2018 Writers Guild Awards Winners

Both branches of the writers guild announced on February 11th the winners of the 2018 edition with awards for outstanding achievement in writing for film, television, new media, videogames, news, radio/audio, promotional, and graphic animation categories at concurrent ceremonies at the Edison Ballroom in New York City and The Beberly Hilton in Los Angeles.

The WGAE ceremony was hosted by writer and comic Amber Ruffin and Tracy Morgan and Rachel Dratch presented an honorary East Coast award to Tina Fey and Robert Carlock with the Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence and Mentorship. Ken Burns presented the Ian McLellan Hunter Award for Career Achievement to his long-time collaborator Geoffrey C. Ward.  Courtney Simon presented the Richard B. Jablow Award for Devoted Service to the Guil to Hamilton Nolan.

Patton Oswald hosted the West Coast ceremony and during the ceremony there were several honorary awards. Glen Close presented the Paddy Chayefsky Laure Award for Television Writing Achievement to Alison Cross.  Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher presented the Laurel Award for Screenwriter Achievent to James L. Brooks and Ivory Aquino presented the Valentine Davies Award to Dustin Lance Black for his social activism which has positively impacted the LGTB community.  Martin Baron presented the Paul Selvin Award to Liz Hannah and Josh Singer.

Perhaps there are some surprises in other categories as in film the winners are what everyone was hoping for.  Most awards pundits now are predicting that these wins will translate into Oscars wins in the categories of original and adapted screenplay.

Winners are in *BLUE.  To check winners in ALL categories go press release at official East Coast site here or to awards official site here.

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1/5/18
The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) have announced nominations for outstanding achievement in screenwriting during 2017. Winners will be honored at the 2018 Writers Guild Awards on Sunday, February 11, at concurrent ceremonies in New York City and Los Angeles.

Feature films eligible for a Writers Guild Award were exhibited theatrically for at least one week in Los Angeles during 2017 and were written under the WGA’s Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) or under a bona fide collective bargaining agreement of the Writers Guild of Canada, Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, Writers Guild of Ireland, Writers’ Guild of South Africa, New Zealand Writers Guild, Film Writers’ Association (India), La Guilde Francaise des Scénaristes (France), Scriptwriters Guild of Israel, Société des Auteurs de Radio, Télévision et Cinéma (Québec), or Verband Deutscher Drehbuchautoren (VDD/Germany), collectively known as affiliate Guilds. Theatrical screenplays produced under the jurisdiction of the WGA or an affiliate Guild must have been submitted for Writers Guild Awards consideration.

Documentaries eligible for a Writers Guild Award featured an onscreen writing credit and were exhibited theatrically in Los Angeles or New York for one week during 2017. Theatrical documentaries must have been produced under the jurisdiction of the WGA or an affiliate Guild to be eligible for awards consideration.

Some how find these categories quite easy to guess Oscar winners, not only because general buzz but also because films deserve recognition for a well-told remarkable and out-of-the-ordinary story; so, my best guesses are Get Out for original, Call Me by Your Name for adapted (Aaron Sorkin film is still pending for me) and Jane for documentary (made by a very well-known outstanding storyteller: National Geographic).

These are the Nominees

Original Screenplay
Emily V Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani for The Big Sick
*Jordan Peele for Get Out
Steven Rogers for I, Tonya
Great Gerwig for Lady Bird
Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor for The Shape of Water

Adapted Screenplay
*Call Me by Your Name, Screenplay by James Ivory; Based on the novel by Andre Aciman
The Disaster Artist, Screenplay by Scott Neustadter and 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
Theodore Braun for Betting on Zero
*Brett Morgen for Jane
Alex Gibney for No Stone Unturned
Barak Goodman for Oklahoma City

To read announcement at official site -east- go here.  To read all nominations in all categories (TV, Radio, Promotional) go official site -west- here.