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The Australian Writers’ Guild is heartened by the Australian Government’s recently released Green Paper, which proposes long-overdue media industry reform. The announcement offers a glimmer of hope to a crippled screen industry that has been weakened by evolving consumer habits, inadequate support and diminished production due to COVID-19.
MoreIt’s time to polish off those final drafts and put your best script forward as the Australian Writers’ Guild’s 2020 Monte Miller Awards are officially open for entries! Dedicated to uncovering the hottest new scripts and writing talent across Australia, the Monte Miller Awards are a purpose-built and industry-recognised opportunity for AWG Associate and Student members to have their work showcased directly to industry decision-makers.
In 2019, the Morrison Government embarked on an extensive review of the Australian screen sector under the promise of long-overdue industry reform. Communications, Cyber Safety and Arts Minister Paul Fletcher today announced new local content quota rules for commercial free-to-air broadcasters and shocked the screen sector with a failure to regulate streaming giants such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube and Stan. This proposal does not provide an adequate framework for continued sector growth, let alone one that is future-proof and platform neutral.
MoreSteeped in mystery and terror, Angus Cerini's new play centres around the unsolved murders at Wonnangatta Station in rural Victoria in 1918. Two men unravel a grim trail of violence while searching for their friend and farm manager, Jim Barclay, and embark on a journey, looking for answers.
MoreIn a year marked by uncertainty and upheaval, the power of stories has taken on new and profound meaning. Unable to gather in person, we have instead gathered in shared narratives, connecting across ideas and experiences, and finding moments of joy in film, theatre and television. Yet our Australian stories are under threat, ravaged by years of funding cuts to the screen and stage sectors, competition from unregulated players, and hindered by the current suspension of content quotas and pending government reform. In 2020, there has never been a more important time to join the fight to protect, support and celebrate our industry. In this spirit, the Australian Writers’ Guild is proud to announce a field of screen and stage writers whose work exemplifies the powerful stories we are fighting for, nominated today for the 53rd Annual AWGIE Awards.
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30 September 2020 AWG responds to Government’s screen content announcement
29 September 2020 David Williamson Prize-Supported Wonnangatta Opens At Sydney Theatre Company To Impressive Reviews
25 September 2020 Writers of Hearts and Bones, Acute Misfortune, Stateless, Total Control, The Heights, Prima Facie and Content among nominees for the 53rd Annual AWGIE Awards
15 September 2020 Outstanding mix of Audio projects announced as winners of $20,000 Podcast Writing Competition
29 July 2020 The spirit of Perseverance: Entries open for Australia’s richest sci-fi screenwriting award
16 July 2020 Vale Ken Shadie: A tribute by the Australian Writers' Guild and Paul Hogan
3 July 2020 AWG submission to the Supporting Australian Stories on our Screens Options Paper
3 July 2020 Screen groups present collaborative vision for the future
25 June 2020 AWG addresses Government’s $250m Arts and Entertainment package
10 June 2020 Vale Jock Blair, a tribute by Tom Hegarty
8 June 2020 Oscar-nominated screenwriter Jan Sardi recognised as part of Queen’s Birthday Honours
6 May 2020 Australian Writers’ Guild and Audible announce $20,000 podcast writing competition
6 May 2020 What's Australia's most bingeworthy homegrown film or TV show?
5 May 2020 Vale Ken Methold, a tribute by Linda Aronson
24 April 2020 AWG Theatre Streaming Guidelines
15 April 2020 AWG on quotas, SVODs and the Arts crisis
20 March 2020 Australian screen industry bands together to seek Government support
19 March 2020 COVID-19 update for members: Your Guild is here for you
16 March 2020 Temporary shutdown of AWG and AWGACS office space in response to COVID-19
27 February 2020 AWG response to REĂ consulting review
26 February 2020 $35k in script development for winners of Australia’s top awards for unproduced scripts
18 February 2020 PWA Board releases REĂ consulting review
13 February 2020 High-quality television concepts dominate shortlist for premier awards for emerging writers
11 February 2020 Turn Your Idea into a Screenplay with AACTA Pitch: Regional Landscapes in partnership with Screenworks
13 January 2020 2020 minimum rates and contracts now available on AWG website
11 December 2019 Industry guilds decry government snub to arts and fear further funding cuts
7 December 2019 Significant restructure to the Department of Communications and the Arts
22 November 2019 David Williamson Prize-supported Packer & Sons opens at Belvoir
20 November 2019 Award-winning multilinear narrative experience Eleven Eleven takes home Australia’s richest sci-fi screenwriting prize
