting Artificial Intelligence (AI), including an urgent call for transparency around the use of copyrighted works by AI developers and fair remuneration for creators. The report contains a damning assessment of the “widespread theft of tens of thousands of Australians’ creative works by big multinational…
Continue readingThe Australian Writers’ Guild welcomes the NSW Government’s response to the parliamentary inquiry into AI and its commitment to ensuring the rights of artists are protected. Recommendation three of the inquiry has been accepted by the government, namely “that the NSW Government advocate to the Australian Government for greater protection of the copyright and intellectual property of…
Continue readingSeven Australian playwrights will share $60,000 in prize money following the announcement of the Shane & Cathryn Brennan Prize for Playwriting by the Australian Writers’ Guild today. Two plays were celebrated as joint winners in the Stage category, with Kathryn Marquet’s Aurochs sharing the prize with Steve Rodgers’ The Future is History. The judging panel described Aurochs, an examination of the…
Continue readingThe Australian Writers’ Guild congratulates writers shortlisted for the 2024 Shane & Cathryn Brennan Prize for Playwriting Seven playwrights and their unproduced plays have been shortlisted for the prestigious Shane & Cathryn Brennan Prize. The prize was developed to discover and celebrate the best new scripts among Australian playwrights. The shortlisted scripts were narrowed down over…
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