What Guild members are getting up to

ANNA CLEMENTS wrote the episode of Hollyoaks going out on C4 at 6:30pm on Friday 4th September.

KISHWAR DESAI'S novel Witness the Night" is on the Man Asian Literary Prize 2009 longlist. The novel is scheduled for publication in January 2010.

SIMON FRITH wrote the episodes of The Archers going out on Radio 4 at 7:00pm from Sunday 30th August till Friday 4th September with each episode being repeated at 2:00pm the day following its original broadcast.

ROB GITTINS wrote the episodes of EastEnders going out on BBC1 at 7:30pm on Thursday 3rd and at 8:00pm on Friday 4th September.

JONATHAN R. HALL wrote the episode of Doctors "All That Glitters" going out on BBC1 at 1:45pm on Tuesday 1st September.

MARK ILLIS and CAROLINE MITCHELL co-wrote the episode of Emmerdale going out on ITV1 at 7:00pm on Tuesday 1st September.

PETER KERRY wrote the episode of Emmerdale going out on ITV1 at 7:00pm on Monday 31st August.

JANE MARLOW wrote the episode of Hollyoaks going out on C4 at 6:30pm on Monday 31st August.

NATALIE MCGRATH has been shortlisted for this years Meyer Whitworth Award for playwrights early on in their careers for her play Metal Remains.

GRAHAM MITCHELL wrote the episode of Holby City "Faithful" going out on BBC1 at 8:00pm on Tuesday 1st September.

ROY MITCHELL wrote the episode of New Tricks "Meat is Murder" going out on BBC1 at 9:00pm on Thursday 3rd September.

DOMINIQUE MOLONEY wrote the episode of Doctors "Shadow" going out on BBC1 at 1:45pm on Friday 4th September.

DAVID NOBBS'S radio comedy The Malty Collection continues on Radio 4 at 11:30pm on Monday 31st August.

DEBBIE OATES wrote the episode of Coronation Street going out on ITV1 at 7:30pm on Friday 4th September.

PAUL ROUNDELL wrote the episodes of Emmerdale going out on ITV1 at 7:00pm and 8:00pm on Thursday 3rd September.

CHRIS THOMPSON wrote the episode of Emmerdale going out on ITV1 at 7:00pm on Friday 4th September.

PETER WHALLEY wrote the episode of Coronation Street going out on ITV1 at 8:30pm on Thursday 3rd September.

COLIN WYATT wrote the episodes of EastEnders going out on BBC1 at 8:00pm on Monday 31st August and at 7:30pm on Tuesday 1st September.

UK animation industry under threat

A video report for BBC News explains how tax breaks overseas are threatening the UK animation industry.

Cheryl Taylor is BBC's new Controller, Comedy Commissioning

From the BBC Press Office:

Jana Bennett, Director, BBC Vision, announced today that Cheryl Taylor, currently BBC Executive Editor, Out of London, Comedy Commissioning, is the BBC's new Controller, Comedy Commissioning.

Taylor, currently based in Manchester, will take up the role in the autumn and will remain in Manchester.

She replaces Lucy Lumsden, who became Sky TV's head of comedy earlier this year.

Written By - Aug-Sept issue online

The latest issue of the Writers Guild of America West's magazine, Written By is now available to read in full online.

It includes interviews with Nora Ephron, Nancy Miller and the writing staff of The Daily Show.

Canadian animator wins $5.2m plagiarism case

From Mike King for the Montreal Gazette:

Claude Robinson, a doggedly determined Montreal animator, has won a 13-year-long legal battle against the children's animation firm formerly known as Cinar Corp.

Robinson, who launched a $2.53-million Quebec Superior Court copyright-infringement lawsuit against Cinar and other defendants in July 1996 claiming they stole a cartoon character he created, today was awarded $5.2-million.

Robinson's case was supported by the French Canadian writers' guild (Société des Auteurs de Radio, Télévision et Cinéma) and the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds, of which the Writers' Guild of Great Britain is a member.

Channel 4 to invest extra £20m in drama

Channel 4 said today that it will use the axing of Big Brother for the "most fundamental creative overhaul" in its 27-year history, with measures including an extra £20m a year for drama.

More from Mark Sweney and Leigh Holmwood in Media Guardian.

