Writers Guild Awards 2019: Complete List Of Winners
The 2019 Writers Guild of America Awards have come and gone — and a handful of bright talents have taken home illustrious accolades.
Held in two locations on the east and west coasts of the United States, each with their own hosts, on Sunday, February 17, this year's WGA Awards marked the last pit-stop on the road to the Academy Awards. Brooklyn Nine-Nine actress Chelsea Peretti emceed the California festivities, which she described as "all the glitz and glamor of the Oscars without the pressure of public interest," with comedian and The Daily Show correspondent Roy Wood Jr. hosting the evening in New York.
During the ceremony, there were a pair of surprise wins: longtime comedian and writer but first-time feature film director Bo Burnham earned the Writers Guild Award for Best Original Screenplay for Eighth Grade, and Can You Ever Forgive Me? scribes Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty scooped up the statue for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Eighth Grade, one of the most underappreciated-by-the-masses movies of 2018, beat out competition in Green Book, the comedy-drama written by Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, and director Peter Farrelly; A Quiet Place, the horror hit touting a screenplay by Bryan Woods, Scott Beck, and director-actor John Krasinski as well as a story created by Woods and Beck; Roma, the stunning Spanish-language drama penned by director Alfonso Cuarón; and Vice, alternatively known as "that film that stars an unrecognizable Christian Bale as former vice president of the United States Dick Cheney," written by Adam McKay, who also directed.
Accepting the award, Burnham made a quick joke before getting sentimental — a switch in emotion the 28-year-old knows how to do extremely well.
"To the other nominees in the category, have fun at the Oscars, losers!" he said. "No, I prepared nothing. This all belongs to Elsie Fisher who performed the script. No one would care about the script if she hadn't done it. I joined the guild when I was 18 and my mother did the paperwork, so thank you for that — and my father who did nothing. I believe in love."
Starring Melissa McCarthy as Lee Israel, the real-life biographer who committed literary forgery after her career grew stagnant, Can You Ever Forgive Me? bested in the Adapted Screenplay category Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman, written by Lee, Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, and Kevin Willmott from Ron Stallworth's 2014 memoir Black Klansman; the Marvel Studios superhero feature Black Panther, penned by director Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole from various Marvel Comics issues by the late Stan Lee and Jack Kirby; Barry Jenkins' gorgeous drama If Beale Street Could Talk, a silver-screen adaptation of the acclaimed novel by James Baldwin; and A Star Is Born, the remake of a remake of a remake written by Eric Roth, director Bradley Cooper, and Will Fetters.
"I want to thank Lee," Holofcener said when accepting the award. "She'd probably be sitting in the room judging all of us. She though she was the smartest person in the room and she probably was."
The third film category, Best Documentary Screenplay, went to Bathtubs Over Broadway, written by Ozzy Inguanzo and Dava Whisenant.
On the television side of things, The Americans won for Best Drama Series, with Peter Ackerman, Hilary Bettis, Joshua Brand, Joel Fields, Sarah Nolen, Stephen Schiff, Justin Weinberger, Joe Weisberg, and Tracey Scott Wilson getting recognized for their work on the series' final season. Amazon Prime's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel earned yet another glittering award, this time scorning the WGA Award for Best Comedy Series. The WGA recognized writers Kate Fodor, Noah Gardenswartz, Jen Kirkman, Sheila Lawrence, Daniel Palladino, and Amy Sherman Palladino for making the Rachel Brosnahan-starring show so delightful. HBO hit Barry won both Best New Series and Best Episodic Comedy — with writers Alec Berg, Duffy Boudreau, Bill Hader, Emily Heller, Liz Sarnoff, Ben Smith, and Sarah Solemani earning the first award, and Berg and Hader winning the second for their episode "Chapter One: Make Your Mark."
Castle Rock (written by Marc Bernardin, Scott Brown, Lila Byock, Mark Lafferty, Sam Shaw, Dustin Thomason, Gina Welch, and Vinnie Wilhelm) won for best original short-form series, while The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (written by Maggie Cohn and Tom Rob Smith from the book Vulgar Favors by Maureen Orth) won for best adapted long-form.
Other TV winners at the 2019 WGA Awards include The Simpsons, Homeland, and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. In the video game category, God of War took home the top prize.
