Moonlight and Arrival were the big film winners tonight at the 69th annual WGA Awards tonight, which were handed out at dual ceremonies in New York and Los Angeles. On the TV side, FX swept the top categories with Atlanta winning for Comedy Series and New Series, The Americans for Drama Series and The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story for Long Form Adapted. See the full list of winners below.
HBO’s Confirmation picked up the Long Form Original prize, and NBC won three awards including Episode Drama for freshman breakout This Is Us and Comedy/Variety (Sketch) for the rejuvenated Saturday Night Live.
A24
There was a twist on he film side this year: Moonlight and Loving were in the Original category per the WGA but were in the Adapted race for the Oscars. Moonlight got an Oscar nom, but Loving did not.
Winning in either top film category is a good omen for the nominated writers. Before tonight, seven of the past 10 WGA winners for original screenplay have gone on to win the Oscar, including Spotlight last year. The chances are even better in the adapted category, where nine of the past 10 WGA winners also scooped the Academy Award, including The Big Short in 2016.
Command and Control won the documentary feature prize.
Also on the TV side, HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver won for Comedy/Variety (Talk), and Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt picked up the Episode Comedy trophy.
The awards were handed out during bicoastal dual ceremonies hosted by Patton Oswalt at the Beverly Hilton and Lewis Black at the Edison Ballroom in Manhattan. “Welcome to the last ever WGA Awards,” Oswalt said at the start. “Every award comes with some antibiotics and nine shotgun shells. We celebrate the end of the written word this evening. We also say goodbye to the apostrophe in the word ‘you’re.’” He added: “It doesn’t matter who wins tonight, you are all haters and losers. Remember that, please.”
Associated Press; Rex/Shutterstock
Among the writers receiving special honors tonight are Oliver Stone, who received the Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement, and Aaron Sorkin, who got the Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television Writing Achievement. Comic Relief and Red Nose Day founder Richard Curtis, received the Valentine Davies Award, the guild’s top humanitarian honor. Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, who died in July, received posthumously the Jean Renoir Award for International Screenwriting Achievement. The Paul Selvin Award went to Susannah Grant for her Emmy-nominated script for Confirmation, which “best embodies the spirit of constitutional rights and civil liberties that are indispensable to the survival of free writers everywhere.” Also honored: Policing the Police documentarian Jelani Cobb, the first recipient of the WGA West’s newly created Walter Bernstein Award; John Waters, the Ian McLellan Hunter Award for Career Achievement; Steve O’Donnell, the Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence; and Courtney Simon, the Richard B. Jablow Award for Devoted Service to the Guild.
Here is the complete list of winners:
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Moonlight
Written by Barry Jenkins, Story by Tarell McCraney; A24
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Arrival
Screenplay by Eric Heisserer;
Based on the Story “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang; Paramount Pictures
COMEDY SERIES
Atlanta
Written by Donald Glover, Stephen Glover, Stefani Robinson, Paul Simms; FX
NEW SERIES
Atlanta
Written by Donald Glover, Stephen Glover, Stefani Robinson, Paul Simms; FX
EPISODIC DRAMA
“The Trip” (This Is Us), Written by Vera Herbert; NBC
EPISODIC COMEDY
“Kimmy Goes on a Playdate!” (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)
Written by Robert Carlock; Netflix
COMEDY / VARIETY – SKETCH SERIES
Saturday Night Live
