Writers Guild of America Awards

The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, radio and video game writing, including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949. In 2004, the awards show was broadcast on television for the first time.

Eligibility

The screen awards are for films that were exhibited theatrically during the preceding calendar year. The television awards are for series that were produced and aired between December 1 and November 30, regardless of how many episodes aired during this time period.
Additionally, scripts must be produced under the jurisdiction of the WGA or under a collective bargaining agreement in Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, or the United Kingdom.

Lifetime achievement awards

Each year at the awards, two lifetime achievement awards are presented. One is for screenwriting, and the other is for TV writing:

Current Categories

;FILM

;TELEVISION

Best Comedy/Variety – Sketch Series
Best Comedy/Variety – Specials
Best Quizz and Audience
Documentary Script – Current Events
Documentary Script – Other Than Current Events

;NEWS

TV News Script – Regularly Scheduled, Bulletin, or Breaking Report
TV News Script – Analysis, Feature, or Commentary
Digital News

;RADIO

Radio News Script – Regularly Scheduled, Bulletin, or Breaking Report
Radio News Script – Analysis, Feature or Commentary
Radio Documentary

;VIDEOGAME

A * denotes a film that also went on to win an Academy Award.

Films

Current Awards

;Best Original Screenplay

1968: Bonnie and Clyde – David Newman and Robert Benton
1969: The Producers – Mel Brooks
1985: Broadway Danny Rose – Woody Allen
1986: Witness – Pamela Wallace, William Kelley, and Earl W. Wallace *
1987: Hannah and Her Sisters – Woody Allen *
1988: Moonstruck – John Patrick Shanley *
1989: Bull Durham – Ron Shelton
1990: Crimes and Misdemeanors – Woody Allen
1991: Avalon – Barry Levinson
1992: Thelma & Louise – Callie Khouri *
1993: The Crying Game – Neil Jordan *
1994: The Piano – Jane Campion *
1995: Four Weddings and a Funeral – Richard Curtis
1996: Braveheart – Randall Wallace
1997: Fargo – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen *
1998: As Good as It Gets – Mark Andrus and James L. Brooks
1999: Shakespeare in Love – Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard *
2000: American Beauty – Alan Ball *
2001: You Can Count On Me – Kenneth Lonergan
2002: Gosford Park – Julian Fellowes *
2003: Bowling for Columbine – Michael Moore
2004: Lost in Translation – Sofia Coppola *
2005: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – Charlie Kaufman, Michael Gondry, and Pierre Bismuth *
2006: Crash – Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco *
2007: Little Miss Sunshine – Michael Arndt *
2008: Juno – Diablo Cody *
2009: Milk – Dustin Lance Black *
2010: The Hurt Locker – Mark Boal *
2011: Inception – Christopher Nolan
2012: Midnight in Paris – Woody Allen *
2013: Zero Dark Thirty – Mark Boal
2014: Her – Spike Jonze *
2015: The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness
2016: Spotlight – Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer *
2017: Moonlight – Barry Jenkins; story by Tarell Alvin McCraney *
2018: Get Out – Jordan Peele *
2019: Eighth Grade – Bo Burnham
2020: Parasite - Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin-won; story by Bong Joon-ho *

;Best Adapted Screenplay

1985: The Killing Fields – Bruce Robinson
1986: Prizzi's Honor – Richard Condon and Janet Roach
1987: A Room with a View – Ruth Prawer Jhabvala *
1988: Roxanne – Steve Martin
1989: Dangerous Liaisons – Christopher Hampton *
1990: Driving Miss Daisy – Alfred Uhry *
1991: Dances with Wolves – Michael Blake *
1992: The Silence of the Lambs – Ted Tally *
1993: The Player – Michael Tolkin
1994: Schindler's List – Steven Zaillian *
1995: Forrest Gump – Eric Roth *
1996: Sense and Sensibility – Emma Thompson *
1997: Sling Blade – Billy Bob Thornton *
1998: L.A. Confidential – Brian Helgeland and Curtis Hanson *
1999: Out of Sight – Scott Frank
2000: Election – Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor
2001: Traffic – Stephen Gaghan *
2002: A Beautiful Mind – Akiva Goldsman *
2003: The Hours – David Hare
2004: American Splendor – Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini
2005: Sideways – Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor *
2006: Brokeback Mountain – Larry McMurty and Diana Ossana *
2007: The Departed – William Monahan *
2008: No Country for Old Men – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen *
2009: Slumdog Millionaire – Simon Beaufoy *
2010: Up in the Air – Jason Reitman
2011: The Social Network – Aaron Sorkin *
2012: The Descendants – Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash *
2013: Argo – Chris Terrio *
2014: Captain Phillips – Billy Ray
2015: The Imitation Game – Graham Moore *
2016: The Big Short – Adam McKay and Charles Randolph *
2017: Arrival – Eric Heisserer
2018: Call Me by Your Name — James Ivory *
2019: Can You Ever Forgive Me? – Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty
2020: Jojo Rabbit - Taika Waititi *

