2018 Writers Guild Awards: ‘Get Out,’ ‘Call Me by Your Name,’ and ‘Jane’ Win Film Honors
Faced with formidable competition from the likes of Greta Gerwig (“Lady Bird”) and Guillermo del Toro (“The Shape of Water”), “Get Out” writer-director Jordan Peele took home Original Screenplay honors tonight at the 2018 Writers Guild Awards. “I just want to say thank you and everyone in this room that is a writer, to keep taking chances, to take big risks, put your love into it,” Peele said. “It does pay off, it is the hardest fucking thing, and it can take a long time, but our voices really do matter.”
Read More: Writers Guild of America 2018 Film Nominations: ‘Get Out,’ ‘Logan,’ and ‘Lady Bird’ All Score
Following a victory at the February 10 USC Libraries Scripter Awards, veteran director James Ivory — the 89-year-old screenwriter of “Call Me by Your Name” — received a standing ovation when, as expected, he accepted the adapted Screenplay award for his first solo script. “I just wanted to go and make a film in Italy again,” he joked.
“Jane” was named Best Documentary. During much of award season, the film and its director, Brett Morgan, was considered an Oscar favorite, but “Jane” was overlooked by The Academy on nomination day. “When we started this movie three years ago, it was important to make a movie about a strong, powerful woman, a real life Wonder Woman, for we felt there was an absence of female role models, and it was important for our daughters to have someone to look up to,” said Morgan. “In light of recent events in our industry, I’d like to say that it is of equal importance for young boys to see strong female role models on the screen, so they can grow up with a culture of respect and appreciation.”
The actors, producers and directors guilds have already proclaimed their favorite titles of the past year. For the 70th annual Writers Guild Awards, Patton Oswalt returned for the third time as host. “Good evening, fellow Disney employees,” his monologue began, citing the studio’s $52.4 billion acquisition of 20th Century Fox this past December.
Oswalt also acknowledged two local Democratic leaders in the audience: City Councilmember Paul Koretz and U.S. Representative Adam Schiff, who has criticized President Trump for blocking the release of a Democrat memo stipulating that the FBI lawfully conducted surveillance on Trump campaign advisor Carter Page. He earned the night’s most rousing standing ovation. “Ever think you’d be the writers of the hottest spec script, which your boss refuses to read?” Oswalt quipped.
Although grateful for the gig, Oswalt nonetheless suggested he would happily bequeath it to a woman in this era of Time’s Up and #MeToo. WGA West president David A. Goodman, who was elected in September, had similar thoughts. “In this day and age, I am, like many of you, tired of the president of the Writers Guild being a white, Jewish man. I ran for this position unopposed; it’s not because I am beloved.” The WGA’s board is currently 50 percent women, and Goodman encouraged women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ community to run for the guild’s top post. “If you’re tired of being of led by a guy who sounds like Ray Romano and looks like the guy from the Subway commercials, get involved, stay involved, and lead.”
On the subject of workplace sexual harassment, Goodman also said that “rather than men being educated, it’s better that they’re scared. Many are scared now, but we can’t rely on the Internet and social media to be the judge and jury, where every crime has the same punishment, and the only incidents people talk about involve celebrities.”
At the Beverly Hilton, trophies were be handed out to film, television, radio, news, video game and promo writers in more than 30 categories. HBO did well, winning television prizes for “Big Little Lies,” “Veep,” and “The Handmaid’s Tale,” which triumphed as best New Series and Drama Series.
Politics played into much of the ceremony, including a look back at the lessons of the McCarthy era and the Blacklisted Hollywood Ten. Dustin Lance Black, Alison Cross, and “The Post” screenwriters Liz Hannah and Josh Singer also received honorary awards for their progressive work. The Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement went to Oscar-winner James L. Brooks (“Terms of Endearment”). “If someone came into this room and yelled, ‘We have to evacuate the frauds,'” he said, “I wouldn’t be the only one out that door.”
Read on for the full list of winners.