With the Academy Awards inching closer, set to air this Sunday, it's now anyone's guess as to who might win. Taking what happened here at the 2019 WGA Awards, with Eighth Grade and Can You Ever Forgive Me? entering as almost-underdogs and coming out on top, those trying to predict the winners of the 2019 Oscars will probably have a tough time. At this point, it seems the Academy Awards race is open — and that there will be some shocking wins come Sunday, February 24.
Until that day rolls around (just a few days away from the time of this writing), find the complete list of winners from the 2019 Writers Guild of America Awards below.
SCREENPLAY NOMINEES
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
WINNER: Eighth Grade, Written by Bo Burnham; A24
Green Book, Written by Nick Vallelonga & Brian Currie & Peter Farrelly; Universal Pictures
A Quiet Place, Screenplay by Bryan Woods & Scott Beck and John Krasinski, Story by Bryan Woods & Scott Beck; Paramount Pictures
Roma, Written by Alfonso Cuarón; Netflix
Vice, Written by Adam McKay; Annapurna Pictures
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
BlackKklansman, Written by Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee, Based on the book by Ron Stallworth; Focus Features
Black Panther, Written by Ryan Coogler & Joe Robert Cole, Based on the Marvel Comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
WINNER: Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Screenplay by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty, Based on the book by Lee Israel; Fox Searchlight
If Beale Street Could Talk, Screenplay by Barry Jenkins, Based on the novel by James Baldwin; Annapurna Pictures
A Star Is Born, Screenplay by Eric Roth and Bradley Cooper & Will Fetters, Based on the 1954 screenplay by Moss Hart and the 1976 screenplay by John Gregory Dunne & Joan Didion and Frank Pierson, Based on a story by William Wellman and Robert Carson; Warner Bros.
TELEVISION, NEW MEDIA, AND NEWS NOMINEES
DRAMA SERIES
WINNER: The Americans, Written by Peter Ackerman, Hilary Bettis, Joshua Brand, Joel Fields, Sarah Nolen, Stephen Schiff, Justin Weinberger, Joe Weisberg, Tracey Scott Wilson; FX Networks
Better Call Saul, Written by Ann Cherkis, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Gennifer Hutchison, Heather Marion, Thomas Schnauz, Gordon Smith, Alison Tatlock; AMC
The Crown, Written by Tom Edge, Amy Jenkins, Peter Morgan; Netflix
The Handmaid's Tale, Written by Yahlin Chang, Nina Fiore, Dorothy Fortenberry, John Herrera, Lynn Renee Maxcy, Bruce Miller, Kira Snyder, Eric Tuchman; Hulu
Succession, Written by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Jon Brown, Jonathan Glatzer, Anna Jordan, Lucy Prebble, Georgia Pritchett, Tony Roche, Susan Soon He Stanton, Daniel Zelman; HBO
COMEDY SERIES
Atlanta, Written by Ibra Ake, Donald Glover, Stephen Glover, Taofik Kolade, Jamal Olori, Stefani Robinson, Paul Simms; FX Networks
Barry, Written by Alec Berg, Duffy Boudreau, Bill Hader, Emily Heller, Liz Sarnoff, Ben Smith, Sarah Solemani; HBO
GLOW, Written by Liz Flahive, Tara Herrmann, Nick Jones, Jenji Kohan, Carly Mensch, Marquita Robinson, Kim Rosenstock, Sascha Rothchild, Rachel Shukert; Netflix
The Good Place, Written by Megan Amram, Christopher Encell, Kate Gersten, Cord Jefferson, Andrew Law, Joe Mande, Kassia Miller, Dylan Morgan, Matt Murray, Rae Sanni, Daniel Schofield, Michael Schur, Josh Siegal, Jen Statsky, Tyler Straessle; NBC
