Δελτίο Τύπου για το 2ο Παγκόσμιο Συνέδριο Σεναριογραφίας και Επιστολή ΕΣΕ
22 October 2012, BRUSSELS — Building on the success of its 2009 event in Athens, Greece, screenwriters from around the globe will meet in Barcelona, Spain on November 9 and 10, 2012 to discuss changes to their craft and the business of film and television.Organized by the Federation of Screenwriters in Europe (FSE), in conjunction with the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds (IAWG) and Foro de Asociaciones de Guionistas del Audiovisual (FAGA), the Second World Conference of Screenwriters will feature speakers on the cutting edge of new technologies and some of the most creative minds working in film and television, online and branded content, immersive and transmedia entertainment.“The new global space holds exciting opportunities for creators and, admittedly, many challenges too,” says FSE president, screenwriter Christina Kallas.
“The second World Conference of Screenwriters will bring leading figures from around the world to discuss all aspects that play a role in defining the way professional writers and their organizations can position themselves in relation to our changing world. WCOS2.0 will formulate a vision.” “In a market more and more dependent on international co-productions, and a borderless internet, it’s essential for writers to share information on what is happening in each other’s jurisdiction,” says Sylvie Lussier, screenwriter and IAWG policy and research group chair.Together, the three groups represent approximately 50,000 writers from Europe, North America, Mexico, India, Israel and New Zealand. The organizers also hope to attract delegates from emerging film industries in South America, Asia and Africa.The conference is sponsored by generous donations from the Spanish collecting societies Derechos de Autor de Medios Audiovisuales (DAMA) and Sociedad General de Autores y Editores (SGAE).
For interviews, please contact: La Costa comunicació Contact:
Sandra Costa Phone: 93 412 54 79 / 93 310 38 88
E-mail: sandra@lacosta.cat
Website: http://www.lacosta.cat
For updates and speaker bios please visit our blog: wcos2012.wordpress.com
CONFIRMED SPEAKERS (ALPHABETICAL)
Philippe Aigrain (France) CEO of Sopinspace and co-founder of La Quadrature du Net
Nicolás Alcalá (Spain) producer, director, screenwriter, and founder of Riot Cinema Collective
Pablo Hernández Arroyo (Spain) legal manager of Sociedad General de Autores y Editores (SGAE)
Bernie Corbett (UK) general secretary, Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB)
Andrea Gibb (UK) screenwriter, member of the Writers Guild of Great Britain’s film committee
Jill Golick (Canada) writer-entrepreneur, Ruby Skye PI and president, Writers Guild of Canada (WGC)
Enric Gomà (Spain) screenwriter, board member of Sociedad General de Autores y Editores (SGAE)
Rubén Gutiérrez del Castillo (Spain) studies and research coordinator at Fundación Autor
Professor Peter Henning (Germany) board member, Verband Deutscher Drehbuchautoren (VDD/German Writers Guild)
Kristin Jones (USA) chief creative officer at Vuguru
Christina Kallas (Germany/USA) screenwriter and president of Federation of Screenwriters in Europe (FSE)
David Kavanagh (Ireland) CEO, Writers' Guild of Ireland (WGI); executive officer, Federation of Screenwriters in Europe (FSE)
Christopher Keyser (USA) screenwriter and president, Writers Guild of America, West (WGAw)Jamie King (UK) founder and CEO, VODO free-to-share content
Paul Kontonis (USA) digital media strategist and chairman of the board of the International Academy of Web Television Claire Lemarechal (France) scriptwriter, board member, La Guilde Française des Scénaristes
Susin Lindblom (Sweden) managing director, Writers Guild of Sweden
Sylvie Lussier (Canada/Quebec) screenwriter, IAWG policy and research group chair, SARTEC president
Susan Miller (USA) writer/producer Anyone But Me
Inés Paris (Spain) screenwriter, film directorLowell Peterson (USA) executive director, Writers Guild of America, East (WGAe)
Michel Reilhac (France) executive director of ARTE France Cinéma and head of acquisitions for Cinema with ARTE FranceHenrique Rivadulla (Spain) president of Foro de Asociaciones de Guionistas del Audiovisual (FAGA)
Hans Rosenfeldt (Sweden) creator and head-writer of the TV series Bron/Broen (The Bridge) Liz Rosenthal (UK) founder and CEO of Power to the Pixel
Charles B. Slocum (USA) assistant executive director, Writers Guild of America, West (WGAw)
Virginia Yagüe (Spain) screenwriter, vice-president, Derechos de Autor de Medios Audiovisuales (DAMA)
Timo Vuorensola (Finland) director/producer Iron Sky
Andrew S. Walsh (UK) award-winning game and screenwriter David Young (USA) executive director, Writers Guild of America, West (WGAw)
Επιστολή της Ένωσης Σεναριογράφων Ελλάδος προς την FSE
Dear colleagues,
Unfortunatelly, in this General Assembly of the FSE, one of its fοunding members,the Scriptwriters’ Guild of Greece, is absent against its will. We believe you should beinformed about the reasons why.
In Greece, the profession of the scriptwriter has mostly been connected with nationalTV production. In contrast to Greek cinematography (meager in terms of production,mainly government-funded and, to a great extend, a victim of a poorly assimilatedmodel of the “auteur theory”), television has indeed offered scriptwriters theopportunity to work and reach wide audiences, until recently. The advent of privatetelevision since the late ‘80s had multiplied the need for TV series and shows leadingto a boom in national production. Thus the majority of the members of our Guild hadbeen scriptwriters who worked and made a living by writing for Greek television.
Over the last few years however, due to the well-known economic crisis, theconditions in TV production have changed rapidly. The sudden fall of TV advertising(about a 65% drop so far) has led private TV channels to a dramatic shrinkageof their programmes, sacrificing primarily the relatively “expensive” form of theTV series and telemovies (with “costly” scripts, actors, sets, rehearsals, etc). As aresult, a variety of low budget talk shows, gameshows, reruns and foreign series(mostly turkish soaps and american series), all considered cheaper or less riskyinvestments, have taken over. Public television on the other hand, although it’s theonly broadcaster with a surplus, didn’t fund any new TV series last year, while thingsdon’t look any better this year either.
Under the present economic crisis in Greece, the profession of the scriptwriter isthreatened to become extinct. Our fellow colleagues in the guild, jobless or underpaid,can’t even afford to pay their membership fees (though we have lowered them to 36€per year), there are hardly any new members signing up anymore, and the Ministryof Culture has cut back any economic support to the guilds. Television thereforeremains essentialy without any contemporary domestic fictional content, whilefilm production, scruggly and usually poorly paid, is not sufficient to maintain ourcolleagues in the field.
We honestly hope and pursue that this crisis in our profession will be over soonand that national production of script-based content will come back to life. In themeanwhile, we would like to send our greetings to all the FSE fellow members and towish that they continue their significant struggle for the protection of our rights andthe reinforcement of our presence on a global scale.
Best regards,
Scriptwriters’ Guild of Greece
Yannis Maroudas (representative)
Ενημέρωση: 05-11-2012
