Peter Cox, the president of the New Zealand Writers Guild, is looking for work” in Australia.  Leora Kamenetzky, chair of the Scriptwriters Guild of Israel, had a series in development that was a sure thing, until she led a work action against the broadcaster.  Australian writer Cathy Strickland just optioned a book for the very first time.  She’s glad that she had to write a treatment to get funding because the deadline gave her the discipline to get the writing done and now she’s deep inside the story and ready to draft.

One thing is clear.  Screenwriting is the same for the writers of the member guilds of  IAWG.  We have different terms of work, different contracts, different payment patterns and sometimes different languages but craft is the same.

We talked about story editing and techniques for helping writers write their best work.  We talked about structure, finding other people’s scripts to read, strategies for dealing with notes.  We shared stories about jobs and lack thereof, about unpaid rewrites and crazy things we’ve done to get gigs.  We wished we could see each other’s work.

Earlier in the week, we spent a little bit of time with writers from the Federation of Screenwriters of Europe.  I didn’t get a chance to talk craft with them but I did get to catch up briefly with Sveinbjorn I Baldivinsson.  I met Sven in 2007 when the IAWG was held in Montreal.  Then he told me that there wasn’t much work in his native Iceland.  I learned that he has moved to Norway where he supplements his writing work with a teaching gig.  Teaching seems to factor heavily into a lot of writers lives.

If not teaching, then something else besides writing.  Gail Renard, chair of the television committee of the WGGB has a book about her friendship with John Lennon coming out in November and is learning to use the social media to promote it.  Amit Leor from Israel is an actor, script doctor and playwright.  And Audrey O’Reilly, chair of Irish Playwright and Screenwriters Guild, has long directed, but recently took up photography and has an upcoming show at a Paris cafe.

We’ve all gone our separate ways now, heading for planes destined for different continents. A bond between us remains. We’re all writers after all.

The Scriptwriters Guild of Israel is crazy, fierce and funny in their defence of their rights.  They have nearly 400 members and have led their industry in a whole series of battles (to use their word) for rights, residuals and the very existence of their industry.  They’ve done it with a sense of moral right and a sense of humour.

Theirs is a story I hope to find time to tell in this space.

But not now.

What I can tell you is that they were accepted as full members of the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds this afternoon and it was an excellent moment.

Two of their members have been here with us all week; Chair Leora Kamenetzky and Deputy Chair Amit Leor.  It’s been fun getting to know them.  One of the things I like best is that they have great stories about industrial action but it’s also wonderful to talk craft with them.

In fact, the highlight of these IAWG meetings happens late at night when the discussions about collective agreements, collection societies and jurisdictional problems are over and the writers gather to talk about craft, what they’re writing and what they’re watching. It is incredible how much we all have in common and how much all of us love the work. This is one of the greatest values of the organization and it is a delight that we can welcome a new guild into our midst.

I’m sitting in the Lord Mayor’s Lounge in the Shelbourne Hotel.  If I were home it would be quarter to four in the afternoon. What time does that make it here in Dublin?  Jetlagged brain can’t do the math. I left home a little more than 24 hours ago.  My trip to Pearson was uneventful, but WGC Executive Director Maureen Parker got caught in snarling traffic turning what should have been a 45 minute trip into two hours.  If our flight hadn’t been delayed she’d have missed it entirely.

When we connected just as the flight was being called, we realized that we weren’t seated together.  A kind stranger agreed to switch, but we didn’t work on the plane anyway because we were packed in way too tight to even reach down and pull papers out. 

They really squish you in.

The plane was massive and full.  Nine seats across and at least 60 rows, maybe more.  If you move an arm, you’ve entered into your neighbour’s private space.  The temperature careens wildly from sauna to meat locker.  And though there were a half dozen or so worthy movies on the entertainment system, the 10 minute package of commercials you were forced to sit through ahead of each was just annoying.

We dozed a bit but the lights came on and ice cold bran muffins were passed at what was probably 12:30 am.  And the worst of it lay ahead: Heathrow.