Film company insolvencies rise

A report by Pricewaterhouse Coopers has revealed that 59 film companies in the UK have become insolvent since January 2008.

Despite the fact that UK filmed entertainment raked $6.6bn in 2009 remains the largest market in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), film finance has become increasingly scarce particularly for independents.

Nick George, media partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, said:

"The recession has sent hoards of consumers to the cinema and therefore large scale, expensive films, such as Harry Potter, remain in production and eagerly awaited. However, due to the credit crunch, sources of financing for smaller indie films have dried up - meaning many plots remain on the story board."

However, with digital technology bringing the costs of film-making down all the time, Nick George says that things should improve.

"The credit crunch has clearly made fundraising tougher for independent film makers but things tend to move in cycles, and the distribution of films like Colin and success of non-mainstream films like Juno and Slumdog Millionaire demonstrate a strong appetite for original, creative work, so in time we ought to see investors returning to the market."

Story via Arifa Akbar in The Independent.

Putting on the skits

On the Writers' Guild website, writer and performer Griff Phillips (pictured, above) explains the ins and outs of staging a live sketch show.

"You can do it - I managed, and I'm an idiot."

Has realism in children's books gone too far?

Former children's laureate Anne Fine has told an audience at the Edinburgh Festival that she is concerned that realism in children's novels may have gone too far, reports Jack Malvern in The Times.

“In the Fifties, when a strong child was dealing with difficult circumstances, there was always a rescue at the end of the book and it was always a middle-class rescue,” she said.

“The child would win a scholarship to Roedean or something, and go on to do very well. That was felt to be unrealistic and so there was a move away from that. Books for children became much more concerned with realism, or what we see as realism.

“But where is the hope? How do we offer them hope within that? It may be that realism has gone too far in literature for children. I am not sure that we are opening doors for children who read these books, or helping them to develop their aspirations.”

Speaking on the same panel at the Festival, Fine's concerns were rejected by bestselling children's writer Melvin Burgess:

“I have had letters talking about the humanity of my books, even when the situations the characters are in are very dark and difficult. Just the fact that they are still making jokes and falling in love. Perhaps the light of hope comes from the reader and not the story.”

TV networks want broader ratings

From Cynthia Littleton in Variety:

The nets [TV networks] are pushing for what's known as the "three-screen solution" -- a single rating that would combine the viewership of programs via TV or DVR, online and by mobile devices. Broadcast execs optimistically view it as a way for them to fight back against the tide of declining audience share for their mothership nets.

There's no certainty that advertisers will pay premium rates for such "cumed" ratings, but nets can't even make the pitch if they don't have reliable data to back it up.

Hollywood directors: white, male and middle-aged

In survey that is telling if not exactly a shock, Michael Cieply in The New York Times reveals the extent of white male dominance over movie directing at major Hollywood studios.

If you are splashing around with a bunch of guys who are 93 percent white, an average of 45.62 years old and look as if they’ve done this before, you must be swimming in the studio directors’ pool...

What the count shows is that Hollywood directors are pretty much what they have always been: a small brotherhood of highly skilled craftsmen — more than 90 percent this year are men — who could hit or miss with any given film, but who tend to have solid experience. This year’s directors appear to have made 6.1 movies, on average — and probably have more in common with one another than with the increasingly diverse population around them.

Guild Awards - call for nominations

Remember, the deadline for nominations for the Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards 2009 is Friday the 28th August.

All Guild members are entitled to nominate in all categories.

Send nominations in any or all of the categories by email to anne@writersguild.org.uk with your full name and Guild membership number. Please make it clear which writers you are nominating in which categories and nominate only one title in each category.

Full details of the categories and eligibility criteria are on the Guild website.

What Guild members are getting up to

SARAH BAGSHAW wrote the episode of Emmerdale going out on ITV1 at 7:00pm Wednesday 26th August.

LUCY BLINCOE wrote the episode of Doctors "If You Love Somebody" going out on BBC1 at 1:45pm on Friday 28th August.

RAY BROOKING wrote the episode of Doctors "Cradle to Grave" going out on BBC1 at 1:45pm on Thursday 27th August.

