“Don’t Look Up” and “CODA” have won the top feature film awards from the Writers Guild of America, which held its annual WGA Awards on Sunday evening.
On the heels of its Producers Guild Award victory on Saturday, “CODA” kicked off the show by winning the first award of the night, for Best Adapted Screenplay. The category also included “Dune,” “Nightmare Alley,” “tick, tick…BOOM!” and “West Side Story” — but two of the biggest challengers to “CODA” in the Oscar race for adapted screenplay, “The Power of the Dog” and “The Lost Daughter,” were not eligible for the award because of WGA regulations.
In the Best Original Screenplay category, “Don’t Look Up” scored a surprise victory over “Licorice Pizza,” which was favored to take the award, and “King Richard.” Two other Oscar nominees, “Belfast” and “The Worst Person in the World,” were ineligible.
Television awards included “Succession” and “Hacks” for drama and comedy series, awards that are given for the entire series. Individual episodes of “Succession” and “The Great” won in separate best episodic drama and comedy categories.
“Hacks” won the award for best new series.
In the longform television categories, “Maid” won for adapted and “Mare of Easttown” for original.
Variety category winners included “”Conan” for comedy/variety talk series, “Full Frontal Wants to Take Your Guns” for comedy/variety special and “I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson” for comedy/variety sketch series.
While about two-thirds of Writers Guild winners have gone on to win the Oscar in recent years, the guild restricts eligibility for its award to screenplays written under the WGA’s minimum basic agreement, or an agreement of one of several affiliated international guilds. That rule often disqualifies scripts that feature heavily in the awards race, which is why Oscar nominees “The Power of the Dog,” “The Lost Daughter” and “Drive My Car” were ineligible in adapted screenplay, as were “Belfast” and “The Worst Person in the World” in the original-screenplay category.
In honorary awards, Barry Jenkins received the Paul Selvin Award, Dick Cavett the Evelyn F. Burkey Award and Mark McCorkle and Bob Schooley the Animation Writers Caucus Animation Writing Award.
The virtual ceremony was hosted by Ashley Nicole Black, with all the nominees pre-recording acceptance speeches in case they won.
Here is the complete list of nominees. Winners are indicated by **WINNER.
Original Screenplay
“Being the Ricardos,” written by Aaron Sorkin
** WINNER “Don’t Look Up,” screenplay by Adam McKay, story by Adam McKay & David Sirota
“The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun,” screenplay by Wes Anderson, story by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola & Hugo Guinness & Jason Schwartzman
“King Richard,” written by Zach Baylin
“Licorice Pizza,” written by Paul Thomas Anderson
Adapted Screenplay
** WINNER “CODA”, screenplay by Siân Heder, based on the original motion picture “La Famille Belier” directed by Eric Lartigau, written by Victoria Bedos, Stanislas Carree de Malberg, Eric Lartigau and Thomas Bidegain
“Dune,” screenplay by Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth, based on the novel “Dune” written by Frank Herbert
“Nightmare Alley,” screenplay by Guillermo del Toro & Kim Morgan, based on the novel by William Lindsay Gresham
“tick…tick…BOOM!,” screenplay by Steven Levenson, based on the play by Jonathan Larson