;Best Documentary Screenplay

2005: Super Size Me – Morgan Spurlock
2006: – Alex Gibney
2007: Deliver Us from Evil – Amy J. Berg
2008: Taxi to the Dark – Alex Gibney
2009: Waltz with Bashir – Ari Folman
2010: The Cove – Mark Monroe
2011: Inside Job – Charles Ferguson
2012: Better This World – Katie Galloway, and Kelly Duane de la Vega
2013: Searching for Sugar Man – Malik Bendjelloul
2014: Stories We Tell – Sarah Polley
2015: The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz – Brian Knappenberger
2016: Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief – Alex Gibney
2017: Command and Control – Robert Kenner, Brian Pearle, Kim Roberts, and Eric Schlosser
2018: Jane – Brett Morgen
2019: Bathtubs Over Broadway – Ozzy Inguanzo, and Dava Whisenant
2020: - Alex Gibney
Discontinued Categories

;Best Written Drama

1949: The Snake Pit – Frank Partos and Millen Brand
1950: All the King's Men – Robert Rossen
1951: Sunset Boulevard – Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, and D. M. Marshman Jr. *
1952: A Place in the Sun – Michael Wilson and Harry Brown *
1953: High Noon – Carl Foreman
1954: From Here to Eternity – Daniel Taradash *
1955: On the Waterfront – Budd Schulberg *
1956: Marty – Paddy Chayefsky *
1957: Friendly Persuasion – Michael Wilson
1958: 12 Angry Men – Reginald Rose
1959: The Defiant Ones – Nedrick Young and Harold Jacob Smith *
1960: The Diary of Anne Frank – Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett
1961: Elmer Gantry – Richard Brooks *
1962: The Hustler – Sidney Carroll and Robert Rossen
1963: To Kill a Mockingbird – Horton Foote *
1964: Hud – Harriet Frank Jr. and Irving Ravetch
1965: Becket – Edward Anhalt *
1966: The Pawnbroker – Edward Lewis Wallant, Morton Fine, and David Friedkin
1967: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – Ernest Lehman
1968: Bonnie and Clyde – David Newman and Robert Benton
1969: The Lion in Winter – James Goldman *

;Best Original Drama

1970: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – William Goldman *
1971: Patton – Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North *
1972: Sunday Bloody Sunday – Penelope Gilliatt
1973: The Candidate – Jeremy Larner *
1974: Save the Tiger – Steve Shagan
1975: Chinatown – Robert Towne *
1976: Dog Day Afternoon – Frank Pierson *
1977: Network – Paddy Chayefsky *
1978: The Turning Point – Arthur Laurents
1979: Coming Home – Nancy Dowd, Robert C. Jones, and Waldo Salt *
1980: The China Syndrome – Mike Gray, T. S. Cook and James Bridges
1981: Melvin and Howard – Bo Goldman *
1982: Reds – Warren Beatty and Trevor Griffiths
1983: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial – Melissa Mathison
1984: Tender Mercies – Horton Foote *

;Best Adapted Drama

1970: Midnight Cowboy – Waldo Salt *
1971: I Never Sang for My Father – Robert Anderson
1972: The French Connection – Ernest Tidyman *
1973: The Godfather – Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola *
1974: Serpico – Waldo Salt and Norman Wexler
1975: The Godfather Part II – Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo *
1976: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest – Bo Goldman and Lawrence Hauben *
1977: All the President's Men – William Goldman *
1978: Islands in the Stream – Denne Bart Petitclerc
1979: Midnight Express – Oliver Stone *
1980: Kramer vs. Kramer – Robert Benton *
1981: Ordinary People – Alvin Sargent *
1982: On Golden Pond – Ernest Thompson *
1983: Missing – Costa-Gavras and Donald E. Stewart *
1984: Reuben, Reuben – Julius J. Epstein

;Best Written Comedy

1949: Sitting Pretty – F. Hugh Herbert
1950: A Letter to Three Wives – Joseph L. Mankiewicz *
1951: All About Eve – Joseph L. Mankiewicz *
1952: Father's Little Dividend – Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich
1953: The Quiet Man – Frank Nugent
1954: Roman Holiday – Ian McLellan Hunter, Dalton Trumbo, and John Dighton *
1955: Sabrina – Billy Wilder, Samuel Taylor, and Ernest Lehman
1956: Mister Roberts – Joshua Logan and Frank Nugent
1957: Around the World in 80 Days – James Poe, John Farrow, and S. J. Perelman *
1958: Love in the Afternoon – Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond
1959: Me and the Colonel – S. N. Behrman and George Froeschel
1960: Some Like It Hot – Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond
1961: The Apartment – Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond *
1962: Breakfast at Tiffany's – George Axelrod
1963: That Touch of Mink – Stanley Shapiro and Nate Monastar
1964: Lilies of the Field – James Poe
1965: Dr. Strangelove – Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern, and Peter George
1966: A Thousand Clowns – Herb Gardner
1967: The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming – William Rose
1968: The Graduate – Calder Willingham and Buck Henry
1969: The Odd Couple – Neil Simon