Head Writers: Rob Klein, Bryan Tucker Writers: James Anderson, Fred Armisen, Jeremy Beiler, Chris Belair, Megan Callahan, Michael Che, Mikey Day, Jim Downey, Tina Fey, Fran Gillespie, Sudi Green, Tim Herlihy, Steve Higgins, Colin Jost, Zach Kanin, Chris Kelly, Erik Kenward, Paul Masella, Dave McCary, Dennis McNicholas, Seth Meyers, Lorne Michaels, Josh Patten, Paula Pell, Katie Rich, Tim Robinson, Sarah Schneider, Pete Schultz, Streeter Seidell, Dave Sirus, Emily Spivey, Andrew Steele, Will Stephen, Kent Sublette; NBC
COMEDY / VARIETY (INCLUDING TALK) – SERIES
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Writers: Kevin Avery, Tim Carvell, Josh Gondelman, Dan Gurewitch, Geoff Haggerty, Jeff Maurer, John Oliver, Scott Sherman, Will Tracy, Jill Twiss, Juli Weiner; HBO
COMEDY / VARIETY – MUSIC, AWARDS, TRIBUTES – SPECIALS
Triumph’s Election Special
Written by Andy Breckman, Josh Comers, David Feldman, R J Fried, Jarrett Grode, Ben Joseph, Matthew Kirsch, Michael Koman, Mike Lawrence, Brian Reich, Craig Rowin, Robert Smigel, Zach Smilovitz, Andrew Weinberg; Hulu
LONG FORM ORIGINAL
Confirmation, Written by Susannah Grant; HBO
LONG FORM ADAPTED
American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson
Written by Scott Alexander, Joe Robert Cole, D.V. DeVincentis, Maya Forbes, Larry Karaszewski, Wally Wolodarsky, Based on the book The Run of His Life by Jeffrey Toobin; FX
ANIMATION
“Stop the Presses” (BoJack Horseman)
Written by Joe Lawson; Netflix
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
Command and Control
Telescript by Robert Kenner and Eric Schlosser, Story by Brian Pearle and Kim Roberts; Based on the book Command and Control by Eric Schlosser;
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – CURRENT EVENTS
(tie)
“The Choice 2016” (Frontline)
Written by Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser;
PBS
“Inside Assad’s
Syria” (Frontline)
Written by Martin Smith; PBS
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS
“Jackie Robinson, Part One”
Written by David McMahon & Sarah Burns; PBS
DAYTIME DRAMA
General Hospital, Writers: Shelly Altman, Anna Theresa Cascio, Andrea Archer
CHILDREN’S SCRIPT – LONG FORM OR SPECIAL
Once Upon a Sesame Street Christmas
Written by Geri Cole & Ken Scarborough; HBO
CHILDREN’S SCRIPT – EPISODIC AND SPECIALS
“Mel vs. The Night Mare of Normal Street” (Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street)
Written by Laurie Parres; Amazon Studios
SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA – ADAPTED
“Passage” Part 4 (Fear the Walking Dead), Written by Lauren Signorino & Mike Zunic; amc.com
SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA – ORIGINAL
“The Party” (The Commute)
Written by Linsey Stewart & Dane Clark; youtube.com
QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
Hollywood Game Night
Head Writer: Grant Taylor;
Writers: Michael Agbabian, Alex Chauvin, Ann Slichter, Dwight D. Smith; NBC
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN VIDEOGAME WRITING
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
RADIO NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“Morley Safer: A Journalist’s Life”
Written by Gail Lee; CBS Radio Network
RADIO NEWS SCRIPT—REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“World News This Week” August 26, 2016
Written by Tara Gimbel Tanis; ABC News Radio
RADIO DOCUMENTARY
“Chernobyl: 30 Years Later”
Written by Andrew Evans; ABC News Radio
ON-AIR PROMOTION (TELEVISION, NEW MEDIA OR RADIO)
“CBS On-Air Reel”
Written by Brian Retchless; CBS On-Air Promotion
NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“Muhammad Ali: Remembering A Legend” (48 Hours)
Written by Jerry Cipriano, John Craig Wilson; CBS News
NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“CBS Sunday Morning Almanac” June 12, 2016 (CBS Sunday Morning)
Written by Thomas A. Harris; CBS
TELEVISION GRAPHIC ART AND ANIMATION
“The Real History of Cinco de Mayo,” (Gawker Media Group)
Graphic Animation by Elisa Solinas; youtube.com
While they’re under way at the Beverly Hilton, the main course was just served at the Edison Ballroom in Manhattan.
matthewgrobar
February 19, 20175:05 pm
We’re a-go here at the Beverly Hilton