“West Side Story,” screenplay by Tony Kushner, based on the stage play, book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, play conceived, directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins
Documentary Screenplay
“Becoming Cousteau,” written by Mark Monroe & Pax Wasserman
** WINNER “Exposing Muybridge,” written by Marc Shaffer
“Like a Rolling Stone: The Life & Times of Ben Fong-Torres,” written by Suzanne Joe Kai
Drama Series
“The Handmaid’s Tale,” written by Yahlin Chang, Nina Fiore, Dorothy Fortenberry, Jacey Heldrich, John Herrera, Bruce Miller, Aly Monroe, Kira Snyder, Eric Tuchman
“Loki,” written by Bisha K. Ali, Elissa Karasik, Eric Martin, Michael Waldron
“The Morning Show,” written by Jeff Augustin, Brian Chamberlayne, Kerry Ehrin, Kristen Layden, Erica Lipez, Justin Matthews, Adam Milch, Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Torrey Speer, Scott Troy, Ali Vingiano
**WINNER “Succession,” written by Jesse Armstrong, Jon Brown, Jamie Carragher, Ted Cohen, Francesca Gardiner, Lucy Prebble, Georgia Pritchett, Tony Roche, Susan Soon He Stanton, Will Tracy
“Yellowjackets,” written by Cameron Brent Johnson, Katherine Kearns, Jonathan Lisco, Ashley Lyle, Bart Nickerson, Liz Phang, Ameni Rozsa, Sarah L. Thompson, Chantelle M. Wells
Comedy Series
“Curb Your Enthusiasm,” written by Larry David, Steve Leff, Carol Leifer, Jeff Schaffer, Nathaniel Stein
** WINNER “Hacks,” written by Lucia Aniello, Joanna Calo, Jessica Chaffin, Paul W. Downs, Cole Escola, Janis E. Hirsch, Ariel Karlin, Katherine Kearns, Andrew Law, Joe Mande, Pat Regan, Samantha Riley, Michael Schur, Jen Statsky
“Only Murders in the Building,” written by Thembi Banks, Matteo Borghese, Rachel Burger, Kirker Butler, Madeleine George, John Hoffman, Stephen Markley, Steve Martin, Kristin Newman, Ben Philippe, Kim Rosenstock, Ben Smith, Rob Turbovsky
“Ted Lasso,” written by Jane Becker, Ashley N. Black, Leann Bowen, Sasha Garron, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, Joe Kelly, Bill Lawrence, Jamie Lee, Michael Orton-Toliver, Jason Sudeikis, Phoebe Walsh, Bill Wrubel
“What We Do in the Shadows,” written by Jake Bender, Jemaine Clement, Zach Dunn, Shana Gohd, Sam Johnson, Chris Marcil,” William Meny, Sarah Naftalis, Stefani Robinson, Marika Sawyer, Paul Simms, Lauren Wells
New Series
**WINNER “Hacks,” written by Lucia Aniello, Joanna Calo, Jessica Chaffin, Paul W. Downs, Cole Escola, Janis E. Hirsch, Ariel Karlin, Katherine Kearns, Andrew Law, Joe Mande, Pat Regan, Samantha Riley, Michael H. Schur, Jen Statsky
“Loki,” written by Bisha K. Ali, Elissa Karasik, Eric Martin, Michael Waldron
“Only Murders in the Building,” written by Thembi Banks, Matteo Borghese, Rachel Burger, Kirker Butler, Madeleine George, John Hoffman, Stephen Markley, Steve Martin, Kristin Newman, Ben Philippe, Kim Rosenstock, Ben Smith, Rob Turbovsky
“Reservation Dogs,” written by Tazbah Rose Chavez, Sydney Freeland, Sterlin Harjo, Migizi Pensoneau, Tommy Pico, Taika Waititi, Bobby Wilson
“Yellowjackets,” written by Cameron Brent Johnson, Katherine Kearns, Jonathan Lisco, Ashley Lyle, Bart Nickerson, Liz Phang, Ameni Rozsa, Sarah L. Thompson, Chantelle M. Wells
Original Long Form
“American Horror Story: Double Feature,” written by Brad Falchuk, Manny Coto, Ryan Murphy, Kristen Reidel, Reilly Smith
** WINNER “Mare of Easttown,” written by Brad Ingelsby
“Midnight Mass,” written by James Flanagan, Mike Flanagan, Elan Gale, Jeff Howard, Dani Parker
“Them: Covenant,” written by Christina Ham, Little Marvin, David Matthews, Dominic Orlando, Seth Zvi Rosenfeld, Francine Volpe
