Writers Guild of America (WGA) Winners: Spotlight, The Big Short; Mad Men, Mr. Robot Top Shows
Spotlight has won the Writers Guild of America award for Original Screenplay and The Big Short took the Adapted Screenplay award. Both are the favorites for the screenplay Oscars in their respective categories.
In television, the final season of Mad Men triumphed in Drama Series but Better Call Saul took the episodic win. It lost to Mr. Robot for New Series. In Comedy, the wins went to Veep and Silicon Valley. Inside Amy Schumer and Real Time with Bill Maher won the Variety Sketch and Talk Series wins, respectively, and Fargo won Longform.
The FULL list of nominees with winners in bold:
MOTION PICTURE
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
• “Bridge of Spies,” Written by Matt Charman and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen; DreamWorks Pictures
• “Sicario,” Written by Taylor Sheridan; Lionsgate
• “Spotlight,” Written by Josh Singer & Tom McCarthy; Open Road Films – WINNER
• “Straight Outta Compton,” Screenplay by Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff; Story by Leigh Savidge & Alan Wenkus and Andrea Berloff; Universal Pictures
• “Trainwreck,” Written by Amy Schumer; Universal Pictures
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
• “The Big Short,” Screenplay by Charles Randolph and Adam McKay; Based on the Book by Michael Lewis; Paramount Pictures – WINNER
• “Carol,” Screenplay by Phyllis Nagy; Based on the Novel The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith; The Weinstein Company
• “The Martian,” Screenplay by Drew Goddard; Based on the Novel by Andy Weir; Twentieth Century Fox
• “Steve Jobs,” Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin; Based on the Book by Walter Isaacson; Universal Pictures
• “Trumbo,” Written by John McNamara; Based on the Biography by Bruce Cook; Bleecker Street Media
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
• “Being Canadian,” Written by Robert Cohen; Candy Factory Films
• “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief,” Written by Alex Gibney; HBO Documentary Films – WINNER
• “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck,” Written by Brett Morgen; HBO Documentary Films
• “Prophet’s Prey,” Written by Amy J. Berg; Showtime Documentary Films
TELEVISION AND NEW MEDIA NOMINEES
DRAMA SERIES
• “The Americans,” Written by Peter Ackerman, Joshua Brand, Joel Fields, Stephen Schiff, Lara Shapiro, Joe Weisberg, Tracey Scott Wilson, Stuart Zicherman; FX
• “Better Call Saul,” Written by Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Gennifer Hutchison, Bradley Paul, Thomas Schnauz, Gordon Smith; AMC
• “Game of Thrones,” Written by David Benioff, Bryan Cogman, Dave Hill, D.B. Weiss; HBO
• “Mad Men,” Written by Lisa Albert, Semi Chellas, Jonathan Igla, Janet Leahy, Erin Levy, Tom Smuts, Robert Towne, Matthew Weiner, Carly Wray; AMC – WINNER
• “Mr. Robot,” Written by Kyle Bradstreet, Kate Erickson, Sam Esmail, David Iserson, Randolph Leon, Adam Penn, Matt Pyken; USA
COMEDY SERIES
• “Broad City,” Written by Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, Naomi Ekperigin, Ilana Glazer, Abbi Jacobson, Chris Kelly, Anthony King, Jen Statsky; Comedy Central
• “Silicon Valley,” Written by Amy Aniobi, Alec Berg, Mike Judge, Carrie Kemper, Sonny Lee, Dan Lyons, Carson Mell, Dan O’Keefe, Clay Tarver, Ron Weiner; HBO
• “Transparent,” Written by Arabella Anderson, Bridget Bedard, Micah Fitzerman-Blue, Noah Harpster, Ethan Kuperberg, Ali Liebegott, Our Lady J, Faith Soloway, Jill Soloway; Amazon Studios
• “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” Written by Emily Altman, Jack Burditt, Robert Carlock, Azie Mira Dungey, Tina Fey, Lauren Gurganous, Charla Lauriston, Sam Means, Dan Rubin, Meredith Scardino, Allison Silverman, Lon Zimmet; Netflix