WINNER: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Written by Kate Fodor, Noah Gardenswartz, Daniel Goldfarb, Jen Kirkman, Sheila Lawrence, Daniel Palladino, Amy Sherman Palladino; Prime Video
NEW SERIES
WINNER: Barry, Written by Alec Berg, Duffy Boudreau, Bill Hader, Emily Heller, Liz Sarnoff, Ben Smith, Sarah Solemani; HBO
The Haunting of Hill House, Written by Meredith Averill, Charise Castro Smith, Mike Flanagan, Jeff Howard, Rebecca Leigh Klingel, Scott Kosar, Liz Phang; Netflix
Homecoming, Written by Micah Bloomberg, Cami Delavigne, Eli Horowitz, Shannon Houston, Eric Simonson, David Wiener; Prime Video
Pose, Written by Steven Canals, Brad Falchuk, Todd Kubrak, Janet Mock, Ryan Murphy, Our Lady J; FX Networks
Succession, Written by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Jon Brown, Jonathan Glatzer, Anna Jordan, Lucy Prebble, Georgia Pritchett, Tony Roche, Susan Soon He Stanton, Daniel Zelman; HBO
LONG FORM ORIGINAL
WINNER: Castle Rock, Writers: Marc Bernardin, Scott Brown, Lila Byock, Mark Lafferty, Sam Shaw, Dustin Thomason, Gina Welch, Vinnie Wilhelm; Hulu
My Dinner with Hervé, Screenplay by Sacha Gervasi, Story by Sacha Gervasi & Sean Macaulay; HBO
Paterno, Written by Debora Cahn and John C. Richards; HBO
LONG FORM ADAPTED
WINNER: The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, Writers: Maggie Cohn, Tom Rob Smith, Based on the book Vulgar Favors by Maureen Orth; FX Networks
The Looming Tower, Writers: Bash Doran, Dan Futterman, Alex Gibney, Shannon Houston, Adam Rapp, Ali Selim, Lawrence Wright, Based on the book The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright; Hulu
Maniac, Writers: Nick Cuse, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Amelia Gray, Danielle Henderson, Mauricio Katz, Patrick Somerville, Caroline Williams, Based on the Norwegian television series Maniac by Espen PA Lervaag, Håakon Bast Mossige, Kjetil Indregard and Ole Marius Araldsen; Netflix
Sharp Objects, Writers: Ariella Blejer, Scott Brown, Vince Calandra, Gillian Flynn, Dawn Kamoche, Alex Metcalf, Marti Noxon, Based upon the book written by Gillian Flynn; HBO
ANIMATION
WINNER: "Bart's Not Dead" (The Simpsons), Written by Stephanie Gillis; Fox
"Boywatch" (Bob's Burgers), Written by Rich Rinaldi; Fox
"Just One of the Boyz 4 Now for Now" (Bob's Burgers), Written by Lizzie Molyneux & Wendy Molyneux; Fox
"Krusty the Clown" (The Simpsons), Written by Ryan Koh; Fox
"Mo Mommy Mo Problems" (Bob's Burgers), Written by Steven Davis; Fox
"Send in Stewie, Please" (Family Guy), Written by Gary Janetti; Fox
EPISODIC DRAMA
"Camelot" (Narcos: Mexico), Written by Eric Newman & Clayton Trussell; Netflix
"The Car" (This Is Us), Written by Isaac Aptaker & Elizabeth Berger; NBC
"Episode 407" (The Affair), Teleplay by Lydia Diamond and Sarah Sutherland, Story by Jaquen Tee Castellanos and Sarah Sutherland; Showtime
"First Blood" (The Handmaid's Tale), Written by Eric Tuchman; Hulu
WINNER: "Paean To The People" (Homeland), Written by Alex Gansa; Showtime
"The Precious Blood of Jesus" (Ozark), Written by David Manson; Netflix
EPISODIC COMEDY
"Another Place" (Forever), Teleplay by Alan Yang and Matt Hubbard, Story by Aniz Adam Ansari; Prime Video
WINNER: "Chapter One: 'Make Your Mark'" (Barry), Written by Alec Berg & Bill Hader; HBO
"Halibut!" (Santa Clarita Diet), Written by Victor Fresco; Netflix
"Kimmy and the Beest!" (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), Written by Robert Carlock; Netflix