IAN CURTEIS'S radio play The Last Year is going out on Radio 4 at 2:15pm on Friday 28th August. Starring Derek Jacobi it examines one of the enduring mysteries of the First World War - the apparent refusal of George V to give sanctuary in England to his cousin Tsar Nicholas and, after he had been forced to abdicate during the Russian Revolution.

TIM DYNEVOR wrote the episode of Emmerdale going out on ITV1 at 7:00pm on Tuesday 25th and at 7:30pm on Thursday 27th August.

LISA EVANS has been appointed Associate Writer at Theatre by the Lake, Keswick.

MATHEW EVANS wrote the episodes of EastEnders going out on BBC1 at 7:30pm on Tuesday 25th August.

RICHARD EVERETT'S stage play Entertaining Angels starring Penelope Keith goes into rehearsal in September for a 6 week tour prior to a London transfer produced by Michael Codron. Also in the cast are Benjamin Whitrow, Polly Adams and Carolyn Backhouse. Director is Alan Strachan. From 22nd Sept weekly tour dates are: Bath, Manchester, Richmond, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Cheltenham, Chichester.

CHRIS FEWTRELL wrote the episode of Coronation Street going out on ITV1 at 8:30pm on Thursday 27th August.

PETER FLANNERY wrote the episode of Inspector George Flannery "The Burning Man" going out on BBC1 at 8:30pm on Friday 28th August.

CAROLINE HARRINGTON wrote the episodes of The Archers going out on Radio 4 at 7:00pm from Sunday 23rd till Friday 28th August with each episode being repeated at 2:00pm the day following its original broadcast.

PETER KERRY wrote the episode of Emmerdale going out on ITV1 at 7:00pm on Friday 28th August.

IAN KERSHAW wrote the episode of Holby City "Reformation" going out on BBC1 at 8:00pm on Tuesday 25th August.

LIZZIE MICKERY'S dramatization of The 39 Steps is going out on BBC1 at 8:30pm on Wednesday 26th August. Rupert Penry-Jones stars in the adaptation of the classical novel by John Buchan, set in the days leading up to the outbreak of the First World War. Richard Hannay's life changes for ever when British Spy Scudder barges into his flat with information about a German Spy ring based in Scotland. But when Scudder is killed, Hannay finds himself accused of murder.

ROY MITCHELL co-wrote the episode of New Tricks "Blood Is Thicker than Water" going out on BBC1 at 9:00pm on Thursday 27th August.

DOMINIQUE MOLONEY wrote the episode of EastEnders going out on BBC1 at 8:00pm on Monday 24th August.

DAVID NOBBS'S museum-based sitcom The Maltby Collection is beginning a new series going out on Radio 4 at 11:30am on Monday 24th August.

LYN PAPADOPOULOS wrote the episode of Hollyoaks going out on C4 at 6:30pm on Monday 24th August.

JANE PEARSON wrote the episode of Emmerdale going out on ITV1 at 7:00pm on Monday 24th August.

Corbett criticises proposed film bodies merger

Writers' Guild General Secretary, Bernie Corbett, has criticised the proposed merger of the British Film Institute (BFI) and UK Film Council (UKFC), announced yesterday by Film Minister, Siôn Simon.

"A new, streamlined single body that represents the whole of the film sector will offer a better service both for film makers and film lovers," Simon said.

"There are practical issues which we need to resolve to ensure that this proposed merger brings about the benefits we want without impacting on the work currently done by the BFI and UKFC. DCMS will now work closely with both BFI and the UKFC to deliver a better service for film."

Corbett, however, disagreed. "No one in the arts and entertainment world will believe this is any more that penny-pinching intended to free up a few more pounds to be sucked into the Olympics black hole," he said.

"A merger between these two bodies makes about as much sense as a merger between the Science Museum and British Aerospace," he said. "Will it be this Government or the next one that finishes the job by throwing the fast-declining Arts Council into the same jumble-sale operation?

"Today’s announcement confirms Britain as a nation blessed with extraordinary reserves of talent and cultural heritage, delivering audiences and cultural tourists by the million, but governed by short-sighted philistines, box-ticking bureaucrats and self-deluding economists."

You can read Bernie Corbett's full statement on the Writers' Guild website.

Rivals unite against Google Books

From Maggie Shiels for BBC News:

Three technology heavyweights are joining a coalition to fight Google's attempt to create what could be the world's largest virtual library.