Original Screenplay
“The Big Sick,” Written by Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani; Amazon Studios
“Get Out,” Written by Jordan Peele; Universal Pictures
“I, Tonya,” Written by Steven Rogers; Neon
“Lady Bird,” Written by Greta Gerwig; A24
“The Shape of Water,” Screenplay by Guillermo del Toro & Vanessa Taylor; Story by Guillermo del Toro; Fox Searchlight
Adapted Screenplay
“Call Me by Your Name,” Screenplay by James Ivory; Based on the Novel by André Aciman; Sony Pictures Classics
“The Disaster Artist,” Screenplay by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber; Based on the Book The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside the Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell; A24
“Logan,” Screenplay by Scott Frank & James Mangold and Michael Green; Story by James Mangold; Based on Characters from the X-Men Comic Books and Theatrical Motion Pictures; Twentieth Century Fox Film
“Molly’s Game,” Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin; Based on the Book by Molly Bloom; STX Entertainment
“Mudbound,” Screenplay by Virgil Williams and Dee Rees; Based on the Novel by Hillary Jordan; Netflix
Documentary
“Betting on Zero,” Written by Theodore Braun; Gunpowder & Sky
“Jane,” Written by Brett Morgen; National Geographic
“No Stone Unturned,” Written by Alex Gibney; Abramorama
“Oklahoma City,” Written by Barak Goodman; American Experience Films
Drama Series
“The Americans,” Peter Ackerman, Tanya Barfield, Joshua Brand, Joel Fields, Stephen Schiff, Joe Weisberg, Tracey Scott Wilson
“Better Call Saul,” Ann Cherkis, Vince Gilligan, Jonathan Glatzer, Peter Gould, Gennifer Hutchison, Heather Marion, Thomas Schnauz, Gordon Smith
“Game of Thrones,” David Benioff, Bryan Cogman, Dave Hill, D.B. Weiss
“The Handmaid’s Tale,” Ilene Chaiken, Nina Fiore, Dorothy Fortenberry, Leila Gerstein, John Herrera, Lynn Maxcy, Bruce Miller, Kira Snyder, Wendy Straker Hauser, Eric Tuchman
“Stranger Things,” Paul Dichter, Justin Doble, The Duffer Brothers, Jessica Mecklenburg, Jessie Nickson-Lopez, Alison Tatlock
Episodic Drama
“The Book of Nora” (The Leftovers), Teleplay by Tom Perrotta & Damon Lindelof, Story by Tom Spezialy & Damon Lindelof
“Chicanery” (Better Call Saul), Written by Gordon Smith
“The Heart Attack is the Best Way” (Good Behavior), Written by Chad Hodge
“Homecoming” (The OA), Written by Brit Marling & Zal Batmanglij
“Slip” (Better Call Saul), Written by Heather Marion
“The Soviet Decision” (The Americans), Written by Joe Weisberg & Joel Fields
Comedy Series
“Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Larry David, Jon Hayman, Justin Hurwitz, Jeff Schaffer
“GLOW,” Kristoffer Diaz, Liz Flahive, Tara Herrmann, Nick Jones, Jenji Kohan, Carly Mensch, Emma Rathbone, Sascha Rothchild, Rachel Shukert
“Master of None,” Aziz Ansari, Andrew Blitz, Zoe Jarman, Cord Jefferson, Sarah Peters, Sarah Schneider, Michael Schur, Leila Strachan, Gene Stupnitsky, Lakshmi Sundaram, Lena Waithe, Jason Woliner, Alan Yang
“Silicon Valley,” Alec Berg, Donick Cary, Adam Countee, Jonathan Dotan, Mike Judge, Carrie Kemper, John Levenstein, Dan Lyons, Carson Mell, Dan O’Keefe, Clay Tarver; Aaron Zelman
“Veep,” Rachel Axler, Sean Gray, Alex Gregory, Peter Huyck, Erik Kenward, Billy Kimball, Steve Koren, Dave Mandel, Jim Margolis, Lew Morton, Georgia Pritchett, Will Smith, Alexis Wilkinson
Episodic Comedy
“The Burglary” (“Grace and Frankie”), Brendan McCarthy & David Budin
“Intervention” (“The Carmichael Show”), Willie Hunter
“Judge” (“Veep”), Ted Cohen
“Rosario’s Quinceanera” (“Will & Grace”),Tracy Poust & Jon Kinnally
“The Verdict” (“Trial & Error”), Jeff Astrof
New Series
“American Vandal,” Seth Cohen, Lauren Herstik, Dan Lagana, Kevin McManus, Matthew McManus, Jessica Meyer, Dan Perrault, Amy Pocha, Mike Rosolio, Tony Yacenda
