Writers' Guild of Great Britain (WGGB)
The UK trade union representing professional writers working in film, television, theatre, radio, books, and video games, negotiating minimum terms and advocating for writers' rights.
Overview
The Writers' Guild of Great Britain (WGGB) is the UK trade union representing professional writers working across film, television, theatre, radio, books, and video games. Founded in 1959, the WGGB negotiates minimum terms agreements with producers and broadcasters, provides legal support and contract advice for members, and advocates for writers' rights across all sectors of the creative industries. The Guild is affiliated with the TUC (Trades Union Congress) and represents writers throughout England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
The WGGB's film and television agreements -- negotiated with PACT and with individual broadcasters including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Sky -- establish minimum fees, residual structures, copyright protections, and credit entitlements for covered writers. These agreements form the contractual foundation for screenwriting work in the UK independent and broadcast sectors.
WGGB Film and Television Agreements
The WGGB/PACT TV Drama Agreement covers screenwriters working on independently produced television drama. The BBC, Channel 4, and ITV each maintain separate commissioning agreements with the WGGB that govern writing fees, format rights, and residuals for writers working for those broadcasters. For theatrical feature films, the WGGB negotiates minimum terms for writers on PACT-member productions.
A distinctive feature of UK screenwriting agreements compared to the US model is the stronger statutory copyright protection for writers under UK law. UK copyright law provides writers with moral rights (including the right of integrity and the right of attribution) that give writers contractual protections even beyond what the WGGB agreement specifies. Understanding the interaction between WGGB minimum terms and UK copyright law is important for screenwriters negotiating UK deals.
UK Screenwriters vs. US WGA Members
The WGGB and the WGA (East and West) are separate organizations with no automatic reciprocal membership. UK screenwriters are not automatically entitled to WGA protections on US productions, and US WGA members are not automatically covered by WGGB agreements on UK productions. International co-productions that involve both US and UK writers may require compliance with both sets of agreements, which requires careful legal guidance to navigate.
The WGGB's credit arbitration process -- similar in principle to the WGA's -- determines which writers receive on-screen credit on UK productions where multiple writers have contributed. Credit arbitration outcomes affect residuals and professional standing for UK screenwriters in the same way they do for US WGA members.
What Filmmakers Should Know
UK producers and international productions commissioning UK-based writers should understand WGGB minimum terms before entering into writing agreements. The WGGB publishes current minimum rates for different categories of writing work, and understanding these minimums before negotiation prevents costly renegotiation later.
For screenwriters, WGGB membership provides minimum fee protection, legal support for contract disputes, access to standard agreement templates, and professional community through the Guild's events and advocacy activity.
See Also
For the UK equivalent of the US production side, see PACT in this directory. For the US writers guilds with parallel functions, see Writers Guild of America, West and Writers Guild of America, East in this directory.