“The White Lotus,” written by Mike White
Adapted Long Form
“Halston,” written by Ian Brennan, Ted Malawer, Ryan Murphy, Tim Pinckney, Sharr White, Kristina Woo, based on the book “Simply Halston” by Steven Gaines
“Impeachment: American Crime Story,” written by Flora Birnbaum, Sarah Burgess, Halley Feiffer, Daniel Pearle, based on the book “A Vast Conspiracy” by Jeffrey Toobin
**WINNER “Maid,” written by Rebecca Brunstetter, Marcus Gardley, Michelle Denise Jackson, Colin McKenna, Molly Smith Metzler, inspired by the book by Stephanie Land
“The Underground Railroad,” written by Jihan Crowther, Allison Davis, Jacqueline Hoyt, Barry Jenkins, Nathan C. Parker, Adrienne Rush, based on the novel by Colson Whitehead
“WandaVision,” written by Peter Cameron, Mackenzie Dohr, Laura Donney, Bobak Esfarjani, Chuck Hayward, Megan McDonnell, Jac Schaeffer, Cameron Squires, based on the Marvel Comics
Adapted Short Form New Media
“Calls,” written by Fede Alvarez, Nick Cuse, Aidan Fitzgerald, Noah Gardner, Rodo Sayagues
** WINNER “Debunking Borat,” written by Robyn Adams, Paul Hogan, Jack Youngelson
“The Expanse: One Ship,” written by Wes Chatham, Julianna Damewood, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Glenton Richards
Animation
“An Incon-Wheelie-ent Truth” (“Bob’s Burgers”), written by Dan Fybel
“Loft in Bedslation” (“Bob’s Burgers”), written by Jameel Saleem
“Must Love Dogs” (“Family Guy”), written by Daniel Peck
** WINNER “Planteau” (“Tuca & Bertie”),” written by Lisa Hanawalt
“Portrait of a Lackey on Fire” (“The Simpsons”),” written by Rob LaZebnik & Johnny LaZebnik
“The Star of the Backstage” (“The Simpsons”),” written by Elisabeth Kiernen Averick
Episodic Drama
“1883” (“1883”),” written by Taylor Sheridan
“Birth Mother” (“This Is Us”),” written by Eboni Freeman & Kay Oyegun
“La Amara Vita” (“The Morning Show”),” written by Kerry Ehrin & Scott Troy
“The New Normal” (“New Amsterdam”),” written by David Schulner
** WINNER “Retired Janitors of Idaho” (“Succession”),” written by Tony Roche & Susan Soon He Stanton
“Testimony” (“The Handmaid’s Tale”),” written by Kira Snyder
Episodic Comedy
“All Sales Final” (“Superstore”), teleplay by Jonathan Green & Gabe Miller, story by Justin Spitzer
**WINNER “Alone At Last” (“The Great”),” written by Tony McNamara
“Enlightened Dave” (“Dave”),” written by Luvh Rakhe & Lee Sung Jin
“Episode One: True Crime” (“Only Murders in the Building”),” written by Steve Martin & John Hoffman
“F*ckin’ Rez Dogs” (Pilot) (“Reservation Dogs”),” written by Sterlin Harjo & Taika Waititi
“Pilot” (“The Wonder Years”),” written by Saladin K. Patterson
Comedy/Variety Talk Series
**WINNER “Conan,” head writer: Matt O’Brien; writers: Jose Arroyo, Glenn Boozan, Daniel Cronin, Andres du Bouchet, Jessie Gaskell, Skyler Higley, Brian Kiley, Laurie Kilmartin, Todd Levin, Levi MacDougall, Conan O’Brien, Andy Richter, Frank Smiley, Mike Sweeney
“Desus & Mero,” writers: Daniel “Desus Nice” Baker, Josh Gondelman, Robert Kornhauser, Joel “The Kid Mero” Martinez, Robert A. McRae, Heben Nigatu, Mike Pielocik, Julia Young
“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” writers: Johnathan Appel, Ali Barthwell, Tim Carvell, Liz Hynes, Greg Iwinski, Mark Kramer, Daniel O’Brien, John Oliver, Owen Parsons, Charlie Redd, Joanna Rothkopf, Chrissy Shackelford, Ben Silva, Seena Vali
“The Problem with Jon Stewart,” head writer: Chelsea Devantez; writers: Kristen Acimovic, Henrik Blix, Rob Christensen, Jay Jurden, Alexa Loftus, Tocarra Mallard, Robby Slowik, Jon Stewart, Kasaun Wilson
