Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” has been named the best original screenplay of 2017 by the the Writers Guild of America, West and the Writers Guild of America, East, which handed out the 2018 Writers Guild Awards at simultaneous ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York.
James Ivory won the adapted-screenplay award for “Call Me by Your Name.”
Since 2000, 13 of the 18 original-screenplay winners have gone on to win the Academy Award in that category, as have 12 of the adapted-screenplay winners. One of the WGA winners goes on to win the Oscar for Best Picture slightly more than half the time.
While “Call Me by Your Name” was a clear favorite in the adapted-screenplay category, and will be a prohibitive frontrunner at the Oscars, the original-screenplay category is considered a very close race between “Get Out,” “Lady Bird” and “The Shape of Water,” and one in which the WGA results could have real repercussions in the Best Picture race.
While the Directors Guild and Producers guild wins for “The Shape of Water” still make it a favorite to win, the Writers Guild victory for Peele and “Get Out” position it as a real contender in the same way that WGA wins did for “Moonlight,” “Spotlight” and “Crash,” among others.
“Veep” won the award for comedy series, while “The Handmaid’s Tale” won awards for drama series and the award for best new series. “Big Little Lies” won for long-form television adaptation and “Flint” won for longform original.
The “Chicanery” episode of “Better Call Saul” won the award for a TV drama episode, while the “Rosario’s Quinceanera” episode of “Will and Grace” won for TV comedy episode.
The Comedy/Variety/Talk Series award, in a super-sized category with eight nominees, went to “Last Night Tonight With John Oliver.” “The Kennedy Center Honors” won for comedy/variety specials, and “Saturday Night Live” won for comedy/variety sketch series.
“Jane” won the award for documentary film.
Because the WGA limits its awards to scripts produced under the jurisdiction of the guild’s Minimum Basic Agreement, or an agreement by an affiliated international guild, scripts that have received Oscar nominations or wins are occasionally ineligible for Writers Guild Awards.
This year, original-screenplay Oscar nominee “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” was ineligible and was replaced by “I, Tonya” in the guild’s nominations. Nominations in the WGA’s adapted-screenplay category were an exact match with the Oscar nominees.
The Writers Guild is the last of the four major Hollywood guilds to announce its awards, and the results mean that four different films have won the guild’s five top awards. Previously, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” won the Screen Actors Guild’s ensemble award, while Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water” won the top Directors Guild and Producers Guild awards.
Honorary awards at the WGA, West ceremony went to James L. Brooks (the Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement), screenwriter and activist Dustin Lance Black (the Valentine Davies Award for Civil and Human Rights Efforts), “The Post” writers Liz Hannah and Josh Singer (the Paul Selvin Award), TV writer/producer Alison Cross (the Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television Writing) and comic book and animation writer Len Wein (the Animation Writers Caucus Animation Writing Award).
The WGA, East honored Tina Fey and Robert Carlock (the Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence), Geoffrey C. Ward (the Ian McLellan Hunter Award for Career Achievement), Hamilton Nolan (the Richard B. Jablow Award for Devoted Service to the Guild) and Nicole Landau (the Michael Collyer Memorial Fellowship in Screenwriting).
The Writers Guild Awards nominees, with winners indicated by *WINNER:
SCREENPLAY NOMINEES
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“The Big Sick,” Written by Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani
