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Writers Guild of America Awards

Award for film, television, radio and video game writing

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Writers Guild Awards
Current: 76th Writers Guild of America Awards
The trophy
Awarded for	Writing achievements in film and other media
Country	United States
Presented by	Writers Guild of America West Writers Guild of America, East
First awarded	1949; 75 years ago (1949)
Website	awards.wga.org

The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949.

Eligibility[edit]

The screen awards are for films that were exhibited theatrically during the preceding calendar year. The television awards are for series that were produced and aired between December 1 and November 30, regardless of how many episodes aired during this time period.

Additionally, scripts must be produced under the jurisdiction of the WGA or under a collective bargaining agreement in Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, or the United Kingdom.^[1]

Lifetime achievement awards[edit]

Each year at the awards, two lifetime achievement awards are presented. One is for screenwriting, and the other is for TV writing:

• Laurel Award for TV Writing Achievement
• Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement

Categories[edit]

(As of 2023)

History[edit]

In 2004, the awards show was broadcast on television for the first time.

In the years 2008 through 2018, the awards also included video game writing.

Discontinued categories[edit]

• Best Written Musical (1949–1969)
• Best Written Western (1949–1951)
• Best Written Film Concerning American Scene (1949–1952)
• Best Written Drama (1949–1969)
  • Best Drama Written Directly for the Screenplay (1970–1984)
  • Best Drama Adapted from Another Media (1970–1984)
• Best Written Comedy (1949–1969)
  • Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screenplay (1970–1984)
  • Best Comedy Adapted from Another Media (1970–1984)
• Best Videogame Writing (2008–2018)

Ceremonies[edit]

Winners[edit]

A * denotes a film that also went on to win an Academy Award.

Films[edit]

Current awards[edit]

Best Original Screenplay

• 1967: Bonnie and Clyde – David Newman and Robert Benton
• 1968: The Producers – Mel Brooks *
• 1984: Broadway Danny Rose – Woody Allen
• 1985: Witness – Pamela Wallace, William Kelley, and Earl W. Wallace *
• 1986: Hannah and Her Sisters – Woody Allen *
• 1987: Moonstruck – John Patrick Shanley *
• 1988: Bull Durham – Ron Shelton
• 1989: Crimes and Misdemeanors – Woody Allen
• 1990: Avalon – Barry Levinson
• 1991: Thelma & Louise – Callie Khouri *
• 1992: The Crying Game – Neil Jordan *
• 1993: The Piano – Jane Campion *
• 1994: Four Weddings and a Funeral – Richard Curtis
• 1995: Braveheart – Randall Wallace
• 1996: Fargo – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen *
• 1997: As Good as It Gets – Mark Andrus and James L. Brooks
• 1998: Shakespeare in Love – Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard *
• 1999: American Beauty – Alan Ball *
• 2000: You Can Count on Me – Kenneth Lonergan
• 2001: Gosford Park – Julian Fellowes *
• 2002: Bowling for Columbine – Michael Moore
• 2003: Lost in Translation – Sofia Coppola *
• 2004: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – Charlie Kaufman, Michael Gondry, and Pierre Bismuth *
• 2005: Crash – Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco *
• 2006: Little Miss Sunshine – Michael Arndt *
• 2007: Juno – Diablo Cody *
• 2008: Milk – Dustin Lance Black *
• 2009: The Hurt Locker – Mark Boal *
• 2010: Inception – Christopher Nolan
• 2011: Midnight in Paris – Woody Allen *
• 2012: Zero Dark Thirty – Mark Boal
• 2013: Her – Spike Jonze *
• 2014: The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness
• 2015: Spotlight – Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer *
• 2016: Moonlight – Barry Jenkins; story by Tarell Alvin McCraney *
• 2017: Get Out – Jordan Peele *
• 2018: Eighth Grade – Bo Burnham
• 2019: Parasite – Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin-won; story by Bong Joon-ho *
• 2020: Promising Young Woman — Emerald Fennell *
• 2021: Don't Look Up — Adam McKay and David Sirota
• 2022: Everything Everywhere All at Once — Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert *
• 2023: The Holdovers — David Hemingson

