Struggling with how to negotiate as a dramatist? We've got you covered! Join us for this month's Attorneys Backstage where we'll be pulling back the curtain on the art of negotiation. Link in bio to register!
In 2021, the Guild released “The Art of Negotiating Theatre Contracts” as a guide to help our members prepare for negotiations with theatres, producers, publishers, and collaborators. We wanted to use this month's Attorneys Backstage as an opportunity to revisit this document with our members and empower you to negotiate the best deal possible when entering any theatrical business relationship. In this session, you’ll learn how to approach a negotiation from beginning to end - from knowing how to start the conversation to knowing when to walk away from a bad deal - we've got you covered.
Join us next Monday to learn all about the financial services and benefits offered exclusively to Dramatists Guild members through the Actors Federal Credit Union!
Actors Federal Credit Union is a not-for-profit, financial cooperative chartered in 1962, initially for the benefit of Actors’ Equity Association members. They have since grown to serve more than 100 member organizations representing the creative community.
Have you leafed through the newest edition of The Dramatist? Find it online or in your mailbox now!
The Spring 2026 edition of the quarterly features Ten Questions with Keiko Green; Crystal Skillman and Kelundra Smith on their NNPN Rolling World Premieres; and Amanda Green, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, and Christine Toy Johnson on dramatists getting paid. Also in this issue, the second installment of our advice column, Wendy Wasserstein from the archives, A Dramatist’s Guide to Boston, and Craig Carnelia’s “How We Make Our Songs Actable,” featuring Stephen Sondheim, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Jason Robert Brown.
Join us next week for the Gulf Coast Theatre Writers Circle—a writing group for those interested in helping to workshop and cultivate new works! More event details and registration can be found at the link in our bio!
Our heartfelt congratulations to Guild member James Lapine who will be recognized at this year's Tony Awards for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre!
James Lapine is a playwright and director whose work has been performed on Broadway 18 times. He has been nominated for 12 Tony Awards in four different categories and has won on three occasions for his librettos for Falsettos, Into the Woods and Passion. He collaborated with Stephen Sondheim on Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Passion and the revue Sondheim on Sondheim and with William Finn on Falsettos, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, A New Brain, and Little Miss Sunshine. He is also the author of five plays including his adaptation of Moss Hart’s Act One for Lincoln Center Theater. Lapine has also worked frequently off-Broadway and at regional theaters and has directed four feature films. His HBO documentary Six By Sondheim received a Peabody Award and an Emmy nomination for direction. He also has won five Drama Desk Awards and Sunday in the Park with George received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. He has been inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame.
The Guild is thrilled to congratulate and celebrate members Nazareth Hassan and Talene Monahon for being named finalists for the 2026 Pulitzer Prize in Drama!
We'd like to extend a joyous congratulations to Guild member and newly-named Pulitzer Prize winner, Bess Wohl! This well-deserved honor celebrates Bess' play Liberation—a necessary, messy, and bitingly funny exploration of what it means to be free, and to be a woman.
The Dramatists Guild was honored to have New York State Senator Erik Bottcher attend the #DramatistsGuildAwards on Monday night! Senator Bottcher presented the Guild with a Proclamation to commemorate the centennial of the Guild's Minimum Basic Agreement; we are so grateful for this honor and his support as the Guild continues to fight for the rights of dramatists.
Missed last month's Contract Bootcamp? Catch us this month instead!
Join DG Director of Business Affairs, Jessica Lit, Esq. and Staff Attorney, Leesa Fenderson, Esq., for a walk-through of the newly revised DG Model Premiere Production Agreement—National. Link in bio to register!
This agreement is used for premiere productions for small professional theatres in the United States outside of New York and Los Angeles. In this session, we’ll discuss what a “world premiere” actually is and when to use the contract; give you an in-depth explanation of its terms, as well as, insight on the new provisions; and finally, we’ll make sure you understand the difference between Model Premiere Production Agreement—NY/LA and the Model Premiere Production Agreement—National.
On April 26, 1926, the Dramatists Guild achieved a groundbreaking victory with the negotiation of the Minimum Basic Agreement: the contract that set the industry precedent that allowed for authorial ownership of copyright, no changes in text without permission, the right to be present, and so much more. At the #DramatistsGuildAwards on Monday night, we were humbled to celebrate the centennial of this achievement with a Proclamation from @nycmayor enshrining the day as the Dramatist Guild's Minimum Basic Agreement Day. Thank you to the mayor's office for this honor! We look forward to fighting for the rights of dramatists for another hundred years to come.
Cover photo by @liachangphotography
