Australian Writers' Guild

09/06/2026

First Break NSW finished up over the weekend, with the group learning the ins and outs of a writers' room.

The writers’ room is where writers pitch ideas, brainstorm, break down the scenes, create characters and write first drafts. In order to succeed, it’s crucial to understand how a writers’ room works - who does what and when. This workshop covered character development, plotting, dialogue and the all-important social etiquette of a writers’ room.

All 15 of our First Break NSW graduates are now available for hire for your writers' rooms: https://www.awgpathways.com.au/screenwriters/?_sft_writer-type=first-break

First Break NSW is made possible with support from Screen NSW.

01/06/2026

Why we're asking for a pony in our National Cultural Policy submission (as well as AI regulation, a no-cost jurisdiction for creators, an emergency relief package for creators funded by an interim AI levy, fair pay and working conditions, a review of offsets to prioritise local IP, superannuation awareness, a 2-year review of streaming legislation and more).

AWG and AWGACS CEO Claire Pullen runs Inside Film Magazine through our submission to the National Cultural Policy.

Read the full article here:

Throughout the Australian Writers’ Guild’s (AWG) submission to the National Cultural Policy, there are directives advising against any summarisation, quotation, extracting, or referencing of any information from the body of the document. At the end, there is an instruction that the AWG and Austr...

01/06/2026

First Break NSW returned for a second week on Saturday, with our brilliant cohort learning all about script coordinating with Terence McCarthy.

During the filming of a television show or movie, the script is constantly evolving. A script coordinator monitors these changes and makes the appropriate revisions for each version of the script. In this workshop, they learnt what a script coordinator does, how a production office works and how a script coordinator operates within it. They also ran through the basics of Final Draft.

Our First Break NSW 2026 cohort - Alexia Attwood, Sarah Carroll, Andrew Emmerson, Ella Fraser, Rain Fuller, Hannah Grace Fulton, Thea Jade, Nick Kapetanios, Maya Khadem Skidmore, Lianne Mackessy, Cassie Matheson, Miranda Michalowski, Inez Playford, Tresa Ponnor, and Lachlan Shaw.

First Break NSW is made possible with support from Screen NSW.

29/05/2026

“It’s like taking a book without paying for it while robbing the worker before getting them sacked. The AI companies have this appalling, unfair advantage because they’re stealing from the people they’re trying to replace.”

AWG's Claire Pullen and AWG members and screenwriters Jacquelin Perske, Louise Fox and Stuart Page, speak with Michael Lallo about the creep of AI into screenwriting and why they don't buy the argument that an AI takeover of creative industries is inevitable.

Read the full article here:

From Hacks and Morning Wars to The Comeback, TV writers are taking aim at a common foe.

27/05/2026

Ahead of our Lunch Break session with Suzie Miller and Melanie Tait next Wednesday, check out this fantastic interview with Suzie on her move to London, the UK and Australia theatre scenes, and why funding is integral to a thriving industry.

AWG members, if you haven't already booked your ticket for next week's webinar, make sure you do! It's one not to miss.

Read the full interview here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-23/the-interview-playright-suzie-miller-risky-path/106701766?

In 2009, Suzie Miller had a choice between becoming a magistrate in Australia or a residency at the National Theatre in London.

27/05/2026

Copyright and artificial intelligence (AI) are the focus of international conversations lately, with AWG Executive Director Claire Pullen in Geneva last week for the World Intellectual Property Organisation conference discussing copyright and related rights for creatives.

Next week, Claire heads to Paris to represent AWG and AWGACS at the Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC ) General Assembly. CISAC celebrates 100 years in 2026, and now represents more than 5 million creators through 227 member societies in 111 countries.

26/05/2026

Fantastic to see three new Australian kids' series hitting our screens soon. Congratulations to the writers on these projects including Caitlyn Staples and Millie Holten (Worm Diner), Darcy Prendergast and Josie Mackerras (Pit Pats) and Nicholas Lin (MAHOG MONKEY MAYHEM).

Three original Australian children’s series will soon be released on YouTube (Made For Kids) supported by Kids IP Incubator, a Screen Australia and Australian Children's Television Foundation (ACTF) initiative to develop Australian IP for children’s programs on digital platforms 🎉 The projects, Worm Diner, Pit Pats and Magic Monkey Mayhem, will launch their YouTube channel in the coming weeks 👏

🔗 Find out more: https://bit.ly/3Q2e2nR

26/05/2026

Congratulations to the writers of the three projects shortlisted for the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA)'s Regional Landscapes program:

▪️ Theo Clarke for 'Good Bones'
▪️ Agatha Ozdowska for 'Happy'
▪️ Angela Collins and Adam Deusien for 'The Grub'

The Australian Writers' Guild is a proud sponsor of the competition, which will see the winning writer receive script development sessions, mentorship from the judging panel, industry connections through the AWG's Pathways program, and memberships to AACTA, Screenworks and the AWG.

Read more about the finalists here:

A Northern Rivers gothic horror, an animated adventure through the Blue Mountains, and a superhero story set in Newcastle will contest this year's AACTA Pitch: Regional Landscapes program.

26/05/2026

Organisations representing Australia’s creative and content industries across the music, screen, literature, publishing, visual arts and news media sectors, including the Australian Writers' Guild, have sent a clear message to the Australian Government: hold the line on AI.

Read the full article here:

Australia’s premier news media companies, along with leading voices from the creative arts sectors, are concerned the federal government’s commitment to protecting local copyright laws is weakening in the face of sustained pressure from global AI platforms.

25/05/2026

We're delighted to be supporting 10 of Australia's finest screenwriters for children's television to attend this year's Australian Children's Content Summit in August.

"Centring writers in conversations with producers, broadcasters and industry partners is an invaluable opportunity and one of the many reasons this summit grows from strength to strength each year. It is a unique and much-needed forum for the children’s television industry,” said AWG Director of Professional Development Susie Hamilton.

This opportunity is made possible with the support of Scripted Ink.

Read more here:

10 award-winning and nominated writers to attend annual Children's summit thanks to funding from Scripted Ink initiative.