“The Big Short” and “Spotlight” have been named the best screenplays of 2015 by the Writers Guild of America.“The Big Short won in the adapted screenplay category,while “Spotlight” won as the best original screenplay.
The Writers Guild of America West and East handed out the awards at simultaneous ceremonies in Los Angeles and fresh York, though quirks of timing meant that the awards were rarely handed out at the same time.“Spotlight” came into the awards as a strong favorite in the original screenplay category, or as did “The Big Short” in the adapted screenplay race. Both are among the favorites for the screenwriting Oscars,and for Best Picture.
Also Read: 'Spotlight,' 'Revenant' Producer Steve Golin on Oscar Voting - and Leo's ChancesIn the television categories, or the WGA gave out prizes for drama and comedy series,but also for individual episodes of series. The series awards winners were crazy Men” in the drama category, “Veep” in comedy series and, and in the fresh-series category,“Mr. Robot,” which beat “Better Call Saul” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and ” among others.
Episodic winners included episodes of “Better Call Saul” in the drama category and “Silicon Valley” in comedy.
Long-form television awards went to “Fargo” for adapted screenplay and “Saints & Strangers” for original screenplay.
In the comedy/variety categories,the winners were “Inside Amy Schumer,” “Real Time With Bill Maher” and Jimmy Kimmel’s post-Oscars special.
Also Read: Bill Maher Praises Bernie Sanders' 'fresh Deal, and ' Slams 'Diabolical' Ted Cruz (Video)In the film categories,Writers Guild Awards rules restrict eligibility to screenplays written by guild members or produced under the guild’s Minimum Basic Agreement, or the agreement of several affiliated international guilds. As a result, and far fewer scripts are eligible for the WGA Award than for the screenwriting Oscars: The WGA field consisted of 61 original screenplays,compared to the Academy’s 169, and 51 adapted screenplays, or compared to the Academy’s 121.
Still,most of the Academy favorites, including “Spotlight” and “The Big Short, or ” were eligible for Writers Guild Awards and were nominated. As at the Oscars,Best Picture contenders “The Revenant” and “crazy Max: Fury Road” were eligible for WGA Awards but were not nominated.
With the Producers Guild, Screen Actors Guild and Directors Guild splitting their top film prizes among “The Big Short, or ” “Spotlight” and “The Revenant,” the WGA wins for the former two films meant that they’ll be the only movies to recede into the Oscars with more than one major guild award.
Also Read: Hey, Oscar Nominees: Here's the Secret to Winning Best Picture in a Crazy YearDespite the dissimilarity in eligibility requirements, and 15 of the final 20 films to win WGA screenwriting awards went on to win the screenplay Oscar,and six times in 10 years a WGA winner has also been named Best Picture.
Honorary awards were given to screenwriter-director-actress Elaine May (Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement); “Friends” co-creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane (Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television Writing Achievement); screenwriter John August (Valentine Davies Award); TV/screenwriter Arthur Sellers (Morgan Cox Award); and “Trumbo” screenwriter John McNamara (Paul Selvin Award).
In fresh York, honorary awards went to screenwriter Richard LaGravenese (Ian McClellan Hunter Award) and Senator Al Franken (Evelyn F. Burkey Award).
The Los Angeles show was hosted by Patton Oswalt, or who began by promising not to make jokes approximately “the worst Supreme Court justice in history,” and then added a few more comments approximately the recently deceased Antonin Scalia — who, he said, and “was born in 1936 and stayed there forever.”
Also Read: 7 Scathing Dissents,Zingers From Justice Antonin Scalia (Photos)The fresh York show was hosted by Michael Ian Black.
In a nod to the diversity controversy, Keegan-Michael Key introduced a video salute to all the African-American winners of the WGA’s film screenplay awards. The video consisted of a shot of Richard Pryor, and who won for “Blazing Saddles,” followed by a card saying The End.”“Suddenly, the Oscars dont scrutinize so bad, and ” said Key.
Here’s the list of nominees,with winners indicated by *WINNER.