“Get Out,” Written by Jordan Peele *WINNER
“I, Tonya,” Written by Steven Rogers
“Lady Bird,” Written by Greta Gerwig
“The Shape of Water,” Screenplay by Guillermo del Toro & Vanessa Taylor; Story by Guillermo del Toro
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“Call Me by Your Name,” Screenplay by James Ivory; Based on the Novel by André Aciman *WINNER
“The Disaster Artist,” Screenplay by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber; Based on the Book “The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside ‘The Room,’ the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made” by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell
“Logan,” Screenplay by Scott Frank & James Mangold and Michael Green; Story by James Mangold; Based on Characters from the X-Men Comic Books and Theatrical Motion Pictures
“Molly’s Game,” Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin; Based on the Book by Molly Bloom
“Mudbound,” Screenplay by Virgil Williams and Dee Rees; Based on the Novel by Hillary Jordan
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
“Betting on Zero,” Written by Theodore Braun; Gunpowder & Sky
“Jane,” Written by Brett Morgen; National Geographic *WINNER
“No Stone Unturned,” Written by Alex Gibney; Abramorama
“Oklahoma City,” Written by Barak Goodman; American Experience Films
TELEVISION NOMINEES
DRAMA SERIES
“The Americans,” Written by Peter Ackerman, Hilary Bettis, Joshua Brand, Joel Fields, Stephen Schiff, Joe Weisberg, Tracey Scott Wilson
“Better Call Saul,” Written by Ann Cherkis, Vince Gilligan, Jonathan Glatzer, Peter Gould, Gennifer Hutchison, Heather Marion, Thomas Schnauz, Gordon Smith
“Game of Thrones,” Written by David Benioff, Bryan Cogman, Dave Hill, D.B. Weiss
“The Handmaid’s Tale,” Written by Ilene Chaiken, Nina Fiore, Dorothy Fortenberry, Leila Gerstein, John Herrera, Lynn Renee Maxcy, Bruce Miller, Kira Snyder, Wendy Straker Hauser, Eric Tuchman *WINNER
“Stranger Things,” Written by Paul Dichter, Justin Doble, The Duffer Brothers, Jessie Nickson-Lopez, Kate Trefry
COMEDY SERIES
“Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Written by Larry David, Jon Hayman, Justin Hurwitz, Jeff Schaffer
“GLOW,” Written by Kristoffer Diaz, Liz Flahive, Tara Herrmann, Nick Jones, Jenji Kohan, Carly Mensch, Emma Rathbone, Sascha Rothchild, Rachel Shukert
“Master of None,” Written by Aniz Adam Ansari, Aziz Ansari, Andrew Blitz, Matt Hubbard, Zoe Jarman, Cord Jefferson, Joe Mande, Matt Murray, Sarah Peters, Sarah Schneider, Michael Schur, Leila Strachan, Gene Stupnitsky, Lakshmi Sundaram, Lena Waithe, Jason Woliner, Alan Yang
“Silicon Valley,” Written by Alec Berg, Shawn Boxe, Adam Countee, Jonathan Dotan, Mike Judge, Carrie Kemper, Andrew Law, Rachele Lynn, Dan O’Keefe, Meghan Pleticha, Chris Provenzano, Clay Tarver, Graham Wagner, Aaron Zelman
“Veep,” Written by Gabrielle Allan, Rachel Axler, Ted Cohen, Jennifer Crittenden, Alex Gregory, Steve Hely, Peter Huyck, Erik Kenward, Billy Kimball, David Mandel, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Dan Mintz, Lew Morton, Georgia Pritchett, Will Smith *WINNER
NEW SERIES
“American Vandal,” Written by Seth Cohen, Lauren Herstik, Dan Lagana, Kevin McManus, Matthew McManus, Jessica Meyer, Dan Perrault, Amy Pocha, Mike Rosolio, Tony Yacenda
“The Deuce,” Written by Megan Abbott, Marc Henry Johnson, Lisa Lutz, George Pelecanos, Richard Price, Will Ralston, David Simon, Chris Yakaitis
“GLOW,” Written by Kristoffer Diaz, Liz Flahive, Tara Herrmann, Nick Jones, Jenji Kohan, Carly Mensch, Emma Rathbone, Sascha Rothchild, Rachel Shukert
“The Handmaid’s Tale,” Written by Ilene Chaiken, Nina Fiore, Dorothy Fortenberry, Leila Gerstein, John Herrera, Lynn Renee Maxcy, Bruce Miller, Kira Snyder, Wendy Straker Hauser, Eric Tuchman *WINNER
“Ozark,” Written by Whit Anderson, Bill Dubuque, Ryan Farley, Alyson Feltes, Paul Kolsby, Chris Mundy, Mark Williams, Ning Zhou, Martin Zimmerman
LONG FORM ORIGINAL