• “Veep,” Written by Simon Blackwell, Jon Brown, Kevin Cecil, Roger Drew, Peter Fellows, Neil Gibbons, Rob Gibbons, Sean Gray, Callie Hersheway, Armando Iannucci, Sean Love, Ian Martin, Georgia Pritchett, David Quantick, Andy Riley, Tony Roche, Will Smith; HBO – WINNER
NEW SERIES
• “Better Call Saul,” Written by Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Gennifer Hutchison, Bradley Paul, Thomas Schnauz, Gordon Smith; AMC
• “Bloodline,” Written by Jonathan Glatzer, Carter Harris, Glenn Kessler, Todd A. Kessler, Addison McQuigg, Arthur Phillips, Jeff Shakoor, Daniel Zelman; Netflix
• “The Last Man On Earth,” Written by Andy Bobrow, Liz Cackowski, Erik Durbin, Will Forte, Kira Kalush, Matt Marshall, Tim McAuliffe, David Noel, Erica Rivinoja, John Solomon, Emily Spivey; Fox
• “Mr. Robot,” Written by Kyle Bradstreet, Kate Erickson, Sam Esmail, David Iserson, Randolph Leon, Adam Penn, Matt Pyken; USA – WINNER
• “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” Written by Emily Altman, Jack Burditt, Robert Carlock, Azie Mira Dungey, Tina Fey, Lauren Gurganous, Charla Lauriston, Sam Means, Dan Rubin, Meredith Scardino, Allison Silverman, Lon Zimmet; Netflix
LONG FORM ORIGINAL
• “American Horror Story: Hotel,” Written by Brad Falchuk, John J. Gray, Todd Kubrak, Crystal Liu, Ned Martel, Tim Minear, Ryan Murphy, Jennifer Salt, James Wong; FX
• “Flesh and Bone,” Written by Bronwyn Garrity, Jami O’Brien, Adam Rapp, Moira Walley-Beckett, David Wiener; Starz
• “Saints & Strangers,” Written by Seth Fisher, Walon Green, Chip Johannessen, Eric Overmyer; National Geographic Channel – WINNER
• “Sons of Liberty,” Written by Stephen David, Kirk Ellis, David C. White; History Channel
LONG FORM ADAPTED
• “Fargo,” Written by Steve Blackman, Bob DeLaurentis, Noah Hawley, Ben Nedivi, Matt Wolpert, Based on the film Fargo; FX – WINNER
• “The Red Tent,” Written by Elizabeth Chandler and Anne Meredith, Based on the book The Red Tent by Anita Diamant; Lifetime
• “Show Me A Hero,” Written by David Simon, William F. Zorzi, Based on the book by Lisa Belkin; HBO
SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA – ORIGINAL
• “Back to Reality” (Weight), Written by Daryn Strauss; weighttheseries.com – WINNER
• “Born This Way” (Anyone But Me), Written by Susan Miller; hulu.com
• SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA – ADAPTED
• “Chapter Two: Phoebe” (Heroes Reborn: Dark Matters), Written by Zach Craley; nbc.com – WINNER
• “Part 8” (Fear The Walking Dead: Flight 462), Written by L. Signorino & Mike Zunic; amc.com
• “The Summer of Love, Part 1: Meet Charlie” (Aquarius), Written by Mike Moore & David Reed; nbc.com
ANIMATION
• “Gayle Makin’ Bob Sled” (Bob’s Burgers), Written by Lizzie Molyneux & Wendy Molyneux; Fox
• “Halloween of Horror” (The Simpsons), Written by Carolyn Omine; Fox
• “Hank After Dark” (BoJack Horseman), Written by Kelly Galuska; Netflix
• “Housetrap” (Bob’s Burgers), Written by Dan Fybel; Fox WINNER
• “Sky Police” (The Simpsons), Written by Matt Selman; Fox
• “Walking Big & Tall” (The Simpsons), Written by Michael Price; Fox
EPISODIC DRAMA
• “Explosivos” (Narcos), Written by Andy Black; Netflix
• “International Assassin” (The Leftovers), Written by Damon Lindelof & Nick Cuse; HBO
• “Mind’s Eye” (The Good Wife), Written by Robert King & Michelle King; CBS
• “Mother’s Mercy” (Game of Thrones), Written for Television by David Benioff & D.B. Weiss; HBO
• “Person to Person” (Mad Men), Written by Matthew Weiner; AMC
• “Uno” (Better Call Saul), Written by Vince Gilligan & Peter Gould; AMC – WINNER
EPISODIC COMEDY
• “Alive in Tucson” (The Last Man On Earth), Written by Will Forte; Fox
• “Connection Lost” (Modern Family), Written by Megan Ganz & Steven Levitan; ABC
• “Joint Session” (Veep), Teleplay by Simon Blackwell & Georgia Pritchett, Story by Armando Iannucci & Simon Blackwell & Georgia Pritchett; HBO