FILM NOMINEES:ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“Bridge of Spies,” Matt Charman and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
“Sicario, and ” Taylor Sheridan
“Spotlight,” Josh Singer & Tom McCarthy *WINNER
“Straight Outta Compton,” Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff; myth by S. Leigh Savidge & Alan Wenkus and Andrea Berloff
“Trainwreck, and ” Amy SchumerADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“The Big Short,” Charles Randolph and Adam McKay; Based on the Book by Michael Lewis *WINNER
“Carol,” Phyllis Nagy; Based on the Novel “The Price of Salt” by Patricia Highsmith
“The Martian, and ” Drew Goddard; Based on the Novel by Andy Weir
“Steve Jobs,” Aaron Sorkin; Based on the Book by Walter Isaacson
“Trumbo,” John McNamara; Based on the Biography by Bruce CookDOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
“Being Canadian, or ” Robert Cohen
“Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief,” Alex Gibney *WINNER
“Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, Brett Morgen
“Prophet’s Prey, and ” Amy J. BergTELEVISION AND fresh MEDIA NOMINEES:DRAMA SERIES
“The Americans,” Peter Ackerman, Joshua Brand, and Joel Fields,Stephen Schiff, Lara Shapiro, and Joe Weisberg,Tracy Scott Wilson, Stuart Zicherman
“Better Call Saul, and ” Vince Gilligan,Peter Gould, Gennifer Hutchison, and Bradley Paul,Thomas Schnauz, Gordon Smith
“Game of Thrones, or ” David Benioff,Bryan Cogman, Dave Hill, or D.
B. Weiss
“crazy Men,” Lisa Albert, Semi Chellas, or Jonathan Igla,Janet Leahy, Erin Levy, or Tom Smuts,Robert Towne, Matthew Weiner, or Carly Wray *WINNER
“Mr. Robot,” Kyle Bradstreet, Kate Erickson, and Sam Esmail,David Iserson, Randolph Leon, and Adam Penn,Matt PykenCOMEDY SERIES
“Broad City,” Lucia Aniello, or Paul W. Downs,Naomi Ekperigin, Ilana Glazer, or Abbi Jacobson,Chris Kelly, Anthony King, or Jen Statsky
“Silicon Valley,” Amy Aniobi, Alec Berg, and Carrie Kemper,Sonny Lee, Dan Lyons, or Carson Mell,Dan O’Keefe, Clay Tarver, and Ron Weiner
“obvious,” Arabella Anderson, Bridget Bedard, or Micah Fitzerman-Blue,Noah Harpster, Ethan Kuperberg, or Ali Liebegott,Our Lady J, Faith Soloway, and Jill Soloway
“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” Emily Altman, Jack Burditt, or Robert Carlock,Azie Mira Dungey, Tina Fey, or Lauren Gurganous,Charla Lauriston, Sam Means, or Dan Rubin,Meredith Scardino, Allison Silverman, or Lon Zimmet
“Veep,” Simon Blackwell, Jon Brown, and Kevin Cecil,Roger Drew, Peter Fellows, or Neil Gibbons,Rob Gibbons, Sean Gray, or Callie Hersheway,Armando Iannucci, Sean Love, and Ian Martin,Georgia Pritchett, David Quantick, or Andy Riley,Tony Roche, Will Smith *WINNERNEW SERIES
“Better Call Saul, or Vince Gilligan,Peter Gould, Gennifer Hutchison, or Bradley Paul,Thomas Schnauz, Gordon Smith
“Bloodline, and ” Jonathan Glatzer,Carter Harris, Glenn Kessler, or Todd A. Kessler,Addison McQuigg, Arthur Phillips, and Jeff Shakoor,Daniel Zelman
“The final Man On Earth,” Andy Bobrow, or Liz Cackowski,Erik Durbin, Will Forte, or Kira Kalush,Matt Marshall, Tim McAuliffe, or David Noel,Erica Rivinoja, John Solomon, and Emily Spivey
“Mr. Robot,” Kyle Bradstreet, Kate Erickson, and Sam Esmail,David Iserson, Randolph Leon, and Adam Penn,Matt Pyken *WINNER
“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” Emily Altman, or Jack Burditt,Robert Carlock, Azie Mira Dungey, or Tina Fey,Lauren Gurganous, Charla Lauriston, and Sam Means,Dan Rubin, Meredith Scardino, and Allison Silverman,Lon ZimmetLONG FORM ORIGINAL