Comedy/Variety Sketch Series
“How To with John Wilson,” written by Alice Gregory, Michael Koman, Conner O’Malley, Susan Orlean, John Wilson
**WINNER “I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson,” writers: Zach Kanin, Tim Robinson, John Solomon
“PAUSE with Sam Jay,” writers: Emmy Blotnick, Ryan Donahue, Zack Fox, Megan Gailey, Robin M. Henry, Sam Jay, Langston Kerman, Jak Knight
“Saturday Night Live,” head writer: Michael Che, Anna Drezen, Colin Jost, Kent Sublette; senior writer: Bryan Tucker; Weekend Update head writer: Pete Schultz; Weekend Update writers: Megan Callahan-Shah, Dennis McNicholas, Josh Patten, Mark Steinbach; supervising writers: Alison Gates, Fran Gillespie, Sudi Green, Streeter Seidell; writers: James Anderson, Dan Bulla, Steven Castillo, Mike DiCenzo, Billy Domineau, Alex English, John Higgins, Steve Higgins, Martin Herlihy, Vannessa Jackson, Sam Jay, Erik Kenward, Tesha Kondrat, Dan Licata, Lorne Michaels, Ben Marshall, Jake Nordwind, Jasmine Pierce, Gary Richardson, Ben Silva, Emily Spivey, Will Stephen, Celeste Yim
“That Damn Michael Che,” head writer: Michael Che; writing supervised by Gary Richardson; writers: Rosebud Baker, Reggie Conquest, Godfrey Danchimah Jr., Calise Hawkins, Kevin Iso, Sam Jay, Matt Richards, Wil Sylvince
Comedy/Variety Specials
“43rd Annual Kennedy Center Honors,” written by Dave Boone
“Drew Michael: Red Blue Green,” written by Drew Michael
** WINNER “Full Frontal Wants to Take Your Guns,” head writers: Kristen Bartlett, Mike Drucker; writers: Samantha Bee, Pat Cassels, Sean Crespo, Mike Drucker, Miles Kahn, Chris Thompson, Holly Walker, Alison Zeidman; writing supervised by Joe Grossman, Sahar Rizvi; special material by Michael Rhoa
“The Tony Awards Presents: Broadway’s Back!,” written by Dave Boone; special material by Amber Ruffin, Marc Shaiman, Daniel J. Watts, Scott Wittman; opening number by Amber Ruffin, Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman
“Yearly Departed,” head writer: Bess Kalb; writers: Karen Chee, Akilah Green, Franchesca Ramsey, Jocelyn Richard
Quiz and Audience Participation
** WINNER “Baking It,” writers: Neil Casey, Jessica McKenna, Zach Reino, Niccole Thurman; Peacock
“Capital One College Bowl,” head writer: Scott Saltzburg; writers: Rosemarie DiSalvo, Ryan Hopak, Jon Macks, Karissa Noel, Todd Sachs, Doug Shaffer, Grant Taylor, Bennett Webber
“The Chase,” head writer: David Levinson Wilk; writers: Erik Agard, Eliza Bayne, Kyle Beakley, Megan Broussard, Robert King, Amy Ozols, Bobby Patton, Ellen Teitel, Ari Yolkut
“Jeopardy!,” writers: Michael Davies, John Duarte, Mark Gaberman, Debbie Griffin, Michele Loud, Robert McClenaghan, Jim Rhine, Mike Richards, Billy Wisse
Daytime Drama
“General Hospital,” head writers: Chris Van Etten, Dan O’Connor Associate Head Writer: Anna T. Cascio; Writers: Barbara Bloom, Suzanne Flynn, Charlotte Gibson, Lucky Gold, Kate Hall, Elizabeth Korte, Shannon Peace, David Rupel, Lisa Seidman, Scott Sickles
“The Young and the Restless,” head writer: Amanda L. Beall; writers: Susan Banks, Jeff Beldner, Sara A. Bibel, Brent Boyd, Susan Dansby, Christopher Dunn, Sara Endsley, Janice Ferri Esser, Marin Gazzaniga, Lynn Martin, Natalie Minardi Slater, Teresa Zimmerman
** WINNER “Days of Our Lives,” head writer: Ron Carlivati; writers: Lorraine Broderick, Joanna Cohen, Carolyn Culliton, Richard Culliton, Jamey Giddens, David Kreizman, Rebecca McCarty, Ryan Quan, Dave Ryan, Katherine D. Schock, Elizabeth Snyder
Children’s Episodic, Long Form and Specials