“The Deuce,” Megan Abbott, Marc Henry Johnson, Lisa Lutz, George Pelecanos, Richard Price, Will Ralston, David Simon, Chris Yakaitis
“GLOW,” Kristoffer Diaz, Liz Flahive, Tara Herrmann, Nick Jones, Jenji Kohan, Carly Mensch, Emma Rathbone, Sascha Rothchild, Rachel Shukert
“The Handmaid’s Tale,” Ilene Chaiken, Nina Fiore, Dorothy Fortenberry, Leila Gerstein, John Herrera, Lynn Maxcy, Bruce Miller, Kira Snyder, Wendy Straker Hauser, Eric Tuchman
“Ozark,” Whit Anderson, Bill Dubuque, Ryan Farley, Alyson Feltes, Paul Kolsby, David Manson, Chris Mundy, Mark Williams, Ning Zhou, Martin Zimmerman
Long Form Original
“American Horror Story: Cult,” Brad Falchuk, John J. Gray, Joshua Green, Todd Kubrak, Crystal Liu, Tim Minear, Ryan Murphy, Adam Penn, James Wong
“Feud: Bette and Joan,” Jaffe Cohen, Tim Minear, Ryan Murphy, Gina Welch, Michael Zam
“Flint,” Barbara Stepansky
“Godless,” Scott Frank
“Manhunt: Unabomber,” Jim Clemente, Tony Gittelson, Max Hurwitz, Steven Katz, Nick Schenk, Andrew Sodroski, Nick Towne
Long Form Adapted
“Big Little Lies,” Teleplay by David E. Kelley, Based on the Novel by Liane Moriarty
“Fargo,” Written by Monica Beletsky, Bob DeLauren, Noah Hawley, Ben Nedivi, Matt Wolpert, Based on the film Fargo
“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” Teleplay by Peter Landesman and Alexander Woo and George C. Wolfe, Based on the book written by Rebecca Skloot
“The Wizard of Lies,” Teleplay by Sam Levinson and John Burnham Schwartz and Samuel Baum, Based on the Book Written by Diane B. Henriques and Truth and Consequences by Laurie Sandell
Comedy/Variety Talk Series
“Conan,” Head Writer: Matt O’Brien, Writers: Jose Arroyo, Daniel Cronin, Andres du Bouchet, Jessie Gaskell, Michael Gordon, Brian Kiley, Laurie Kilmartin, Leah Krinsky, Stephen Kutner, Todd Levin, Levi MacDougall, Conan O’Brien, Paul Richter, Frank Smiley, Mike Sweeney
“Full Frontal with Samantha Bee,” Writers: Samantha Bee, Ashley Nicole Black, Pat Cassels, Eric Drysdale, Mathan Erhardt, Travon Free, Joe Grossman, Jo Miller, Jason Reich, Melinda Taub
“Jimmy Kimmel Live,” Writers: Jimmy Kimmel, Tony Barbieri, Jonathan Bines, Joelle Boucai, Gonzalo Cordova, Devin Field, Gary Greenberg, Josh Halloway, Sal Iacono, Eric Immerman, Jesse Joyce, Bess Kalb, Jeff Loveness, Molly McNearney, CeCe Pleasants, Danny Ricker, Joe Strazzullo
“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” Writers: Tim Carvell, Josh Gondelman, Dan Gurewitch, Geoff Haggerty, Jeff Maurer, John Oliver, Scott Sherman, Will Tracy, Jill Twiss, Juli Weiner, Ben Silva, Seena Vali
“Late Night with Seth Meyers,” Writers: Jermaine Affonso, Alex Baze, Bryan Donaldson, Sal Gentile, Matt Goldich, Dina Gusovsky, Jenny Hagel, Allison Hord, Mike Karnell, John Lutz, Seth Meyers, Ian Morgan, Seth Reiss, Amber Ruffin, Mike Scollins, Mike Shoemaker, Ben Warheit
“Real Time with Bill Maher,” Writers: Scott Carter, Adam Felber, Matt Gunn, Brian Jacobsmeyer, Jay Jaroch, Chris Kelly, Bill Maher, Billy Martin, Bob Oschack, Danny Vermont
“The Daily Show with Trevor Noah,” Writers: Dan Amira, David Angelo, Steve Bodow, Kashana Cauley, Devin Delliquanti, Zach DiLanzo, Hallie Haglund, David Kibuuka, Matt Koff, Adam Lowitt, Dan McCoy, Trevor Noah, Joseph Opio, Zhubin Parang, Owen Parsons, Daniel Radosh, Lauren Sarver-Means, Michelle Wolf
“The Jim Jefferies Show,” Head Writer: Jason Reich, Writers: Jim Jefferies, Subhah Agarwal, Kevin Avery, Curtis Cook, Lucas Kavner, Matt Kirshen, Bryan Olsen, Laura Willcox, JJ Whitehead, Scott Y. Zabielski; Comedy Central
Comedy/Variety Sketch Series
“Nathan For You,” Writers: Leo Allen, Nathan Fielder, Carrie Kemper, Michael Koman, Adam Locke-Norton, Eric Notarnicola
“Portlandia,” Writers: Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein, Karen Kilgariff, Jonathan Krisel, Graham Wagner
