Adolescence co-creator Jack Thorne has been crowned President of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB).
The prolific scribe, who is currently juggling at least half a dozen projects, will take over from Sandi Toksvig immediately after today’s WGGB AGM. Toksvig, a former Great British Bake Off host, has served the maximum term of six years, a term that took in the Covid-19 pandemic, U.S. writers strike and emergence of artificial intelligence.
“This is such a huge honour for me,” Thorne said. “I think the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain is a union to be hugely proud of. I was proud of it from the outside and I’m delighted to now fight for it from the inside. And I do think we’re about to be in the battle of our lives.”
Thorne described the landscape for writers as “brutal,” flagging “the conservatism that has crept in to commissioning” and “people coming after our copyright, vultures who’d steal it to put into their machines.” “We need to make sure the government is robust in defending us,” he said.
Thorne’s first term is three years. He was one of several nominations made to the WGGB Executive Council before the AGGM. Union rules prevent the WGGB from naming the other nominees or how many there were.
Thorne paid tribute to “titan” Toksvig, who in turn wished him “the very best.” “As I hang up my President’s hat, I would like to pay tribute to every activist who I’ve been proud to walk alongside, and to all who sail the good ship WGGB,” added Toksvig. “Unions are precious and more important than they have ever been; we must hold on to them tight.”
The WGGB negotiates pay and conditions, and lobbies and campaigns on a broad range of issues to ensure writers’ rights are protected. The guild was involved with the WGA action in the States and has struck meaningful deals of late with the likes of the BBC, Netflix and the trade body that represents UK agents. The looming battleground is AI, with unions and guilds alike taking on the government over a proposed change in law that would see copyright holders opt-out from having their material used for training AI models.
Thorne is a five-time BAFTA winning writer whose credits include Adolescence, His Dark Materials, Help, This Is England ’90 and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. He is currently working on the Sam Mendes Beatles movies, the BBC’s Lord of the Flies adaptation and an A24 series about Liverpool soccer club, amongst others project.
A passionate campaigner for equality, diversity and inclusion, Thorne launched the Underlying Health Condition group four years ago to push for improved access and representation for disabled people in the industry. His blistering MacTaggart lecture of that year slammed the industry for “utterly and totally” failing disabled people.
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