“A Big Favor for Grampy/A Fair Way to Bounce” (Donkey Hodie),” written by Adam Rudman & David Rudman, Joey Mazzarino
“Park Ranger Percy / Lizard Lizzy” (“Helpsters”), written by Annabeth Bondor-Stone, Connor White, Liz Hara
“Rice” (“Waffles + Mochi”), written by Lyric Lewis
** WINNER “The Tale of the Midnight Magic” (“Are You Afraid of the Dark?”), written by JT Billings, Alex Ebel
“Which Witch?” (“Just Beyond”), written by Mitali Jahagirdar
Documentary Script – Current Events
** WINNER “The Healthcare Divide” (“Frontline”),” written by Rick Young
“The Jihadist” (“Frontline”),” written by Martin Smith & Marcela Gaviria
Documentary Script – Other Than Current Events
“A Writer” (Hemingway),” written by Geoffrey C. Ward
“Citizen” (“Amend: The Fight for America”),” written by Sasha Stewart and Robe Imbriano
** WINNER “Citizen Hearst, Part One” (“American Experience”),” written by Gene Tempest
“Round One” (“Muhammad Ali”),” written by David McMahon & Sarah Burns
News Script – Regularly Scheduled, Bulletin or Breaking Report
“Against All Enemies” (“60 Minutes”),” written by Katie Kerbstat Jacobson, Scott Pelley, Nicole Young
“Democracy Lost” (“60 Minutes”),” written by Oriana Zill de Granados, Sharyn Alfonsi
**WINNER “The Unequal Recession” (“60 Minutes”),” written by Katie Kerbstat Jacobson, Scott Pelley, Nicole Young
News Script – Analysis, Feature or Commentary
“The Fall of Kandahar” (“Vice News Tonight”),” written by Amel Guettatfi, Ben C. Solomon
**WINNER “Handcuffed to the Truth” (“60 Minutes”), written by Katie Kerbstat Jacobson, Scott Pelley, Nicole Young
“Unpacking How Child Welfare and Foster Care Fails Black Children” (“Unpack That”),” written by Joel Kahn, Felice León
“The Unstudied Link Between the COVID Vaccine and Periods” (“Vice News Tonight”),” written by Caitlin Bladt
“Woman in Motion: Star Trek’s Nichelle Nichols and The Transformation of NASA” (“CBS Sunday Morning”),” written by Daniel Elias, Michelle Miller
Digital News
“An Oral History of the Longest-Ever Broadway Shutdown” – Written by Madeline Ducharme
“Knives Out: Why ‘Hacks’ Works” – Written by Katie Baker
** WINNER “Men’s Rights Asians: Think This Is Their Moment” – written by Aaron Mak
“We Get to Hear Them Training to Kill Us” – Written by Christina Cauterucci
“What if the Unorthodox Arizona Audit Declares Trump Won?” – Written by Jeremy Stahl
Radio News Script – Regularly Scheduled, Bulletin or Breaking Report
“Silence the Mics: Tributes to Some Famous Broadcasters” – Written by Gail Lee
**WINNER “Surfside Condo Collapse (CBS World News Roundup Late Edition)” – Written by Kathleen M. Biggins
“World News This Week – Week of August 16, 2021” – Written by Robert Hawley
“World News This Week – Week of January 8, 2021” – Written by Joy Piazza
“World News This Week – Week of September 3, 2021” – Written by Joan B. Harris
Radio News Script – Documentary
** WINNER “The Tasmanian Devil Tattoo (Decoder Ring)” – Written by Benjamin Frisch
“When the Culture War Comes for Your Job (What Next)” – Written by Mary Harris
Radio News Script – Documentary
** WINNER “One Year: 1977 ‘The Miracle Cure’” – Written by Evan Chung
“Our Year (What Next)” – Written by Mary Harris
“That Seattle Muzak Sound (Decoder Ring)” – Written by Benjamin Frisch
“Who Killed the Segway? (Decoder Ring)” – Written by Dan Kois
On-Air Promotion
** WINNER “Celebrating Powerful Female Leads: Trailers for The Equalizer & Why Women Kill” – Written by Molly Neylan
“CSI: Vegas Trailers” – Written by Erial Tompkins