15 November 2019 Powerhouse screenwriting projects to be showcased at inaugural industry mixer
14 November 2019 AWGACS Members re-elected to Screenrights Board
1 October 2019 Scripted Ink injects $35k in script development funding into annual Monte Miller Awards
17 September 2019 Screen creatives on both sides of camera call for action on local content
9 July 2019 Entries open for Australia’s richest sci-fi screenwriting award
6 May 2019 Make It Australian welcomes Labor on the way forward
2 May 2019 Talent Camp opens for submissions
15 April 2019 Make it Australian responds to Government extending offsets to streaming services
12 April 2019 Matt Ford wins inaugural Hothouse Drama Program
5 April 2019 Will writers be better off after the Senate Inquiry?
4 April 2019 EU Parliament passes Copyright Directive acknowledging rights of creators to proportionate remuneration
20 March 2019 Judges announced for final Pitch Royale competition at the 2019 Australian International Screen Forum
19 March 2019 Patricia Cornelius wins $234,000 Windham-Campbell prize
15 March 2019 Scripted Ink showcasing Australian writers in the USA
11 March 2019 There is no such thing as a free lunch
7 March 2019 Actors run away with hard-earned Credit
27 February 2019 Winners announced in premier Awards for future of Australian screenwriting
12 February 2019 Diversity dominates shortlist for annual comp charged with unearthing future of screenwriting
11 February 2019 AWG member Tony McNamara wins Original Screenplay BAFTA
30 January 2019 AWG and AWGACS Board welcomes and farewells
24 January 2019 Internationally renowned showrunner Shane Brennan elected Australian Writers’ Guild President
23 January 2019 Aussie screenwriter Tony McNamara picks up Oscar Best Screenplay nomination
19 December 2018 Victorian Screenwriter Meegan May wins coveted RMIT’s McCraith House Writer’s Residency
6 November 2018 AWGACS, AWG and Screenrights agree settlement of dispute
1 November 2018 Sci-fi at its thrilling best: 2018 John Hinde Award winner announced
23 October 2018 Shortlist for sci-fi screenwriting award pushes exciting genre boundaries
18 September 2018 Australia's premier awards for unproduced scripts open for entries
30 August 2018 More than words: dialogue-free animate short film Lost & Found takes home AWG's Major Award for writing
30 August 2018 'Making the ordinary extraordinary': Australian screenwriter Sue Smith honoured with top industry Award
21 August 2018 Australia's queen of comedy (and the jungle) Fiona O'Loughlin to host 51st Annual AWGIE Awards
26 July 2018 AWG welcomes Event Cinemas as a major sponsor for 51st Annual AWGIE Awards
11 July 2018 Participants selected for Australia's first Diversity Showcase
6 July 2018 AWG Members Take ‘Make it Australian’ to Parliament House
5 July 2018 Seeking endless possibilities: $10,000 on offer for top sci-fi script
28 June 2018 AWGIE Award nominees showcase diversity of voices currently soaring in industry
26 June 2018 Vale Hugh Stuckey, a tribute by Patrick Edgeworth
26 June 2018 Politicians hold the key to the survival of Australian screen stories
6 June 2018Vale Tony Morphett, a tribute by Stephen Measday
6 June 2018 Applications open for Talent LA 2018
24 April 2018 Vale Mary Wright, a tribute by Carolyn Gould
10 April 2018 AWG report: More Australian works in 2018, but original voices at a standstill
5 April 2018 Laughs aplenty in sophisticated script from next-big-thing screenwriter
27 March 2018 Big names call for action to protect Australia’s screen culture
1 March 2018 Writers’ big bash finish falls short as actors reclaim Credit
28 February 2018 Australia’s Screenwriting Future: 2017 Monte Miller Award winners announced in Melbourne
26 February 2018 Far Out, Brussel Sprouts!
22 February 2018 Scripted Ink. supporting Pathways Prime writers Ellie Beaumont and Judi McCrossin in MediaXchange Showrunner Week
6 February 2018 Shortlist for premier awards for unproduced Australian screenplays
16 November 2017 AWG announces new online portal to showcase world-class projects to producers
1 November 2017 Rising star of Australia’s sci-fi scene takes home 2017 John Hinde Award for Best Unproduced Script