“Saturday Night Live,” Head Writers: Chris Kelly, Sarah Schneider, Bryan Tucker, Writers: James Anderson, Kristen Bartlett, Jeremy Beiler, Neal Brennan, Zack Bornstein, Joanna Bradley, Megan Callahan, Michael Che, Anna Drezen, Fran Gillespie, Sudi Green, Steve Higgins, Colin Jost, Erik Kenward, Rob Klein, Nick Kocher, Michael Koman, Dave McCary, Brian McElhaney, Dennis McNicholas, Drew Michael, Lorne Michaels, Josh Patten, Katie Rich, Pete Schultz, Streeter Seidell, Will Stephen, Kent Sublette, Julio Torres
“The President Show,” Writers: Emily Altman, Anthony Atamanuik, Emmy Blotnick, Neil Casey, Mike Drucker, Noah Garfinkel, John Gemberling, Peter Grosz, Mitra Jouhari, John Knefel, Alison Leiby, Christine Nangle, John Reynolds, Jason Ross, Rae Sanni, Evan Waite
“Weekend Update Summer Edition,” Writers: Megan Callahan, Michael Che, Mikey Day, Steve Higgins, Colin Jost, Dennis McNicholas, Josh Patten, Katie Rich, Pete Schultz, Streeter Seidell, Kent Sublette, Brian Tucker
Comedy/Variety Specials
“39th Annual Kennedy Center Honors,” Dave Boone
“89th Annual Academy Awards,” Billy Kimball, Jon Macks; Special Material Written by Jack Allison, Tony Barbieri, Jonathan Bines, Joelle Boucai, Gonzalo Cordova, Gary Greenberg, Josh Halloway, Sal Iacono, Eric Immerman, Bess Kalb, Jimmy Kimmel, Jeff Loveness, Molly McNearney, Danny Ricker, Joe Strazzullo
“AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Diane Keaton,” Bob Gazzale, Jon Macks
“Michael Bolton’s Big, Sexy, Valentine’s Day Special,” Scott Aukerman, Dave Ferguson, Mike Hanford, Tim Kalpakis, Joe Saunders, Akiva Schaffer; Additional Material Written by Zach Kanin, Claudia O’Doherty, Tim Robinson
“Nathan For You: A Celebration,” Leo Allen, Nathan Fielder, Carrie Kemper, Michael Koman, Adam Locke-Norton, Eric Notarnicola
Quiz and Audience Participation
“Hollywood Game Night,” Head Writer: Grant Taylor; Writers: Michael Agbabian, Alex Chauvin, Ann Slichter, Dwight D. Smith
“Jeopardy!,” Written by Matthew Caruso, John Duarte, Harry Friedman, Mark Gaberman, Deborah Griffin, Michele Loud, Robert McClenaghan, Jim Rhine, Steve D. Tamerius, Billy Wisse
Daytime Drama
“General Hospital,” Head Writers: Shelly Altman, Jean Passanante; Writers: Anna Theresa Cascio, Suzanne Flynn, Charlotte Gibson, Lucky Gold, Kate Hall, Elizabeth Korte, Daniel James O’Connor, Dave Rupel, Katherine Schock, Scott Sickles, Christopher Van Etten, Christopher Whitesell
“Days of Our Lives,” Writers: Ron Carlivati, Sheri Anderson, Lorraine Broderick, David Cherrill, Lisa Connor, Carolyn Culliton, Richard Culliton, Rick Draughon, Cydney Kelley, David Kreizman, David A. Levinson, Rebecca McCarty, Ryan Quan, Dave Ryan, Elizabeth Snyder, Tyler Topits
Short Form New Media Adapted:
“John Hancock” (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot), Written by James C. Oliver & Sharla Oliver; abc.go.com
“Chapter 2” (The Walking Dead: Red Machete), Written by Nick Bernardone; amc.com
“Justicia” (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot), Written by Mark Leitner; abc.go.com
“Starboy” (Zac & Mia), Teleplay by Allen Clary and Andrew Rothschild, Based on the novel Zac & Mia by A.J. Betts; go90.com
Animation
“Brunchsquatch” (Bob’s Burgers) – Lizzie Molyneux & Wendy Molyneux
“A Father’s Watch” – (The Simpsons) – Simon Rich
“Ruthie” – (BoJack Horseman ) – Joanna Calo
“The Serfsons” – (The Simpsons) – Brian Kelley
“Time’s Arrow” – (BoJack Horseman) – Kate Purdy
Children’s Episodic and Specials
“American Girl – Ivy & Julie” – (American Girl) – May Chan
“American Girl – Knowledge is Power” – (American Girl) – Alison McDonald and Caron Tschampion
“Just Add 1965” – (Just Add Magic ) – Lauren Thompson
“Meet Julia” – (Sesame Street) – Belinda Ward
“The Magical Wand Chase: A Sesame Street Special” – Raye Lankford, Jessica Carleton, Ken Scarborough