Shuffling along in endless lines in endless corridors, hollow fatigued brain echoing a call to Temple Grandin to save me.  Escalators up.  Escalators down.  A bus.  More corridors.  More escalators.  And then signs, sorting us into lines: those with British or EU passports in one, the rest of us in another. 

When we got into the line there were perhaps 14 or 18 people ahead of us.   We spent over an hour waiting. 

When you’re carrying a Canadian passport, you don’t often feel what’s like to be a third class citizen, but our Canadian credentials did us no good at Heathrow.  The passport control officers took EU passport holders first, ten of them for every one of us.  When one among our number (we Japanese, Canadians, Brazilians, etc threw our lot in together and became one cohesive group) dared to ask to advance a little faster for fear of missing a flight, the passport control officer actually screamed at us that they had the right to take EU citizens ahead of us.  And we were ignored for another 10 minutes.  I have a feeling the young Japanese couple and their little boy missed their flight.

When I finally got to the wicket and showed my passport, I got a lot of questions; where I was going, how long, the name of the conference, where I was staying.  Bear in mind that I was just trying to get to a connecting flight to Ireland.  I was even staying in England.

And then it was 4 am.

We were finally in the terminal where we were to catch our connecting flight to Dublin.  And the sign said that our gate was a 25 minute walk yet!

Don’t ask me about the flight to Dublin.  I slept through it. 

Getting into Ireland was easy.  The line was short and the border guard asked only how long I was staying and whether I was here for business or pleasure before stamping my passport and welcoming me to Ireland.

Getting here was none of the fun, but the hotel is beautiful and I’ve been a big fan of Dublin for years.  Plus the IAWG meetings lie ahead.  So the complaining stops here.

Most of my time since arriving has been spent comatose, although force my eyes open at 7:30 local time to take a walk down Grafton Street and through dark and winding streets.  The weather is mild and  the air has a softeness to it.  The All Ireland was today and Cork supporters were spilling out of pubs and chanting in the streets.

A little food, a little more sleep and I’ll be ready tomorrow to meet the members of the IAWG and the EU screenwriters who are spending the day with us tomorrow.

The International Affiliation of Writers Guilds promotes the interests of screenwriters.  The member guilds are the Writers Guild of Canada, the Writers Guild of America east and west, the Writers Guild of Great Britain, Australian Writers Guild, New Zealand Writers Guild, the Irish Playwrights and Screenwriters Guild and SARTEC (Société des Auteurs de Radio, Télévision et Cinéma), the guild which represents French language screenwriters in Canada.

The IAWG meets once a year somewhere in the world to discuss matters of import to screenwriters everywhere.  This years meetings are in Ireland and they start Monday.  I will be there representing the WGC.

I have been to the IAWG before. When we last host in Toronto, I was an observer; I sat on the periphery rather than at the table with grownups.  The year WGA went on strike — 2007 — the meetings were in Montreal and I got to attend again.  It was quite exciting because we were all riled up to support the American’s job action.  But also because I got to know a little bit about screenwriting in New Zealand, Mexico, Ireland, Australia, France, Iceland and more.

I’m not sure whether any writers from the WGAw will actually attend this time.  There is an election on down there and we won’t have the results till later today.

But the Scriptwriters Guild of Israel and FEDALA (Federacion de Escritores y Directores Audiovisuales Latinoamericanos) are sending observers.  And on Monday we are meeting with representatives of the screenwriting guilds of the European Union.

It will be a great opportunity to find out what is going on in television and writing around the world.

I wish all the member guilds would bring DVDs of some of the work being produced in their jurisdiction. Very little TV travels around the world.  I have no idea what the shows coming out of many of these countries are like.  I imagine that the writers from other guilds will be able to point me to some stuff on YouTube and other web destinations, but some of the best shows will be geo-blocked and hidden from view.

I wish I had a DVD of a selection of Canadian written series to share with the writers from other guilds… maybe next year.

I’m excited to report back on what I learn.  A very exciting week lies ahead.