"Pilot" (The Kids Are Alright), Written by Tim Doyle; ABC
"Who Knows Better Than I" (Orange Is the New Black), Written by Jenji Kohan; Netflix
COMEDY/VARIETY TALK SERIES
Full Frontal With Samantha Bee, Writers: Kristen Bartlett, Samantha Bee, Ashley Nicole Black, Pat Cassels, Mike Drucker, Eric Drysdale, Mathan Erhardt, Joe Grossman, Miles Kahn, Nicole Silverberg, Melinda Taub; TBS
WINNER: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver; Writers: Tim Carvell, Raquel D'Apice, Josh Gondelman, Dan Gurewitch, Jeff Maurer, Daniel O'Brien, John Oliver, Brian Parise, Owen Parsons, Ben Silva, Will Tracy, Jill Twiss, Seena Vali, Juli Weiner; HBO
Late Night with Seth Meyers; Supervising Writers: Sal Gentile, Seth Reiss; Writers: Jermaine Affonso, Alex Baze, Bryan Donaldson, Matt Goldich, Dina Gusovsky, Jenny Hagel, Allison Hord, Mike Karnell, John Lutz, Seth Meyers, Ian Morgan, Amber Ruffin, Mike Scollins, Mike Shoemaker, Ben Warheit; NBC Universal
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Head Writers: Jay Katsir, Opus Moreschi; Writers: Emmy Blotnick, Michael Brumm, Aaron Cohen, Stephen T. Colbert, Cullen Crawford, Paul Dinello, Ariel Dumas, Glenn Eichler, Django Gold, Gabe Gronli, Greg Iwinski, Barry Julien, Daniel Kibblesmith, Matt Lappin, Michael Pielocik, Kate Sidley, Jen Spyra, Brian Stack, John Thibodeaux; CBS
COMEDY/VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
At Home with Amy Sedaris, Writers: Cindy Caponera, Paul Dinello, Jodi Lennon, Meredith Scardino, Amy Sedaris; truTV
I Love You, America, Head Writer: Dave Ferguson; Writers: Glenn Boozan, Leann Bowen, Raj Desai, Kyle Dunnigan, John Haskell, Tim Kalpakis, Opeyemi Olagbaju, Gavin Purcell, Diona Reasonover, Jocelyn Richard, Christopher J. Romano, Sarah Silverman, Beth Stelling, Dan Sterling, Nick Wiger; Hulu
WINNER: Nathan For You, Writers: Leo Allen, Nathan Fielder, Carrie Kemper, Michael Koman, Adam Locke-Norton, Eric Notarnicola; Comedy Central
Portlandia, Writers: Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein, Jonathan Krisel, Karey Dornetto, Megan Neuringer, Phoebe Robinson, Graham Wagner; IFC
Saturday Night Live, Head Writers: Michael Che, Colin Jost, Kent Sublette, Bryan Tucker; Supervising Writers: Fran Gillespie, Sudi Green, Streeter Seidell; Writers: James Anderson, Kristen Bartlett, Megan Callahan, Steven Castillo, Andrew Dismukes, Anna Drezen, Claire Friedman, Alison Gates, Steve Higgins, Sam Jay, Erik Kenward, Rob Klein, Nick Kocher, Michael Koman, Alan Linic, Eli Coyote Mandel, Erik Marino, Dave McCary, Brian McElhaney, Dennis McNicholas, Lorne Michaels, Nimesh Patel, Josh Patten, Katie Rich, Simon Rich, Gary Richardson, Marika Sawyer, Pete Schultz, Mitch Silpa, Will Stephen, Julio Torres, Rachel Wenitsky, Bowen Yang; NBC Universal
COMEDY/VARIETY SPECIALS
2018 Rose Parade Hosted by Cord & Tish, Written by Will Ferrell, Jake Fogelnest, Andrew Steele; Prime Video
Drew Michael, Written by Drew Michael; HBO
WINNER: The Fake News with Ted Nelms, Written by John Aboud, Andrew Blitz, Michael Colton, Ed Helms, Elliott Kalan, Joseph Randazzo, Sara Schaefer; Comedy Central
The Oscars 2018, Written by Dave Boone, Carol Leifer, Jon Macks; Special Material Written by Megan Amram, Tony Barbieri, Jonathan Bines, Joelle Boucai, Gonzalo Cordova, Adam Carolla, Devin Field, Gary Greenberg, Josh Halloway, Sal Iacono, Eric Immerman, Jesse Joyce, Bess Kalb, Jimmy Kimmel, Molly McNearney, Danny Ricker, Joe Strazzullo; ABC
