WRITERS GUILD OF FINLAND
SUOMEN NÄYTELMÄKIRJAILIJAT JA KÄSIKIRJOITTAJAT – FINLANDS DRAMATIKER OCH MANUSFÖRFATTARE RY
Executive Director Timo Enroth
Administration, contract negotiations
Email: timo.enroth (at) sunklo.fi
Telephone: +358 40 719 6990
Originally founded by a group of writers, the Writers Guild of Finland has been in active operation since 1921. Today the guild comprises over 600 members who work as professional script writers for stage, film, television, radio and new media. Both Finnish and Swedish speaking authors are represented by the guild.
Writers Guild of Finland (formerly The Finnish Dramatists’ Union) protects the professional, copyright and financial interests of its individual members, and handles the rights of properties owned by other controlling bodies such as estates. In addition to negotiating and issuing contracts, we develop codes of practice in co-operation with theatres, television channels and producers. We also work closely with various artistic, copyright and public affairs organisations in order to further the aims of professional writers.
The guild maintains a library of plays by Finnish authors. We disseminate plays and handle performance contracts directly and in partnership with other players in the field.
Over the years, and alongside the evolution of new forms of media, the main purpose of the Writers Guild of Finland has remained largely unchanged: our goal is still to serve the needs of Finnish authors and to promote Finnish drama.
We are awarding the most significant domestic prize for plays and two prizes for scripts
Since 1985, The Writers Guild of Finland has awarded the Lea prize for a play which has premiered in a Finnish professional theater. The Lea prize is the most significant award given for drama in Finland, by which the union wishes to acknowledge new high-quality contemporary drama. Many notable Finnish playwrights have received the Lea prize and their plays are repeatedly seen on both domestic and international stages.
The Lea prize was last awarded in 2022, when it was won by Leea Klemola’s and Rosa Maria Perä’s dramacomedy “Minä, askartelija”. Among the finalists were a diverse group of domestic high-quality plays: ”Onnellisinta on olla onnellinen” by Taija Helminen, ”Poikakoodi” by Kati Kaartinen and ”fyra dagar av närhet” by Pipsa Lonka (translation into Swedish by Sofia Aminoff).
We are also awarding two prizes for scripts. The union awards the Sylvi prize for both movie and series scripts premiering during the year. Finnish series scripts and productions have been on a significant rise abroad in the past few years, and the Writers Guild of Finland wants to be a part of supporting and elevating the presence of domestic script writing. In order to support the rising talent among script writers, the union started to award the Sylvi prize also for series script writing in 2021.
The Sylvi prize was last awarded in 2022, and it was won by “Tytöt tytöt tytöt” by Daniela Hakulinen and Ilona Ahti for best movie script writing and “Transport” by Auli Mantila for best series script writing.
BOARD
Chair
Katri Myllyniemi
Board Members
Anna Brotkin
Iira Halttunen
Lauri Jänis
Marie Kajava
Timo Lehti
Markus Leikola
Petja Peltomaa
Kirsi Porkka
Jenni Toivoniemi
Secretary
Timo Enroth
Contact:
Suomen Näytelmäkirjailijat ja Käsikirjoittajat – Finlands Dramatiker och Manusförfattare ry
Mailing address: Agricolankatu 4 LH 46 – 48, 00530 Helsinki, Finland
Email: info (at) sunklo.fi
Are you a playwriter or a screenwriter based in Finland? – Apply for membership!
Membership criteria
A person is eligible for full membership in the union when they have written either:
a. one long or two short plays that have been performed in a Finnish professional theater or have been otherwise professionally produced
b. one long or two short radio plays performed by Radioteatteri
c. one long or two short fictional drama-based separate programs, two parts of a mini-series or three parts of a long-form series that have been broadcasted on national television in Finland or have otherwise been professionally distributed
d. one long or two short publicly presented and professionally produced fictional movie scripts
e. fictional and sufficiently extensive drama script, publicly produced, performed by professionals for another artistic medium (multimedia, opera, online piece, other drama works)
A person may be accepted for full union membership via application who in accordance with sections a-e would be ineligible, but whose activity otherwise fulfills the requirements set for professional drama writing.
People who are studying or have studied writing drama-based scripts may be accepted via application as trial members, if the person in question is studying in tertiary education and majoring in script writing or dramaturgy, or if the person has a tertiary education degree from either one of the two subjects mentioned. The trial period may last up to eight years. The trial members are ineligible to vote in annual meetings.
Members are accepted by the union board.
Membership benefits
Writers Guild of Finland provide, for example, legal and consulting support and other trusteeship. With our membershipcard you get discounts from theatres in Finland. We also offer workroom scholarships, newsletters, seminars, writer’s sauna slot etc.
Don’t hesitate to ask more about the membership benefits!
Membership obligations
Full members and customer members 120€ and trial members 60€ per year. You can also apply for a trial membership if you are a writer student.
Click here for the electronic membership application (in Finnish).