Writers Guild of America (WGA) sets dates, timelines for 2021 awards

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The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has set the dates of their 2021 awards including nominations, eligibility, voting and timeline periods as well as nominee panels.

The 73rd Writers Guild Awards will be held on March 21 in dual ceremonies, as it usually does, in Los Angeles and New York City. TV nominations, plus New Media, News, Radio/Audio and Promotional Writing, will be revealed Wednesday, February 3. The film nominees for original, adapted and documentary screenplays will be announced Tuesday, February 16.

2020/2021 Awards Calendar

Following the lead of the delayed Oscars, eligibility periods for these categories have been extended due to theater closures during the COVID-19 pandemic and will now be January 1, 2020 – February 28, 2021.

Here is the full timeline and eligibility periods for the 73rd Writers Guild Awards:

September 28:
Submissions Open in ALL Categories: Screenplays (Original, Adapted, Documentary), Series (Drama, Comedy, New), TV-Radio-New Media Scripts; Paul Selvin Award (WGAW)

December 11:
Deadline for submissions: Series (Drama, Comedy, New); TV-Radio/Audio-New Media Scripts and Paul Selvin Award (WGAW)

January 4:
Preliminary Series (Drama, Comedy, New) online voting begins

January 20:
Deadline for Preliminary Series (Drama, Comedy, New) online voting

January 22:
Deadline for submissions: Screenplays (Original, Adapted, Documentary)

January 29:
Preliminary Screenplay (Original, Adapted) online voting begins

February 3:
Television, New Media, News, Radio/Audio, and Promotional Writing Nominations Announced

February 12:
Deadline for Preliminary Screenplay (Original, Adapted) online voting

February 16:
Screenplay (Original, Adapted, Documentary) Nominations Announced

February 19:
Final Screenplay (Original, Adapted) and Series (Drama, Comedy, New) online voting begins

March 5:
Deadline for Final Screenplay (Original, Adapted) and Series (Drama, Comedy, New) online voting

March 11:
Beyond Words: Writers Guild Awards-nominated screenwriters panel

March 21:
2021 73rd annual Writers Guild Awards

March TBA: “And the Nominees Are…” Writers Guild Awards nominees panel

Awards Eligibility Periods

TV & New Media eligibility period: First broadcast or exhibited between Jan 1, 2020 and Dec 31, 2020

News & TV Documentary categories only (6, 7A, 7B, 11, 12, 16): First broadcast or exhibited between Oct 1, 2019 and Nov 30, 2020

Theatrical Screenplay eligibility period: Exhibited theatrically in Los Angeles for one week between Jan 1, 2020 – Feb 28, 2021

Documentary Screenplays: Exhibited theatrically in Los Angeles or New York for one week between Jan 1, 2020 – Feb 28, 2021

Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013. He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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