“American Horror Story: Cult,” Written by Brad Falchuk, John J. Gray, Joshua Green, Todd Kubrak, Crystal Liu, Tim Minear, Ryan Murphy, Adam Penn, James Wong
“Feud: Bette and Joan,” Written by Jaffe Cohen, Tim Minear, Ryan Murphy, Gina Welch, Michael Zam
“Flint,” Written by Barbara Stepansky *WINNER
“Godless,” Written by Scott Frank
“Manhunt: Unabomber,” Written by Jim Clemente, Tony Gittelson, Max Hurwitz, Steven Katz, Nick Schenk, Andrew Sodroski, Nick Towne
LONG FORM ADAPTED
“Big Little Lies,” Teleplay by David E. Kelley, Based on the Novel by Liane Moriarty *WINNER
“Fargo,” Written by Monica Beletsky, Bob DeLaurentis, Noah Hawley, Ben Nedivi, Matt Wolpert, Based on the film “Fargo”
“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” Teleplay by Peter Landesman and Alexander Woo and George C. Wolfe, Based on the book written by Rebecca Skloot
“The Wizard of Lies,” Teleplay by Sam Levinson and John Burnham Schwartz and Samuel Baum, Based on the Book Written by Diane B. Henriques and “Truth and Consequences” by Laurie Sandell
SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA ORIGINAL
No nominations
SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA ADAPTED
“John Hancock” (“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot”), Written by James C. Oliver & Sharla Oliver
“Chapter 2” (“The Walking Dead: Red Machete”), Written by Nick Bernardone
“Justicia” (“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot”), Written by Mark Leitner
“Starboy” (“Zac & Mia”), Teleplay by Allen Clary and Andrew Rothschild, Based on the novel “Zac & Mia” by A.J. Betts *WINNER
ANIMATION
“Brunchsquatch” (“Bob’s Burgers”), Written by Lizzie Molyneux & Wendy Molyneux
“A Father’s Watch” (“The Simpsons”), Written by Simon Rich
“Ruthie” (“BoJack Horseman”), Written by Joanna Calo
“The Serfsons” (“The Simpsons”), Written by Brian Kelley
“Time’s Arrow” “(BoJack Horseman”), Written by Kate Purdy *WINNER
EPISODIC DRAMA
“The Book of Nora” (“The Leftovers”), Teleplay by Tom Perrotta & Damon Lindelof, Story by Tom Spezialy & Damon Lindelof
“Chicanery” (“Better Call Saul”), Written by Gordon Smith *WINNER
“The Heart Attack is the Best Way” (“Good Behavior”), Written by Chad Hodge
“Homecoming” (“The OA”), Written by Brit Marling & Zal Batmanglij
“Slip” (“Better Call Saul”), Written by Heather Marion
“The Soviet Division” (“The Americans”), Written by Joe Weisberg & Joel Fields
EPISODIC COMEDY
“The Burglary” (“Grace and Frankie”), Written by Brendan McCarthy & David Budin
“Intervention” (“The Carmichael Show”), Written by Willie Hunter
“Judge” (“Veep”), Written by Ted Cohen
“Rosario’s Quinceanera” (“Will & Grace”), Written by Tracy Poust & Jon Kinnally *WINNER
“The Verdict” (“Trial & Error”), Written by Jeff Astrof
COMEDY/VARIETY TALK SERIES
“Conan,” Head Writer: Matt O’Brien, Writers: Jose Arroyo, Dan Cronin, Andres du Bouchet, Jessie Gaskell, Michael Gordon, Brian Kiley, Laurie Kilmartin, Leah Krinsky, Rob Kutner, Todd Levin, Levi MacDougall, Conan O’Brien, Andy Richter, Frank Smiley, Mike Sweeney
“Full Frontal with Samantha Bee,” Writers: Samantha Bee, Ashley Nicole Black, Pat Cassels, Eric Drysdale, Mathan Erhardt, Travon Free, Joe Grossman, Miles Kahn, Jo Miller, Jason Reich, Melinda Taub
“Jimmy Kimmel Live,” Writers: Jimmy Kimmel, Tony Barbieri, Jonathan Bines, Joelle Boucai, Gonzalo Cordova, Devin Field, Gary Greenberg, Josh Halloway, Sal Iacono, Eric Immerman, Jesse Joyce, Bess Kalb, Jeff Loveness, Molly McNearney, CeCe Pleasants, Danny Ricker, Joe Strazzullo
“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” Writers: Tim Carvell, Josh Gondelman, Dan Gurewitch, Geoff Haggerty, Jeff Maurer, John Oliver, Scott Sherman, Will Tracy, Jill Twiss, Juli Weiner, Ben Silva, Seena Vali
“Late Night with Seth Meyers,” Writers: Jermaine Affonso, Alex Baze, Bryan Donaldson, Sal Gentile, Matt Goldich, Dina Gusovsky, Jenny Hagel, Allison Hord, Mike Karnell, John Lutz, Seth Meyers, Ian Morgan, Seth Reiss, Amber Ruffin, Mike Scollins, Mike Shoemaker, Ben Warheit *WINNER