Amazon, Microsoft and Yahoo will sign up to the Open Book Alliance being spearheaded by the Internet Archive.

They oppose a legal settlement that could make Google the main source for many online works.

Val McDermid sponsors football stand

A (probable) first as reported by Iain Collin in The Scotsman:

Fife-based football team Raith Rovers have renamed their north stand after concluding a unique sponsorship deal with best-selling crime writer Val McDermid.

The enclosure at the club, which counts Prime Minister Gordon Brown as a lifelong fan, will now be known as the McDermid Stand, with the author backing the club where her father, Jim, was a scout and signed the legendary Jim Baxter and Ian Porterfield.

McDermid said: "I'm delighted to mark the Rovers' promotion to the First Division with this sponsorship deal.

Tullio Kezich 1928-2009

Italian film critic and screenwriter, Tullio Kezich, has died at the age of 80, reports Colleen Barry for Associated Press.

Tullio Kezich, a prominent film critic for the daily Corriere della Sera who befriended and collaborated with Italian directing greats Federico Fellini and Ermanno Olmi, died Monday. He was 80.

...Kezich died in his adopted home of Rome, where he hung out during the Dolce Vita days with his close friend Fellini, about whom he later wrote the biography "Federico Fellini: His Life and Work."

As Reuters reports, the Venice Film Festival has announced a new essay competition for young Italian writers in his honour.

Michael Frayn's journalism

In The Guardian, Tim Adams talks to Guild member Michael Frayn (best known as a playwright and novelist) about his new collection of journalism: Travels With a Typewriter: A Reporter at Large.

In the introduction to his book - "the closest I'll ever come to a memoir" - Frayn talks about some of the influences that made him a writer, in particular a comment his father made about his first significant essay, "The House I Should Like to Live in When I Am Grown Up", written when he was six. Frayn's reputation for being the smartest man in the room started early: the imagined house in question was not a symmetrical childish affair, but a "boldly art deco structure with flat roof, white stucco walls and long horizontal windows that curved around the corners". "Perhaps," Frayn's father observed, on reading this precocious effort, "you ought to be a journalist."

BlinkBox to show BBC shows online

By Mark Sweeney for Media Guardian:

BBC Worldwide has struck a deal to make hundreds of hours of content from shows including Top Gear and Doctor Who available via the UK online video service BlinkBox.

Popular titles on DVD, such as Top Gear, Gavin & Stacey, Spooks and Planet Earth, will cost users £1.89 an episode to download from BlinkBox, which is still finalising what it will charge for full series.

Other BBC shows, including Hustle, Hotel Babylon and old series of Doctor Who, can be downloaded free but will carry ads.

BBC Worldwide content will only be made available on BlinkBox a minimum of 180 days after airing on TV.

Copyright code of practice revised

The Alliance for the Protection of Copyright (APC), of which the Writers' Guild is a member, has published a newly updated Code of Practice (pdf) to protect those involved in both the submission and receipt of proposals for film, television and radio.

The revised Code aims to encourage the free flow of ideas and ensure that written proposals (including formats, treatments, scripts, outlines, development documents, tender submissions, storylines, artwork and synopses) are treated in a fair and transparent manner.

It also outlines dispute procedures for those who feel their copyright may have been infringed. The latest edition has been updated to include online and interactive content.

The APC Code of Practice was first launched in April 1999 and has become recognised by all parties as a way of establishing best industry practice.

The updated 2009 Code aims to protect and give confidence to those submitting proposals, provide practical guidelines and sets out the obligations of those both submitting and receiving them.

The current members of the APC (BECTU, Directors UK, Musicians’ Union, The Society of Authors, National Union of Journalists, Women in Film and Television and Writers’ Guild of Great Britain) with the support of the BBC, ITV, C4, Five, AETN UK (History, Bio and Crime & Investigation Network, Military History), the Radio Independents Group, S4C and Pact are seeking to encourage the use of the Code throughout the industry. It is anticipated that more digital broadcasters will join in supporting the Code in the future.

In a joint statement Directors UK and WGGB said: “Creative ideas are the lifeblood of our Members’ work. In a competitive marketplace the APC Code offers protection to the vital raw material on which our industry depends: new ideas. We encourage our Members and all creatives and commissioners to study and follow the guidelines in the new Code”