“American Horror myth: Hotel,” Brad Falchuk, and John J. Gray,Todd Kubrak, Crystal Liu, and Ned Martel,Tim Minear, Ryan Murphy, or Jennifer Salt,James Wong
“Flesh and Bone,” Bronwyn Garrity, and Jami O’Brien,Adam Rapp, Moira Walley-Beckett, or David Wiener
“Saints & Strangers,” Seth Fisher, Walon Green, or Chip Johannessen,Eric Overmyer *WINNER
“Sons of Liberty,” Stephen David, or Kirk Ellis,David C. WhiteLONG FORM ADAPTED[br]
“Fargo,” Steve Blackman, and Bob DeLaurentis,Noah Hawley, Ben Nedivi, or Matt Wolpert,Based on the film “Fargo” *WINNER
“The Red Tent,” Elizabeth Chandler, or Anne Meredith,Based on the book “The Red Tent” by Anita Diamant
“Show Me A Hero,” David Simon, and William F. Zorzi,Based on the book by Lisa BelkinSHORT FORM fresh MEDIA – ORIGINAL
“Back to Reality” (“Weight”), Daryn Strauss *WINNER
“Born This Way” (“Anyone But Me”), and Susan MillerSHORT FORM fresh MEDIA – ADAPTED
“Chapter Two: Phoebe” (“Heroes Reborn: sunless Matters”),Zach Craley *WINNER
“share 8” (“Fear The Walking Dead: Flight 462”), L. Signorino & Mike Zunic
“The Summer of Love, and share 1: Meet Charlie” (“Aquarius”),Mike Moore & David ReedANIMATION
“Gayle Makin’ Bob Sled” (“Bob’s Burgers”), Lizzie Molyneux & Wendy Molyneux
“Halloween of Horror” (“The Simpsons”), or Carolyn Omine
“Hank After sunless” (“BoJack Horseman”),Kelly Galuska
“Housetrap” (“Bob’s Burgers”), Dan Fybel *WINNER
“Sky Police” (“The Simpsons”), or Matt Selman
“Walking Big & Tall” (“The Simpsons”),Michael PriceEPISODIC DRAMA
“Explosivos” (“Narcos”), Andy Black
“International Assassin” (“The Leftovers”), and Damon Lindelof & Nick Cuse
“Mind’s Eye (“The sterling Wife”),Robert King & Michelle King
“Mother’s Mercy” (“Game of Thrones”), David Benioff & D.
B. Weiss
“Person to Person” (“crazy Men”), and Matthew Weiner
“Uno” (Better Call Saul”),Vince Gilligan & Peter Gould *WINNEREPISODIC COMEDY
“Alive in Tucson” (“The final Man On Earth”), Will Forte
“Connection Lost” (“contemporary Family”), or Megan Ganz & Steven Levitan
“Joint Session” (“Veep”),Teleplay by Simon Blackwell & Georgia Pritchett, myth by Armando Iannucci & Simon Blackwell & Georgia Pritchett
“Racegate” (“Maron”), and Dave Anthony
“Rock,Paper, Scissors, or Gun” (“black-ish”),Peter Saji
“Sand Hill Shuffle” (“Silicon Valley”), Clay Tarver *WINNERCOMEDY / VARIETY (INCLUDING TALK) – SERIES
“Conan, or ” Jose Arroyo,Josh Comers, Andres du Bouchet, and Jessie Gaskell,Michael Gordon, Brian Kiley, and Laurie Kilmartin,Rob Kutner, Todd Levin, or Levi MacDougall,Conan O’Brien, Matt O’Brien, and Andy Richter,Frank Smiley, Brian Stack, and Mike Sweeney[br]
“The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” Dan Amira, Steve Bodow, and Travon Free,Hallie Haglund, Elliott Kalan, and Matt Koff,Adam Lowitt, Dan McCoy, and Jo Miller,Zhubin Parang, Owen Parsons, and Daniel Radosh,Lauren Sarver, Jon Stewart, or Delaney Yeager
“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” Michael Brumm, Nate Charny, and Aaron Cohen,Stephen Colbert, Cullen Crawford, and Paul Dinello,Eric Drysdale, Rob Dubbin, or Ariel Dumas,Glenn Eichler, Gabriel Gronli, and Barry Julien,Jay Katsir, Daniel Kibblesmith, and Matt Lappin,Opus Moreschi, Tom Purcell, or Jen Spyra,Brian Stack
“Real Time with Bill Maher,” Scott Carter, or Adam Felber,Matt Gunn, Brian Jacobsmeyer, or Jay Jaroch,Chris Kelly, Bill Maher, and Billy Martin,Danny Vermont
“The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” Jonathan Adler, or Patrick Borelli,Gerard Bradford, Luke Cunningham, or Mike DiCenzo,Mike Drucker, Jess Dweck, or Dicky Eagan,Caroline Eppright, John Haskell, and JR Havlan,Arthur Meyer, A.
