The Screenwriters Association (SWA) will be participating in the Annual General meeting of the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds (IAWG) being held in London, from October 7-9.

IAWG is a collective of all the major writers guilds from across the world, helping them in the areas of collective bargaining, standard contracts, credit disputes, government lobbying, and the promotion of the essential role of the writer as the first creator in the filmmaking process.

SWA, which has a membership of nearly 30 thousand, achieved international recognition when it was invited to be a full member of the core committee of IAWG in 2013.

Screenwriter Jyoti Kapoor, who is the Vice President of SWA, will be representing it at the AGM this year. Kapoor has co-written films like 'Badhai Ho', 'Dawat-e-Ishq' & 'Kaccha Limboo' and is the writer of upcoming film 'Good News'.

`It's a privilege to represent SWA at this very prestigious gathering, sharing the stage with the most powerful writers guilds of the world. Across the globe, screenwriters have to deal with the same kind of issues - unfair wages, denial of royalties, vulnerability to copyright infringement, censorship and lack of respect, in general. It's important to stand in solidarity with one another if we want to take our problems head-on,` Jyoti said.

According to her, `While the advent of big corporate studios, that accompanied the globalization and digitization of the entertainment industry, was a huge boost for India, things have not improved much for writers. The contracts that we sign even with these conglomerates continue to be unfair, and one-sided. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has proved that collective bargaining is the only way to address this gross imbalance. And, this where IAWG plays a pivotal role in bringing unions like them together, so that we can help and support one another."

SWA which will complete 60 years of its existence next year, is set to celebrate its Diamond Jubilee by declaring 2020 as the Year of the Screenwriter in India, with a series of big programmes and the launch of new initiatives for screenwriters here.