VIDEO GAME NOMINEES
VIDEO GAME WRITING
Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Associate Narrative Directors Matthew Zagurak, Joel Janisse, James Richard Mittag; Narrative Director Melissa MacCoubrey; Story by Jonathan Dumont, Melissa MacCoubrey, Hugo Giard; Scriptwriters Madeleine Hart, Betty Robertson, Jesse Scoble, Diana Sherman, Kelly Bender, Jojo Chia, Ian Fun, Zachary M. Parris, Ken Williamson, Daniel Bingham, Jordan Lemos, Simon Mackenzie, Katelyn MacMullin, Susan Patrick, Alissa Ralph, Stephen Rhodes; Team Lead Writer Sam Gill; AI Writers Jonathan Flieger, Kimberly Ann Sparks; Ubisoft Quebec
Batman: The Enemy Within, Episode 5-Same Stitch, Lead Writer James Windeler; Written by Meghan Thornton, Ross Beeley, Lauren Mee; Story by Meghan Thornton, Michael Kirkbride; Telltale Games
WINNER: God of War, Written by Matt Sophos, Richard Zangrande Gaubert, Cory Barlog; Story and Narrative Design Lead Matt Sophos; Story and Narrative Design Richard Zangrande Gaubert; Narrative Design Orion Walker, Adam Dolin; Sony Interactive Entertainment
Marvel's Spider-Man, Story Lead Jon Paquette; Writers Benjamin Arfmann, Kelsey Beachum; Co-Written by Christos Gage; Additional Story Contributions by Dan Slott; Insomniac Games & Sony Interactive Entertainment
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, Narrative Designers Alex Scokel, Eric Fenstermaker, Kate Dollarhyde, Megan Starks, Olivia Veras, Paul Kirsch; Additional Writing Tony Evans, John Schmautz, Casey Hollingshead, Nitai Poddar; Narrative Design Leads Carrie Patel, Josh Sawyer; Obsidian Entertainment
QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
Hollywood Game Night, Head Writers: Ann Slichter, Grant Taylor; Writers: Michael Agbabian, Dwight D. Smith; NBC
Jeopardy!, Written by Matthew Caruso, John Duarte, Harry Friedman, Mark Gaberman, Deborah Griffin, Michele Loud, Robert McClenaghan, Jim Rhine, Steve D. Tamerius, Billy Wisse; ABC
Paid Off with Michael Torpey, Head Writer: Ethan Berlin; Writers: John Chaneski, Rosemarie DiSalvo, Leigh Hampton, Katie Hartman, Amanda Melson, Larry Owens, Jennie Sutton, Michael Torpey, Jeremy Weiner; truTV
WINNER: Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Head Writer: Stephen A. Melcher, Jr.; Writers: Kyle Beakley, Tom Cohen, Patricia A. Cotter, Ryan Hopak, Gary Lucy, James Rowley, Ann Slichter, Dylan Snowden; Disney/ABC Syndication
DAYTIME DRAMA
Days of Our Lives, Head Writer: Ron Carlivati; Writers: Sheri Anderson, Lorraine Broderick, Joanna Cohen, Lisa Connor, Carolyn Culliton, Richard Culliton, Rick Draughon, Cydney Kelley, David Kreizman, David A. Levinson, Rebecca McCarty, Ryan Quan, Dave Ryan, Katherine Schock, Elizabeth Snyder, Tyler Topits; NBC
WINNER: General Hospital, Head Writers: Shelly Altman, Christopher Van Etten; Writers: Barbara Bloom, Anna Theresa Cascio, Suzanne Flynn, Charlotte Gibson, Lucky Gold, Kate Hall, Elizabeth Korte, Daniel James O'Connor, Donny Sheldon, Scott Sickles; ABC
CHILDREN'S EPISODIC AND SPECIALS
"Carnivorous Carnival: Part One" (A Series of Unfortunate Events), Teleplay by Joe Tracz; Netflix
WINNER: "The Ersatz Elevator: Part One" (A Series of Unfortunate Events), Teleplay by Daniel Handler; Netflix
"For The Last Time" (Andi Mack), Written by Jonathan S. Hurwitz; Disney Channel
"Picture Day" (Alexa & Katie), Written by Ray Lancon; Netflix
"Warehouse Towel Fight" fka "Emil Strikes Back" (Prince of Peoria), Written by Marty Donovan; Netflix