Acclaimed Screenwriter Jan Sardi Elected President of Australian Writers' Guild

7 June, 2011

Internationally acclaimed screenwriter Jan Sardi has been elected President of the Australian Writers' Guild following the end of Tim Pye's four year term.


"I'm honoured to have been given this opportunity to represent our nation's storytellers as President of the Australian Writers Guild, an organisation I've been a proud member of for thirty years, said Sardi. 

“Under Tim Pye's presidency, the Guild has grown to become one of our leading industry organisations and I look forward to following his lead and contributing to the vital role the Guild plays in promoting the craft, status and conditions of Australian performance writers."


Jan Sardi is one of Australia’s most eminent screenwriters.  In 1997 he received an Academy Award Nomination for his screenplay for Shine, as well as BAFTA, Writers’ Guild of America, and Golden Globe award nominations.  Jan has also won numerous awards for his work in film and television in Australia, including best screenplay for Shine (AFI and AWGIE Awards).  In 2003 he wrote and directed the award winning film Love’s Brother an Australian/UK production.  Jan also adapted the hit films The Notebook and Mao’s Last Dancer for the screen.  His current projects include adaptations of The Secret River by Kate Grenville, and Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier.

During his long membership with the AWG, Sardi has been a passionate advocate of writers, serving on numerous committees including as a member and Chair of the AWG Victorian Committee; as a member of the National Executive Council of the Guild; and most recently as chair of the Feature Film Committee, and a key member of the organising committee for the Guild's flagship event - The National Screenwriters Conference.

Sardi is joined on the AWG National Executive Council by some of Australia's prominent performance writers including Andrew Bovell, Barbara Connell, John Doyle, Mac Gudgeon, Michael Harvey, Naomi Janzen, Kelly Lefever, Peter Moon, Tim Pye, Rick Kalowski, Shane Krause and Roger Simpson.