More than 11,000 members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike last Tuesday, following the breakdown of their negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The WGA union criticised the studios for treating writing as a freelance profession rather than providing fair employment conditions to writers. Closer home, the Screenwriters Association (SWA) has expressed its solidarity with the WGA. The episode has reignited the conversation about writers’ rights. A year after drafting the Minimum Basic Contract (MBC) and holding a round of meetings with leading producers, SWA is set to resume the negotiations with stakeholders. Suhail Anwar, chief operating officer, SWA, says, “We need fairer contracts for writers. Credits are not guaranteed, neither are fees despite having a pay scale.”

The contract will focus on two key areas — credit, and remuneration. Zaman Habib, general secretary, SWA, rues that the fight in India begins from the fact that writers are often not acknowledged. “When a writer is successful, they can negotiate, but new writers are exploited. The MBC will assure them credit and remuneration. We have seen cases where a writer has delivered a screenplay for [as low as] Rs 50,000.”