1 November 2017 Cris Jones, screenwriter of The Death and Life of Otto Bloom, posthumously awarded top sci-fi screenwriting prize
18 October 2017 Make it Australian campaign takes its fight to Canberra
9 October 2017 Vale Moya Wood, a tribute by Peter Kinloch
9 October 2017 Opportunity at just the right moment: Adelaide Film Festival and AWG announce 2017 winner of prestigious INSITE Award
19 September 2017 Make it Australian campaign launches around the country
23 August 2017 100K for Australian theatre: David Williamson Prize set to become one of Australia’s richest literary awards
17 August 2017 Screenwriter Jacklyn Bassanelli wins two-week residency at RMIT’s McCraith House to develop ship-fi series Evergreen
10 August 2017 ‘Voice of Australia’ on our screens: screenwriter Andrew Knight to receive screen industry top honour
25 July 2017 Screen and Entertainment Industry unites to respond to broadcasters’ call to abolish Australian Kids’ TV
4 July 2017 $10,000 on offer for top Sci-Fi script, as new era of popular sci-fi is heralded
23 May 2017 Australian Writers’ Guild congratulates Leah Purcell and Shelley Birse on NSW Premier’s Literary Award wins
22 May 2017 New AWG WA branch office now open in East Perth’s Fielder St Creative Hub
5 April 2017 Australian Writers’ Guild and Adelaide Film Festival launch INSITE Award
28 February 2017 Australian Writers’ Guild announces winner of South Australian What’s the Story? competition
10 February 2017 Former Machine Gun Fellatio frontman takes out Australian Writers’ Guild’s Prime Time screenwriting competition
9 February 2017 Australian Writers’ Guild supports campaign by writingWA to push for greater funding for the literary arts
2 February 2017 Entries open for Australian Writers’ Guild’s 50th Annual AWGIE Awards
19 December 2016 Winners of AWG / Open Channel New Writers’ Script Competition
12 December 2016 AWG Report: More Australian plays being staged, but female writers continue to miss out
30 November 2016 AWG and Scripted Ink. receive Screen Australia Enterprise funding to develop new generation of Australian screenwriters and showrunners
18 November 2016 Australian Writers’ Guild and Open Channel announce shortlist for New Writers’ Script Competition
17 November 2016 Prime Time competition heats up
11 November 2016 AWG congratulates playwright Joanna Murray-Smith following inaugural Mona Brand writing award win
9 November 2016 Screenwriter of acclaimed Indigenous superhero series Cleverman wins 2016 John Hinde Award for Science Fiction
14 October 2016Writers of The Code, Ali’s Wedding, Jasper Jones, Barracuda and Please Like Me among winners at 49th Annual AWGIE Awards
14 October 2016Angus Cerini wins $60,000 Award for Excellence in Australian Theatre at the 49th Annual AWGIE Awards for The Bleeding Tree
14 October 2016 Internationally famous screenwriter Craig Pearce wins Lifetime Achievement Award at 49th Annual AWGIE Award
11 October 2016 Pathways writer C.S. McMullen wins International Emmy Foundation Award
30 August 2016 New multi-million dollar initiative to help develop world-class Australian film and TV scripts
25 August 2016 Agency head slams copyright changes as idealogical and unsound
8 August 2016 AWG works with major theatre companies to strike deal for playwrights
27 July 2016 Australian writers called to help in protecting copyright in Europe
14 July 2016 New $40,000 award celebrates female stage and screen writers
14 July 2016 Screen NSW launches first Amplifier initiative
5 July 2016 Scriptwriters’ fight over unpaid royalties to go to mediation
24 June 2016 Writers & Directors Worldwide pledge support for Australian Screenwriters
30 May 2016 Writers urged to defend copyright
27 May 2016 AWG President pledges fight will continue
27 May 2016 AWGACS celebrates ‘best year ever’
27 May 2016 Boards welcome and farewell
27 May 2016 Pollies under the spotlight in National Arts Debate
20 May 2016 AWG vs. Screenrights legal case update
20 May 2016 New AWG committee starts building bridges
20 May 2016 AWG empowering young screenwriters
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