Best Adapted Screenplay

• 1984: The Killing Fields – Bruce Robinson
• 1985: Prizzi's Honor – Richard Condon and Janet Roach
• 1986: A Room with a View – Ruth Prawer Jhabvala *
• 1987: Roxanne – Steve Martin
• 1988: Dangerous Liaisons – Christopher Hampton *
• 1989: Driving Miss Daisy – Alfred Uhry *
• 1990: Dances with Wolves – Michael Blake *
• 1991: The Silence of the Lambs – Ted Tally *
• 1992: The Player – Michael Tolkin
• 1993: Schindler's List – Steven Zaillian *
• 1994: Forrest Gump – Eric Roth *
• 1995: Sense and Sensibility – Emma Thompson *
• 1996: Sling Blade – Billy Bob Thornton *
• 1997: L.A. Confidential – Brian Helgeland and Curtis Hanson *
• 1998: Out of Sight – Scott Frank
• 1999: Election – Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor
• 2000: Traffic – Stephen Gaghan *
• 2001: A Beautiful Mind – Akiva Goldsman *
• 2002: The Hours – David Hare
• 2003: American Splendor – Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini
• 2004: Sideways – Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor *
• 2005: Brokeback Mountain – Larry McMurty and Diana Ossana *
• 2006: The Departed – William Monahan *
• 2007: No Country for Old Men – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen *
• 2008: Slumdog Millionaire – Simon Beaufoy *
• 2009: Up in the Air – Jason Reitman
• 2010: The Social Network – Aaron Sorkin *
• 2011: The Descendants – Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash *
• 2012: Argo – Chris Terrio *
• 2013: Captain Phillips – Billy Ray
• 2014: The Imitation Game – Graham Moore *
• 2015: The Big Short – Adam McKay and Charles Randolph *
• 2016: Arrival – Eric Heisserer
• 2017: Call Me by Your Name — James Ivory *
• 2018: Can You Ever Forgive Me? – Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty
• 2019: Jojo Rabbit – Taika Waititi *
• 2020: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm — Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Peter Baynham & Erica Rivinoja & Dan Mazer & Jena Friedman & Lee Kern; story by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Nina Pedrad; based on characters created by Sacha Baron Cohen
• 2021: CODA – Sian Heder *
• 2022: Women Talking – Sarah Polley *
• 2023: American Fiction – Cord Jefferson; based on the novel ErasurebyPercival Everett *

Best Documentary Screenplay

• 2004: Super Size Me – Morgan Spurlock
• 2005: Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room – Alex Gibney
• 2006: Deliver Us from Evil – Amy J. Berg
• 2007: Taxi to the Dark – Alex Gibney
• 2008: Waltz with Bashir – Ari Folman
• 2009: The Cove – Mark Monroe
• 2010: Inside Job – Charles Ferguson
• 2011: Better This World – Katie Galloway, and Kelly Duane de la Vega
• 2012: Searching for Sugar Man – Malik Bendjelloul
• 2013: Stories We Tell – Sarah Polley
• 2014: The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz – Brian Knappenberger
• 2015: Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief – Alex Gibney
• 2016: Command and Control – Robert Kenner, Brian Pearle, Kim Roberts, and Eric Schlosser
• 2017: Jane – Brett Morgen
• 2018: Bathtubs Over Broadway – Ozzy Inguanzo, and Dava Whisenant
• 2019: The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley – Alex Gibney
• 2020: The Dissident — Mark Monroe and Bryan Fogel
• 2021: Exposing Muybridge – Marc Shaffer
• 2022: Moonage Daydream – Brett Morgen
• 2023: The Pigeon Tunnel – Errol Morris

Discontinued categories[edit]

Best Written Drama

• 1949: The Snake Pit – Frank Partos and Millen Brand
• 1950: All the King's Men – Robert Rossen
• 1951: Sunset Boulevard – Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, and D. M. Marshman Jr. *
• 1952: A Place in the Sun – Michael Wilson and Harry Brown *
• 1953: High Noon – Carl Foreman
• 1954: From Here to Eternity – Daniel Taradash *
• 1955: On the Waterfront – Budd Schulberg *
• 1956: Marty – Paddy Chayefsky *
• 1957: Friendly Persuasion – Michael Wilson
• 1958: 12 Angry Men – Reginald Rose
• 1959: The Defiant Ones – Nedrick Young and Harold Jacob Smith *
• 1960: The Diary of Anne Frank – Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett
• 1961: Elmer Gantry – Richard Brooks *
• 1962: The Hustler – Sidney Carroll and Robert Rossen
• 1963: To Kill a Mockingbird – Horton Foote *
• 1964: Hud – Harriet Frank Jr. and Irving Ravetch
• 1965: Becket – Edward Anhalt *
• 1966: The Pawnbroker – Edward Lewis Wallant, Morton Fine, and David Friedkin
• 1967: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – Ernest Lehman
• 1968: Bonnie and Clyde – David Newman and Robert Benton
• 1969: The Lion in Winter – James Goldman *