Documentary Script – Current Events
“Confronting ISIS” (Frontline), Written by Martin Smith; PBS
“Poverty, Politics and Profit” (Frontline), Written by Rick Young; PBS
“Unseen Enemy,” Written by Janet Tobias; CNN
Documentary Script – Other Than Current Events
“Divided States of America” Part One (Frontline), Written by Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser; PBS
“Rachel Carson” (American Experience), Written and Directed by Michelle Ferrari; PBS
“The Great War” Part II (American Experience), Written by Stephen Ives; PBS
“The Great War” Part III (American Experience), Written by Rob Rapley; PBS
“The Vietnam War,” Episode Six: “Things Fall Apart,” Written by Geoffrey C. Ward; PBS
News Script – Regularly Scheduled, Bulletin, or Breaking Report
“Obama Wiretap Allegations” (World News Tonight with David Muir), Mark Berman, Barbara Rick, Tom Llamas; ABC News
“September 29, 2017” (World News Now), Written by Matt Nelko, Jack Sheahan, Debbie Humes, Carla Brittain, Constance Johnson, Lloyd deVries, Craig Morancie; ABC News
“White Helmets” (60 Minutes), Written by Scott Pelley, Nicole Young, Katie Kerbstat; CBS News
News Script – Analysis, Feature, or Commentary
“Chief of Chobani” (60 Minutes), Written by Steve Kroft, Oriana Zill de Granados; CBS News
“Fighting Famine” (60 Minutes), Written by Scott Pelley, Nicole Young; CBS News
Digital News
“At the Capitol With Those for Whom Last Night Mattered the Most,” Written by Emma Roller; SplinterNews.com
“Becoming Ugly,” Written by Madeleine Davies; Jezebel.com
“The Super Predators,” Written by Melissa Jeltsen, Dana Liebelson; Huffingtonpost.com
“Why Did Politicon Make Me Want To Die?,” Written by Libby Watson; SplinterNews.com
Radio/Audio Documentary
“2016 Year in Review,” Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio
“Castro, Cuba & Communism,” Written by Thomas A. Sabella; CBS News Radio
“CBS Radio 90th Anniversary,” Written by Dianne E. James, Gail Lee; CBS News Radio
“Remembering Princess Diana 20 Years Later,” Written by Andrew Evans; ABC News Radio
Radio/Audio News Script – Regularly Scheduled, Bulletin, or Breaking Report
“Hugh Hefner: A Social Revolutionary in Silk Pajamas,” Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio
“World News This Week November 18, 2016,” Written by Joan B. Harris; ABC News Radio
“World News This Week: June 9, 2017,” Written by Tara Gimbel Tanis; ABC News Radio
Radio/Audio News Script – Analysis, Feature, or Commentary
“Chuck Berry,” Written by Jerry Edling; KNX
“Dishin’ Digital on WCBS-AM,” Written by Robert Hawley; WCBS
“Holiday Stories,” Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio
“One Nation, Overdosed: An Investigative Report,” Written by Tara Gimbel Tanis; ABC News Radio
On-Air Promotion (Radio or Television)
“CBS Comedy,” Written by Dan Greenberger; CBS Television
“The Good Fight,” Written by Brian Retchless; CBS On-Air Promotions
Outstanding Achievement in Videogame Writing
“Dishonored: Death of the Outsider,” External Writers Anna Megill, Hazel Monforton; Lead Narrative Designer Sachka Duval; Arkane Studios-Bethesda Softworks
“Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow,” Written by Cas Ruffin, Patric M. Verrone; TinyCo
“Horizon Zero Dawn,” Narrative Director John Gonzalez; Lead Writer Benjamin McCaw; Writing by Ben Schroder, Anne Toole; Additional Writing by Dee Warrick, Meg Jayanth; Guerrilla Games
“Madden NFL 18: Longshot,” Written by Michael Young, Adrian Todd Zuniga; Story by Michael Young; Tiburon/Electronic Arts
Valentine Davies Award
Dustin Lance Black
Paddy Chayefsky Award for Television Writing Achievement
Alison Cross
Paul Selvin Award
Liz Hannah and Josh Singer, “The Post”
Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement
James L. Brooks
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