08-10-2014

World Screenwriters Sign Warsaw Resolution

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    WARSAW: Representatives of over 30 international screenwriting guilds have signed a resolution that calls for creative freedom and financial support for screenwriters. The Warsaw Resolution was signed at the Third World Conference of Screenwriters that took place in Warsaw at the beginning of October.

    The Warsaw Resolution states that the role of screenwriters in the industry should be underlined and legally protected. Screenwriters should be allowed to work within reasonable time frames that will not decrease their creativity and that financial funds should be allotted for this specific goal in each of the represented countries.

    The resolution also calls for implementing the Dutch model of "one vision", which stresses the need for broadcasters, digital service providers, financial institutions, producers and film studios to respect the creative independence of screenwriters and other artists involved in production.

    "The Third World Conference of Screenwriters is organized in a time of great global changes in the film and television industry. Especially now, when the market is developing, our role as screenwriters is elementary for a film or a series as a whole. Therefore we need to nourish and protect this position because without it the whole structure falls apart", Jacek Bromski, President of the Polish Filmmakers Association, told FNE.

    Maciej Karpiński, President of the Screenwriters Guild of the Polish Filmmakers Association, stressed the importance of screenwriters. "Today's golden era of television and film is happening because of screenwriters. Investing in screenwriters will give them creative and financial freedom that will allow them to do what they do best, which is the key to strengthening and maintaining high quality film and television production that speaks to viewers both in local and international markets", he told FNE.

    The conference which was held from 1-2 October 2014 in Warsaw was organized by the Polish Filmmakers Association in co-operation with related organizations from other countries. The event was financed by the Polish film Institute, ZAIKS, ZAPA, the City Of Warsaw, TVP and Creative Europe Desk Poland.

    The World Conference of Screenwriters with over 560,000 members is currently the biggest international meeting of film professionals focused on the issues of screenwriting. The next conference will be held in Paris in 2016.