“Real Time with Bill Maher,” Writers: Scott Carter, Adam Felber, Matt Gunn, Brian Jacobsmeyer, Jay Jaroch, Chris Kelly, Bill Maher, Billy Martin, Bob Oschack, Danny Vermont
“The Daily Show with Trevor Noah,” Writers: Dan Amira, David Angelo, Steve Bodow, Kashana Cauley, Devin Delliquanti, Zach DiLanzo, Hallie Haglund, David Kibuuka, Matt Koff, Adam Lowitt, Dan McCoy, Lauren Sarver Means, Trevor Noah, Joseph Opio, Zhubin Parang, Owen Parsons, Daniel Radosh, Michelle Wolf
“The Jim Jefferies Show,” Head Writer: Jason Reich, Writers: Jim Jefferies, Subhah Agarwal, Kevin Avery, Curtis Cook, Lucas Kavner, Matt Kirshen, Chris McKinley, Bryan Olsen, Laura Willcox, JJ Whitehead, Scott Y. Zabielski
COMEDY/VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
“Nathan For You,” Writers: Leo Allen, Nathan Fielder, Carrie Kemper, Michael Koman, Adam Locke-Norton, Eric Notarnicola
“Portlandia,” Writers: Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein, Karen Kilgariff, Jonathan Krisel, Graham Wagner
“Saturday Night Live,” Head Writers: Chris Kelly, Sarah Schneider, Bryan Tucker, Writers: James Anderson, Kristen Bartlett, Jeremy Beiler, Neal Brennan, Zack Bornstein, Joanna Bradley, Megan Callahan, Michael Che, Anna Drezen, Fran Gillespie, Sudi Green, Steve Higgins, Colin Jost, Erik Kenward, Rob Klein, Nick Kocher, Michael Koman, Dave McCary, Brian McElhaney, Dennis McNicholas, Drew Michael, Lorne Michaels, Josh Patten, Katie Rich, Pete Schultz, Streeter Seidell, Will Stephen, Kent Sublette, Julio Torres *WINNER
“The President Show,” Writers: Emily Altman, Anthony Atamanuik, Emmy Blotnick, Neil Casey, Mike Drucker, Noah Garfinkel, John Gemberling, Peter Grosz, Mitra Jouhari, John Knefel, Alison Leiby, Christine Nangle, John Reynolds, Jason Ross, Rae Sanni, Evan Waite
“Weekend Update Summer Edition,” Writers: Megan Callahan, Michael Che, Mikey Day, Steve Higgins, Colin Jost, Dennis McNicholas, Josh Patten, Katie Rich, Pete Schultz, Streeter Seidell, Kent Sublette, Brian Tucker
COMEDY/VARIETY SPECIALS
“39th Annual Kennedy Center Honors,” Written by Dave Boone *WINNER
“89th Annual Academy Awards,” Written by Billy Kimball, Jon Macks; Special Material Written by Jack Allison, Tony Barbieri, Jonathan Bines, Joelle Boucai, Gonzalo Cordova, Gary Greenberg, Josh Halloway, Sal Iacono, Eric Immerman, Bess Kalb, Jimmy Kimmel, Jeff Loveness, Molly McNearney, Danny Ricker, Joe Strazzullo
“AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Diane Keaton,” Written by Bob Gazzale, Jon Macks
“Michael Bolton’s Big, Sexy, Valentine’s Day Special,” Written by Scott Aukerman, Dave Ferguson, Mike Hanford, Tim Kalpakis, Joe Saunders, Akiva Schaffer; Additional Material Written by Zach Kanin, Claudia O’Doherty, Tim Robinson
“Nathan For You: A Celebration,” Written by Leo Allen, Nathan Fielder, Carrie Kemper, Michael Koman, Adam Locke-Norton, Eric Notarnicola
QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
“Hollywood Game Night,” Head Writer: Grant Taylor; Writers: Michael Agbabian, Alex Chauvin, Ann Slichter, Dwight D. Smith *WINNER
“Jeopardy!,” Written by Matthew Caruso, John Duarte, Harry Friedman, Mark Gaberman, Deborah Griffin, Michele Loud, Robert McClenaghan, Jim Rhine, Steve D. Tamerius, Billy Wisse
DAYTIME DRAMA
“General Hospital,” Head Writers: Shelly Altman, Jean Passanante; Writers: Anna Theresa Cascio, Suzanne Flynn, Charlotte Gibson, Lucky Gold, Kate Hall, Elizabeth Korte, Daniel James O’Connor, Dave Rupel, Katherine Schock, Scott Sickles, Christopher Van Etten, Christopher Whitesell *WINNER
“Days of Our Lives,” Writers: Ron Carlivati, Sheri Anderson, Lorraine Broderick, David Cherrill, Lisa Connor, Carolyn Culliton, Richard Culliton, Rick Draughon, Cydney Kelley, David Kreizman, David A. Levinson, Rebecca McCarty, Ryan Quan, Dave Ryan, Elizabeth Snyder, Tyler Topits
CHILDREN’S EPISODIC AND SPECIALS
“American Girl – Summer Camp, Friends for Life” (“American Girl”), Teleplay by Alison McDonald, Story by Alison McDonald and Caron Tschampion