• “Racegate” (Maron), Written by Dave Anthony; IFC
• “Rock, Paper, Scissors, Gun” (black-ish), Written by Peter Saji; ABC
• “Sand Hill Shuffle” (Silicon Valley), Written by Clay Tarver; HBO – WINNER
COMEDY / VARIETY (INCLUDING TALK) – SERIES
• “Conan,” Writers: Jose Arroyo, Josh Comers, Dan Cronin, Andres du Bouchet, Jessie Gaskell, Michael Gordon, Brian Kiley, Laurie Kilmartin, Rob Kutner, Todd Levin, Levi MacDougall, Conan O’Brien, Matt O’Brien, Andy Richter, Frank Smiley, Brian Stack, Mike Sweeney; TBS
• “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” Writers: Dan Amira, Steve Bodow, Travon Free, Hallie Haglund, Elliott Kalan, Matt Koff, Adam Lowitt, Dan McCoy, Jo Miller, Zhubin Parang, Owen Parsons, Daniel Radosh, Lauren Sarver, Jon Stewart, Delaney Yeager; Comedy Central
• “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” Writers; Michael Brumm, Nate Charny, Aaron Cohen, Stephen Colbert, Cullen Crawford, Paul Dinello, Eric Drysdale, Rob Dubbin, Ariel Dumas, Glenn Eichler, Gabriel Gronli, Barry Julien, Jay Katsir, Daniel Kibblesmith, Matt Lappin, Opus Moreschi, Tom Purcell, Jen Spyra, Brian Stack; CBS
• “Real Time with Bill Maher,” Writers: Scott Carter, Adam Felber, Matt Gunn, Brian Jacobsmeyer, Jay Jaroch, Chris Kelly, Bill Maher, Billy Martin, Danny Vermont; HBO – WINNER
• “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” Writers: Jonathan Adler, Patrick Borelli, Gerard Bradford, Luke Cunningham, Mike DiCenzo, Mike Drucker, Jess Dweck, Dicky Eagan, Caroline Eppright, Jimmy Fallon, John Haskell, JR Havlan, Josh Lieb, Arthur Meyer, A.D. Miles, Chase Mitchell, Dan Opsal, Gavin Purcell, Jon Rineman, Albertina Rizzo, David Young; NBC
COMEDY / VARIETY – SKETCH SERIES
• “Inside Amy Schumer,” Head Writer: Jessi Klein Writers: Hallie Cantor, Kim Caramele, Kyle Dunnigan, Jon Glaser, Kurt Metzger, Christine Nangle, Dan Powell, Tami Sagher, Amy Schumer; Comedy Central – WINNER
• “Key & Peele,” Written by Colton Dunn, Rebecca Drysdale, Keegan-Michael Key, Phil Augusta Jackson, Jay Martel, Jordan Peele, Ian Roberts, Alex Rubens, Charlie Sanders, Rich Talarico; Comedy Central
• “Saturday Night Live,” Head Writer: Colin Jost, Rob Klein, Bryan Tucker Writers: James Anderson, Jeremy Beiler, Megan Callahan, Michael Che, Mikey Day, Steve Higgins, Zach Kanin, Chris Kelly, Erik Kenward, Dave McCary, Dennis McNicholas, Lorne Michaels, Claire Mulaney, Mike O’Brien, Josh Patten, Alison Rich, Katie Rich, Tim Robinson, Natasha Rothwell, Nick Rutherford, Meredith Scardino, Sarah Schneider, Pete Schultz, Streeter Seidell, John Solomon, Kent Sublette; NBC
COMEDY / VARIETY – MUSIC, AWARDS, TRIBUTES – SPECIALS
• The 69th Annual Tony Awards, Written by Dave Boone; Special Material by Adam Goldman, Carol Leifer; CBS
• 2014 Kennedy Center Honors, Written by Lewis Friedman, Sara Lukinson, Nell Scovell, George Stevens, Jr., Michael Stevens; CBS
• 2015 Film Independent Spirit Awards, Written by Benji Aflalo, Wayne Federman, Marika Sawyer, Frank Sebastiano, Erik Weiner; IFC
• Amy Schumer: Live at The Apollo, Written by Amy Schumer; HBO
• Jimmy Kimmel Live: 10th Annual After The Oscars Special, Written by Jack Allison, Tony Barbieri, Jonathan Bines, Joelle Boucai, Greg Dorris, Gary Greenberg, Josh Halloway, Sal Iacono, Eric Immerman, Jimmy Kimmel, Bess Kalb, Jeff Loveness, Molly McNearney, Danny Ricker, Joe Strazzullo, Bridger Winegar; ABC – WINNER
• Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special, Written by James Anderson, Fred Armisen, Tina Fey, Steve Higgins, Chris Kelly, Erik Kenward, Rob Klein, Seth Meyers, Lorne Michaels, John Mulaney, Paula Pell, Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, Tom Schiller, Sarah Schneider, Marc Shaiman, Michael Shoemaker, Robert Smigel, Emily Spivey, Kent Sublette, Jorma Taccone, Bryan Tucker; NBC
QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
• “Hollywood Game Night,” Head Writer: Grant Taylor; Writers: Michael Agbabian, Alex Chauvin, Ann Slichter, Dwight D. Smith; NBC – WINNER
• “Jeopardy!,” Written by John Duarte, Harry Friedman, Mark Gaberman, Deborah Griffin, Michele Loud, Robert McClenaghan, Jim Rhine, Steve D. Tamerius, Billy Wisse; ABC
DAYTIME DRAMA
• “The Bold and the Beautiful,” Head Writers: Bradley P. Bell, Michael Minnis Writers: Rex M. Best, Shannon Bradley, Adam Dusevoir, Tracey Ann Kelly, Patrick Mulcahey, Mark Pinciotti, Michele Val Jean; CBS
• “General Hospital,” Writers: Ron Carlivati, Anna Theresa Cascio, Andrea Archer Compton, Suzanne Flynn, Kate Hall, Elizabeth Korte, Daniel James O’Connor, Elizabeth Page, Jean Passanante, Katherine Schock, Scott Sickles, Chris Van Etten; ABC – WINNER
CHILDREN’S SCRIPT – EPISODIC AND SPECIALS
• “Gortimer, Ranger and Mel vs. The Endless Night” (Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street), Written by Gretchen Enders & Aminta Goyel; Amazon Studios – WINNER
• “Girl Meets I am Farkle” (Girl Meets World), Written by Mark Blutman; Disney Channel
• “Gortimer and the Surprise Signature” (Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street), Written by Garrett Frawley & Brian Turner; Amazon Studios
• “Gortimer vs The Relentless Rainbow of Joy” (Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street), Written by David Anaxagoras and Luke Matheny; Amazon Studios
• “Ranger vs. The Fabled Flower of Normal Street” (Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street), Written by Laurie Parres; Amazon Studios
CHILDREN’S SCRIPT – LONG FORM OR SPECIAL
• “Descendants,” Written by Josann McGibbon & Sara Parriott; Disney Channel – WINNER
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – CURRENT EVENTS
• “American Terrorist” (Frontline), Written by Thomas Jennings; PBS – WINNER
• “Gunned Down: The Power of the NRA” (Frontline), Written by Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser; PBS
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS
• “Firestone and the Warlord” (Frontline), Written by Marcela Gaviria; PBS
• “The Forgotten Plague” (American Experience), Written by Chana Gazit; PBS
• “The Great Math Mystery” (Nova), Written by Daniel McCabe; PBS – WINNER
• “Secrets, Politics and Torture” (Frontline), Written by Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser; PBS
TV NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
• “Cuba” (60 Minutes), Written by Scott Pelley, Nicole Young, Oriana Zill de Granados, Andy Court and Robert Anderson; CBS News – WINNER
• “Yogi Berra Tribute,” Written by Gerald Mazza; CBS Newspath
TV NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
• “The Storm After the Storm” (60 Minutes), Written by Sharyn Alfonsi, Michael Rey and Oriana Zill de Granados; CBS News
RADIO NOMINEES
RADIO DOCUMENTARY
• “Marking the End of Vietnam: 40 Years Later,” Written by Andrew Evans; ABC News Radio – WINNER
RADIO NEWS SCRIPT—REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
• “Remembering New York Icons,” Written by Thomas A. Sabella; CBS Radio News – WINNER
• “Showtop,” Written by Chris Barry; ABC News Radio
• “World News This Week, January 9, 2015,” Written by Andrew Evans; ABC News Radio
RADIO NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
• “Death of a Baseball Icon,” Written by Andrew Evans; ABC News Radio
• “Passages,” Written by Gail Lee; CBS Radio News – WINNER
PROMOTIONAL WRITING NOMINEES
ON-AIR PROMOTION (TELEVISION, NEW MEDIA OR RADIO)
• “Elementary Promos,” Written by Molly J. Neylan; CBS
• “CBS On-Air Promos,” Written by Jessica Katzenstein; CBS
• “The McCarthys and Under the Dome Promos,” Written by Erial Tompkins; CBS – WINNER
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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