;Best Original Comedy

1970: Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice – Paul Mazursky and Larry Tucker
1971: The Out-of-Towners – Neil Simon
1972: The Hospital – Paddy Chayefsky *
1973: What's Up, Doc? – Peter Bogdanovich, Buck Henry, David Newman, and Robert Benton
1974: A Touch of Class – Melvin Frank and Jack Rose
1975: Blazing Saddles – Mel Brooks, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, and Alan Uger
1976: Shampoo – Robert Towne and Warren Beatty
1977: The Bad News Bears – Bill Lancaster
1978: Annie Hall – Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman *
1979: Movie Movie – Larry Gelbart and Sheldon Keller
1980: Breaking Away – Steve Tesich *
1981: Private Benjamin – Nancy Meyers, Harvey Miller, and Charles Shyer
1982: Arthur – Steve Gordon
1983: Tootsie – Don McGuire, Larry Gelbart and Murray Schisgal
1984: The Big Chill – Lawrence Kasdan and Barbara Benedek

;Best Adapted Comedy

1970: Goodbye, Columbus – Arnold Schulman
1971: MASH – Ring Lardner Jr. *
1972: Kotch – John Paxton
1973: Cabaret – Jay Presson Allen
1974: Paper Moon – Alvin Sargent
1975: The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz – Lionel Chetwynd and Mordecai Richler
1976: The Sunshine Boys – Neil Simon
1977: The Pink Panther Strikes Again – Blake Edwards and Frank Waldman
1978: Oh, God! – Larry Gelbart
1979: Heaven Can Wait – Elaine May and Warren Beatty and Same Time, Next Year – Bernard Slade
1980: Being There – Jerzy Kosiński
1981: Airplane! – Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker
1982: Rich and Famous – Gerard Ayres
1983: Victor/Victoria – Blake Edwards
1984: Terms of Endearment – James L. Brooks *

;Best Written Musical

1949: Easter Parade – Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, and Sidney Sheldon
1950: On the Town – Adolph Green and Betty Comden
1951: Annie Get Your Gun – Sidney Sheldon
1952: An American in Paris – Alan Jay Lerner *
1953: Singin' in the Rain – Betty Comden and Adolph Green
1954: Lili – Helen Deutsch and Paul Gallico
1955: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers – Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich, and Dorothy Kingsley
1956: Love Me or Leave Me – Daniel Fuchs and Isobel Lennart *
1957: The King and I – Ernest Lehman
1958: Les Girls – Vera Caspary and John Patrick
1959: Gigi – Alan Jay Lerner *
1960: The Five Pennies – Robert Smith, Jack Rose, and Melville Shavelson
1961: Bells Are Ringing – Betty Comden and Adolph Green
1962: West Side Story – Ernest Lehman
1963: The Music Man – Meredith Willson, Franklin Lacey, and Marion Hargrove
1964: Not awarded
1965: Mary Poppins – Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi
1966: The Sound of Music – Maria Augusta Trapp, Howard Lindsay, Russel Crouse, and Ernest Lehman
1967: Not awarded
1968: Thoroughly Modern Millie – Richard Morris
1969: Funny Girl – Isobel Lennart

;Best Written Film Concerning Problems with the American Scene

1949: The Snake Pit – Frank Partos and Millen Brand
1950: All the King's Men – Robert Rossen
1951: The Men – Carl Foreman
1952: Bright Victory – Robert Buckner

;Best Written Western

1949: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre – John Huston *
1950: Yellow Sky – W. R. Burnett and Lamar Trotti
1951: Broken Arrow – Albert Maltz
Television

Video Games

added in 2008
;Outstanding Achievement in Video Game Writing

2008: Dead Head Fred – Dave Ellis, Adam Cogan
2009: ' – Haden Blackman, Shawn Pitman, John Stafford, and Cameron Suey
2010: ' – Amy Hennig
2011: ' – Patrice Désilets, Jeffrey Yohalem, and Corey May
2012: ' – Amy Hennig
2013: ' – Richard Farrese and Jill Murray
2014: The Last of Us – Neil Druckmann
2015: ' – Neil Druckmann
2016: Rise of the Tomb Raider – John Stafford, Cameron Suey, Rhianna Pratchett, and Philip Gelatt
2017: – Neil Druckmann, Josh Scherr, Tom Bissell, and Ryan James
2018: Horizon Zero Dawn – John Gonzalez, Benjamin McCaw, Ben Schroder, Anne Toole, Dee Warrick, and Meg Jayanth
2019: God of War – Matt Sophos, Richard Zangrande Gaubert, and Cory Barlog

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Writers Guild of America Awards

Eligibility

Lifetime achievement awards

Categories

Current Categories

Discontinued Categories

Ceremonies

Winners

Films

Current Awards

Discontinued Categories

Television

Video Games