“An American Girl Story – Ivy & Julie 1976: A Happy Balance” (“American Girl”), Written by May Chan *WINNER
“Just Add 1965” (“Just Add Magic”), Written by Lauren Thompson; Amazon
“Meet Julia” (Sesame Street), Written by Christine Ferraro
“The Magical Wand Chase: A Sesame Street Special,” Written by Raye Lankford, Jessica Carleton, Ken Scarborough
CHILDREN’S LONG FORM
No nominations
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – CURRENT EVENTS
“Confronting ISIS” (“Frontline”), Written by Martin Smith *WINNER
“Poverty, Politics and Profit” (“Frontline”), Written by Rick Young
“Unseen Enemy,” Written by Janet Tobias
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS
“Divided States of America” Part One (“Frontline”), Written by Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser
“Rachel Carson” (“American Experience”), Written and Directed by Michelle Ferrari
“The Great War” Part II (“American Experience”), Written by Stephen Ives *WINNER
“The Great War” Part III (“American Experience”), Written by Rob Rapley
“The Vietnam War,” Episode Six: “Things Fall Apart,” Written by Geoffrey C. Ward
NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“Obama Wiretap Allegations” (“World News Tonight with David Muir”), Mark Berman, Barbara Rick, Tom Llamas
“September 29, 2017” (“World News Now”), Written by Matt Nelko, Jack Sheahan, Debbie Humes, Carla Brittain, Constance Johnson, Lloyd deVries, Craig Morancie
“White Helmets” (“60 Minutes”), Written by Scott Pelley, Nicole Young, Katie Kerbstat *WINNER
NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“Chief of Chobani” (“60 Minutes”), Written by Steve Kroft, Oriana Zill de Granados; CBS News *WINNER
“Fighting Famine” (“60 Minutes”), Written by Scott Pelley, Nicole Young; CBS News
DIGITAL NEWS
“At the Capitol With Those for Whom Last Night Mattered the Most,” Written by Emma Roller; SplinterNews.com
“Becoming Ugly,” Written by Madeleine Davies; Jezebel.com
“The Super Predators,” Written by Melissa Jeltsen, Dana Liebelson; Huffingtonpost.com *WINNER
“Why Did Politicon Make Me Want To Die?,” Written by Libby Watson; SplinterNews.com
RADIO/AUDIO NOMINEES
RADIO/AUDIO DOCUMENTARY
“2016 Year in Review,” Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio
“Castro, Cuba & Communism,” Written by Thomas A. Sabella; CBS News Radio
“CBS Radio 90th Anniversary,” Written by Dianne E. James, Gail Lee; CBS News Radio *WINNER
“Remembering Princess Diana 20 Years Later,” Written by Andrew Evans; ABC News Radio
RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“Hugh Hefner: A Social Revolutionary in Silk Pajamas,” Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio
“World News This Week November 18, 2016,” Written by Joan B. Harris; ABC News Radio
“World News This Week: June 9, 2017,” Written by Tara Gimbel Tanis; ABC News Radio *WINNER
RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“Chuck Berry,” Written by Jerry Edling; KNX
“Dishin’ Digital on WCBS-AM,” Written by Robert Hawley; WCBS *WINNER
“Holiday Stories,” Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio
“One Nation, Overdosed: An Investigative Report,” Written by Tara Gimbel Tanis; ABC News Radio
PROMOTIONAL WRITING NOMINEES
ON-AIR PROMOTION (RADIO OR TELEVISION)
“CBS Comedy,” Written by Dan Greenberger *WINNER
“The Good Fight,” Written by Brian Retchless
TELEVISION GRAPHIC ART AND ANIMATION
No nominations
VIDEOGAME NOMINEES
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN VIDEOGAME WRITING
“Dishonored: Death of the Outsider,” External Writers Anna Megill, Hazel Monforton; Lead Narrative Designer Sachka Duval
“Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow,” Written by Cas Ruffin, Patric M. Verrone
“Horizon Zero Dawn,” Narrative Director John Gonzalez; Lead Writer Benjamin McCaw; Writing by Ben Schroder, Anne Toole; Additional Writing by Dee Warrick, Meg Jayanth *WINNER
“Madden NFL 18: Longshot,” Written by Michael Young, Adrian Todd Zuniga; Story by Michael Young