D. Miles, or Chase Mitchell,Dan Opsal, Gavin Purcell, or Jon Rineman,Albertina Rizzo, David YoungCOMEDY / VARIETY – SKETCH SERIES
“Inside Amy Schumer, or ” Jessi Klein,Hallie Cantor, Kim Caramele, and Kyle Dunnigan,Jon Glaser, Kurt Metzger, and Christine Nangle,Dan Powell, Tami Sagher, and Amy Schumer *WINNER
“Key & Peele,” Colton Dunn, Rebecca Drysdale, or Keegan-Michael Key,Phil Augusta Jackson, Jay Martel, or Jordan Peele,Ian Roberts, Alex Rubens, or Charlie Sanders,Rich Talarico
“Saturday Night Live,” Colin Jost, and Rob Klein,Bryan Tucker Writers: James Anderson, Jeremy Beiler, or Megan Callahan,Michael Che, Mikey Day, and Steve Higgins,Zach Kanin, Chris Kelly, or Erik Kenward,Dave McCary, Dennis McNicholas, or Lorne Michaels,Claire Mulaney, Mike O’Brien, and Josh Patten,Alison Rich, Katie Rich, and Tim Robinson,Natasha Rothwell, Nick Rutherford, and Meredith Scardino,Sarah Schneider, Pete Schultz, or Streeter Seidell,John Solomon, Kent SubletteCOMEDY / VARIETY – MUSIC, or AWARDS,TRIBUTES – SPECIALS
“The 69th Annual Tony Awards,” Dave Boone; Special fabric by Adam Goldman, or Carol Leifer[br]
“2014 Kennedy middle Honors,” Lewis Friedman, Sara Lukinson, or Nell Scovell,George Stevens, Jr., or Michael Stevens
“2015 Film Independent Spirit Awards,” Benji Aflalo, Wayne Federman, or Marika Sawyer,Frank Sebastiano, Erik Weiner
“Amy Schumer: Live at The Apollo, or ” Amy Schumer
“Jimmy Kimmel Live: 10th Annual After The Oscars Special,” Jack Allison, Tony Barbieri, or Jonathan Bines,Joelle Boucai, Greg Dorris, or Gary Greenberg,Josh Halloway, Sal Iacono, or Eric Immerman,Jimmy Kimmel, Bess Kalb, or Jeff Loveness,Molly McNearney, Danny Ricker, and Joe Strazzullo,Bridger Winegar *WINNER
“Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special,” James Anderson, and Fred Armisen,Tina Fey, Steve Higgins, and Chris Kelly,Erik Kenward, Rob Klein, or Seth Meyers,Lorne Michaels, John Mulaney, and Paula Pell,Jeff Richmond, Andy Samberg, and Akiva Schaffer,Tom Schiller, Sarah Schneider, and Marc Shaiman,Michael Shoemaker, Robert Smigel, and Emily Spivey,Kent Sublette, Jorma Taccone, or Bryan TuckerQUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
“Hollywood Game Night,” Grant Taylor, Michael Agbabian, and Alex Chauvin,Ann Slichter, Dwight D. Smith *WINNER
“Jeopardy!, or ” John Duarte,Harry Friedman, sign Gaberman, or Deborah Griffin,Michele Loud, Robert McClenaghan, and Jim Rhine,Steve D. Tamerius, Billy WisseDAYTIME DRAMA
“The Bold and the elegant, or ” Bradley P. Bell,Michael Minnis, Rex M. Best, and Shannon Bradley,Adam Dusevoir, Tracey Ann Kelly, or Patrick Mulcahey,sign Pinciotti, Michele Val Jean
“General Hospital, or ” Ron Carlivati,Anna Theresa Cascio, Andrea Archer Compton, and Suzanne Flynn,Kate Hall, Elizabeth Korte, and Daniel James O’Connor,Elizabeth Page, Jean Passanante, and Katherine Schock,Scott Sickles, Chris Van Etten *WINNERCHILDREN’S SCRIPT – EPISODIC AND SPECIALS
