2017 Writers Guild Awards Winners

The 69th annual Writers Guild Awards took place at simultaneous ceremonies in New York and Los Angeles on Sunday night, or so say the original intentions as in twitter we could read several West coast people (film critics mainly) complaining about how the East coast spoiled the winner for them (LOL) because they were ahead.

Gee, there was a time when you were attending a ceremony and all you did was chat, drink, eat and watch what happens; now seems everyone is not only tweeting about the event BUT also reading what others are writing, LOL!

There was a time when you could see the awards ceremony but last night had not time to look for live stream, so don't know if there was one or not.  Nevertheless from industry press read very long articles about the many presenters and recipients jokes and speeches, mostly about the current political situation; some where really funny but one was really serious and with a clear, relevant message.

If we consider the Scripter award winner and the WGA Original Screenplay winner then we little doubt that Oscars Original Screenplay front-runner, the one to beat, is Moonlight.  Right? Well, NO. See Moonlight has an Oscar nomination but it's NOT for Original Screenplay but for Adapted Screenplay were will be competing with Arrival, that is WGA's winner in Adapted Screenplay.  Confused?  LOL.

If Oscars give the writing award to Moonlight will be for what they consider as Adapted Screenplay and obviously leaves open the race to Writing Original Screenplay where there is no WGA winning script competing.  But there is always a chance that Arrival wins Oscars Adapted Screenplay (there are a lot of WGA members that also are Academy voters) and what many expect, Manchester by the Sea wins Original Screenplay.  Still confused? Then wait for next Sunday to clarify whatever doubts you have.  Sigh.  Me, I'm clear: my favorite script from my favorite movie will not win; so, why bother?  Unless is to play the office pool or the many online guessing games.

To check winners in all categories, including television, go to official site here.  Winners are below in *BLUE.

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1/15/17
Yesterday the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) announced the nominations for outstanding achievement in screenwriting during 2016; best news for me are the inclusion of films like Nocturnal Animals and Loving, two films that have been absent in most up-to-date film critics honors.

As announced previously the 2017 Screen Laurel Award goes to Oliver Stone and the Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television to Aaron Sorkin. The East group will honor John Waters with the WGAE's Career Achievement Award and Steve O'Donnell with receive the Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence.

Feature films eligible for a Writers Guild Award were exhibited theatrically for at least one week in Los Angeles during 2016 and were written under the WGA’s Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) or under a bona fide collective bargaining agreement of the Writers Guild of Canada, Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, Writers Guild of Ireland, Writers’ Guild of South Africa, New Zealand Writers Guild, Film Writers’ Association (India), La Guilde Francaise des Scénaristes (France), Scriptwriters Guild of Israel, Société des Auteurs de Radio, Télévision et Cinéma (Québec), or Verband Deutscher Drehbuchautoren (VDD/Germany), collectively known as affiliate Guilds.

Theatrical screenplays produced under the jurisdiction of the WGA or an affiliate Guild must have been submitted for Writers Guild Awards consideration.

Documentaries eligible for a Writers Guild Award featured an onscreen writing credit and were exhibited theatrically in Los Angeles or New York for one week during 2016. Theatrical documentaries must have been produced under the jurisdiction of the WGA or an affiliate Guild to be eligible for awards consideration.

The Writers Guild Awards honor outstanding writing in film, television, new media, videogames, news, radio, promotional, and graphic animation categories. The following are the nominees in the Feature Films categories.

Original Screenplay
Hell or High Water, Written by Taylor Sheridan
La La Land, Written by Damien Chazelle
Loving, Written by Jeff Nichols
Manchester by the Sea, Written by Kenneth Lonergan
*Moonlight, Screenplay by Barry Jenkins, Story by Tarell McCraney

Adapted Screenplay
*Arrival, Screenplay by Eric Heisserer; Based on the Story “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang
Deadpool, Written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick; Based on the X-Men Comic Books
Fences, Screenplay by August Wilson; Based on his Play
Hidden Figures, Screenplay by Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi; Based on the Book by Margot Lee Shetterly
Nocturnal Animals, Screenplay by Tom Ford; Based on the Novel Tony and Susan by Austin Wright

Documentary Screenplay
Author: The JT LeRoy Story, Written by Jeff Feuerzeig
*Command and Control, Telescript by Robert Kenner & Eric Schlosser, Story by Brian Pearle and Kim Roberts; Based on the book Command and Control by Eric Schlosser;
Zero Days, Written by Alex Gibney

To check nominees in all categories go here.  The awards will be presented at concurrent ceremonies on Sunday, February 19, 2017, in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton and in New York City at the Edison Ballroom, WGA West awards ceremony will be hosted by Patton Oswalt and WGA East awards ceremony will be hosted by Lewis Black.