Best Original Drama

• 1970: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – William Goldman *
• 1971: Patton – Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North *
• 1972: Sunday Bloody Sunday – Penelope Gilliatt
• 1973: The Candidate – Jeremy Larner *
• 1974: Save the Tiger – Steve Shagan
• 1975: Chinatown – Robert Towne *
• 1976: Dog Day Afternoon – Frank Pierson *
• 1977: Network – Paddy Chayefsky *
• 1978: The Turning Point – Arthur Laurents
• 1979: Coming Home – Nancy Dowd, Robert C. Jones, and Waldo Salt *
• 1980: The China Syndrome – Mike Gray, T. S. Cook and James Bridges
• 1981: Melvin and Howard – Bo Goldman *
• 1982: Reds – Warren Beatty and Trevor Griffiths
• 1983: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial – Melissa Mathison
• 1984: Tender Mercies – Horton Foote *

Best Adapted Drama

• 1970: Midnight Cowboy – Waldo Salt *
• 1971: I Never Sang for My Father – Robert Anderson
• 1972: The French Connection – Ernest Tidyman *
• 1973: The Godfather – Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola *
• 1974: Serpico – Waldo Salt and Norman Wexler
• 1975: The Godfather Part II – Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo *
• 1976: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest – Bo Goldman and Lawrence Hauben *
• 1977: All the President's Men – William Goldman *
• 1978: Islands in the Stream – Denne Bart Petitclerc
• 1979: Midnight Express – Oliver Stone *
• 1980: Kramer vs. Kramer – Robert Benton *
• 1981: Ordinary People – Alvin Sargent *
• 1982: On Golden Pond – Ernest Thompson *
• 1983: Missing – Costa-Gavras and Donald E. Stewart *
• 1984: Reuben, Reuben – Julius J. Epstein

Best Written Comedy

• 1949: Sitting Pretty – F. Hugh Herbert
• 1950: A Letter to Three Wives – Joseph L. Mankiewicz *
• 1951: All About Eve – Joseph L. Mankiewicz *
• 1952: Father's Little Dividend – Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich
• 1953: The Quiet Man – Frank Nugent
• 1954: Roman Holiday – Ian McLellan Hunter, Dalton Trumbo, and John Dighton *
• 1955: Sabrina – Billy Wilder, Samuel Taylor, and Ernest Lehman
• 1956: Mister Roberts – Joshua Logan and Frank Nugent
• 1957: Around the World in 80 Days – James Poe, John Farrow, and S. J. Perelman *
• 1958: Love in the Afternoon – Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond
• 1959: Me and the Colonel – S. N. Behrman and George Froeschel
• 1960: Some Like It Hot – Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond
• 1961: The Apartment – Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond *
• 1962: Breakfast at Tiffany's – George Axelrod
• 1963: That Touch of Mink – Stanley Shapiro and Nate Monastar
• 1964: Lilies of the Field – James Poe
• 1965: Dr. Strangelove – Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern, and Peter George
• 1966: A Thousand Clowns – Herb Gardner
• 1967: The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming – William Rose
• 1968: The Graduate – Calder Willingham and Buck Henry
• 1969: The Odd Couple – Neil Simon

Best Original Comedy

• 1970: Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice – Paul Mazursky and Larry Tucker
• 1971: The Out-of-Towners – Neil Simon
• 1972: The Hospital – Paddy Chayefsky *
• 1973: What's Up, Doc? – Peter Bogdanovich, Buck Henry, David Newman, and Robert Benton
• 1974: A Touch of Class – Melvin Frank and Jack Rose
• 1975: Blazing Saddles – Mel Brooks, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, and Alan Uger
• 1976: Shampoo – Robert Towne and Warren Beatty
• 1977: The Bad News Bears – Bill Lancaster
• 1978: Annie Hall – Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman *
• 1979: Movie Movie – Larry Gelbart and Sheldon Keller
• 1980: Breaking Away – Steve Tesich *
• 1981: Private Benjamin – Nancy Meyers, Harvey Miller, and Charles Shyer
• 1982: Arthur – Steve Gordon
• 1983: Tootsie – Don McGuire, Larry Gelbart and Murray Schisgal
• 1984: The Big Chill – Lawrence Kasdan and Barbara Benedek