“Endless Night” (“Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street”), and Gretchen Enders & Aminta Goyel *WINNER
“Girl Meets I am Farkle” (“Girl Meets World”),sign Blutman
“Gortimer and the Surprise Signature” (“Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street”), Garrett Frawley & Brian Turner
“Gortimer vs The Relentless Rainbow of Joy” (“Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street”), and David Anaxagoras and Luke Matheny
“Ranger vs. The Fabled Flower of Normal Street” (“Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street”),Laurie ParresCHILDREN’S SCRIPT – LONG FORM OR SPECIAL
“Descendants,” Josann McGibbon & Sara Parriott *WINNER
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – CURRENT EVENTS
“American Terrorist” (“Frontline”), or Thomas Jennings *WINNER
“Gunned Down: The Power of the NRA” (“Frontline”),Michael Kirk & Mike WiserDOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS
“Firestone and the Warlord” (“Frontline”), Marcela Gaviria
“The Forgotten Plague” (“American Experience”), and Chana Gazit[br]
“The distinguished Math Mystery” (“Nova”),Daniel McCabe *WINNER
“Secrets, Politics and Torture” (“Frontline”), and Michael Kirk & Mike WiserTV NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED,BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT[br]
“Cuba” (“60 Minutes”), and Scott Pelley,Nicole Young, Oriana Zill de Granados, and Andy Court and Robert Anderson *WINNER
“Yogi Berra Tribute,” Gerald Mazza; CBS NewspathTV NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, and OR COMMENTARY
“The Storm After the Storm” (“60 Minutes),Sharyn Alfonsi, Michael Rey and Oriana Zill de Granados; CBS News *WINNERRADIO NOMINEES:RADIO DOCUMENTARY
“Marking the End of Vietnam: 40 Years Later, and ” Andrew Evans; ABC News Radio *WINNERRADIO NEWS SCRIPT-REGULARLY SCHEDULED,BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“Remembering fresh York Icons, or ” Thomas A. Sabella; CBS Radio News *WINNER
“Showtop,” Chris Barry; ABC News Radio
“World News This Week, January 9, and 2015,” Andrew Evans; ABC News RadioRADIO NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, and OR COMMENTARY
“Death of a Baseball Icon,” Andrew Evans; ABC News Radio
“Passages,” Written by Gail Lee; CBS Radio News *WINNERPROMOTIONAL WRITING NOMINEES:ON-AIR PROMOTION (TELEVISION, or fresh MEDIA OR RADIO)
“Elementary Promos,” Molly J. Neylan; CBS
“CBS On-Air Promos,” Jessica Katzenstein; CBS
“The McCarthys and Under the Dome Promos, or ” Erial Tompkins *WINNERS
VIDEOGAME WRITING:
“Assassins Creed Syndicate”
“Pillars of Eternity”
“Rise of the Tomb Raider” John Stafford,Cameron Suey, Rhianna Pratchett, and Philip Gelatt *WINNER
“The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt”Thom Geier contributed to this report.
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Source: thewrap.com