Best Adapted Comedy

• 1970: Goodbye, Columbus – Arnold Schulman
• 1971: MASH – Ring Lardner Jr. *
• 1972: Kotch – John Paxton
• 1973: Cabaret – Jay Presson Allen
• 1974: Paper Moon – Alvin Sargent
• 1975: The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz – Lionel Chetwynd and Mordecai Richler
• 1976: The Sunshine Boys – Neil Simon
• 1977: The Pink Panther Strikes Again – Blake Edwards and Frank Waldman
• 1978: Oh, God! – Larry Gelbart
• 1979: Heaven Can Wait – Elaine May and Warren Beatty and Same Time, Next Year – Bernard Slade
• 1980: Being There – Jerzy Kosiński
• 1981: Airplane! – Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker
• 1982: Rich and Famous – Gerard Ayres
• 1983: Victor/Victoria – Blake Edwards
• 1984: Terms of Endearment – James L. Brooks *

Best Written Musical

• 1949: Easter Parade – Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, and Sidney Sheldon
• 1950: On the Town – Adolph Green and Betty Comden
• 1951: Annie Get Your Gun – Sidney Sheldon
• 1952: An American in Paris – Alan Jay Lerner *
• 1953: Singin' in the Rain – Betty Comden and Adolph Green
• 1954: Lili – Helen Deutsch and Paul Gallico
• 1955: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers – Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich, and Dorothy Kingsley
• 1956: Love Me or Leave Me – Daniel Fuchs and Isobel Lennart *
• 1957: The King and I – Ernest Lehman
• 1958: Les Girls – Vera Caspary and John Patrick
• 1959: Gigi – Alan Jay Lerner *
• 1960: The Five Pennies – Robert Smith, Jack Rose, and Melville Shavelson
• 1961: Bells Are Ringing – Betty Comden and Adolph Green
• 1962: West Side Story – Ernest Lehman
• 1963: The Music Man – Meredith Willson, Franklin Lacey, and Marion Hargrove
• 1964: Not awarded
• 1965: Mary Poppins – Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi
• 1966: The Sound of Music – Maria Augusta Trapp, Howard Lindsay, Russel Crouse, and Ernest Lehman
• 1967: Not awarded
• 1968: Thoroughly Modern Millie – Richard Morris
• 1969: Funny Girl – Isobel Lennart

Best Written Film Concerning Problems with the American Scene

• 1949: The Snake Pit – Frank Partos and Millen Brand
• 1950: All the King's Men – Robert Rossen
• 1951: The Men – Carl Foreman
• 1952: Bright Victory – Robert Buckner

Best Written Western

• 1949: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre – John Huston *
• 1950: Yellow Sky – W. R. Burnett and Lamar Trotti
• 1951: Broken Arrow – Albert Maltz

Television[edit]

Video games[edit]

The video game category was first added in 2008, but discontinued after the 2019 awards.^[2][3]

Outstanding Achievement in Video Game Writing

• 2008: Dead Head Fred – Dave Ellis, Adam Cogan
• 2009: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed – Haden Blackman, Shawn Pitman, John Stafford, and Cameron Suey
• 2010: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – Amy Hennig
• 2011: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood – Patrice Désilets, Jeffrey Yohalem, and Corey May
• 2012: Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception – Amy Hennig
• 2013: Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – Richard Farrese and Jill Murray
• 2014: The Last of Us – Neil Druckmann
• 2015: The Last of Us: Left Behind – Neil Druckmann
• 2016: Rise of the Tomb Raider – John Stafford, Cameron Suey, Rhianna Pratchett, and Philip Gelatt
• 2017: Uncharted 4: A Thief's End – Neil Druckmann, Josh Scherr, Tom Bissell, and Ryan James
• 2018: Horizon Zero Dawn – John Gonzalez, Benjamin McCaw, Ben Schroder, Anne Toole, Dee Warrick, and Meg Jayanth
• 2019: God of War – Matt Sophos, Richard Zangrande Gaubert, and Cory Barlog

See also[edit]

• WGA script registration service
• WGA screenwriting credit system
• 1960 Writers Guild of America strike
• 1988 Writers Guild of America strike
• International Affiliation of Writers Guilds
• 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike
• List of writing awards

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Writers Guild of America awards list
• Writers Guild of America, East website
• Writers Guild of America, West website
• Writers Guild of America AwardsatIMDb