Thank you, Writers Guild. You had to go and make the Oscar predictions even more confusing.
Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade, the story of a thirteen-year-old girl who endures the awkward tidal wave of contemporary suburban adolescence as she makes her way through middle school – beat out the likes of Vice, Roma and heavily favored Green Book to win the Best Original Screenplay Sunday night at the Writers Guild Awards.
The film is also notable that it is THE ONLY film to win both the WGA and DGA Awards this year.
But the surprises don’t stop there.
Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Nicole Holofcener’s and Jeff Whitty’s Can You Ever Forgive Me?, the bio pic about deceased biographer Lee Israel who turned from writing about celebrities to impersonating their writings, won Best Adapted Screenplay over Blackkklansman, Black Panther and A Star is Born.
The Writers Guild of America West and the Writers Guild of America, East Sunday announced the winners of the 2019 Writers Guild Awards for outstanding achievement in writing for film, television, new media, videogames, news, radio/audio, promotional, and graphic animation categories at concurrent ceremonies at The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles and the Edison Ballroom in New York City.
The West Coast ceremony was hosted by Writers Guild and SAG Award-nominated writer-actress-comedian Chelsea Peretti (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Parks and Recreation). The East Coast was hosted by The Daily Show’s Roy Wood, Jr.
West presenters included Golden Globe-winning and Emmy-nominated My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend star/co-creator Rachel Bloom, Emmy-winning and WGA-nominated actress-writer-comedian Sarah Silverman (I Love You, America, We Are Miracles), Golden Globe-winning actress-host Jane Lynch (Hollywood Game Night, Glee), SAG Award-winning and WGA-nominated actor-writer Ed Helms (The Office, The Fake News with Ted Nelms), Emmy and SAG Award-winning actor Tony Hale (Veep, Arrested Development), Daytime Emmy and SAG Award-winning actor Topher Grace (BlacKkKlansman, The Hot Zone).
Presenters from the East were Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon, Kimmy Schmidt’s Ellie Kemper, Tony Schalhoub, Michael Moore, Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife, ER), SNL’s Kenan Thompson and Writers Guild of America, East President Beau Willimon (Mary Queen of Scots, House of Cards).
Two thirds of the winners of the WGA Awards have gone onto win Oscars. However, Eighth Grade isn’t nominated and Can You Ever Forgive Me?, while very good, has not considered a favorite to win.
To make it even more head-scratching, Eighth Grade is the only film to win multiple awards from the five major guilds – Writers, Producers, Directors, SAG-AFTRA and the American Cinema Editors.
So, now what?
A full list of winners is below:
FILM WINNERS
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Eighth Grade, Written by Bo Burnham; A24
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Screenplay by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty, Based on the book by Lee Israel; Fox Searchlight
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
Bathtubs Over Broadway, Written by Ozzy Inguanzo & Dava Whisenant; Focus Features
TELEVISION AND NEW MEDIA WINNERS
DRAMA SERIES
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
COMEDY SERIES
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
Barry, Written by Alec Berg, Duffy Boudreau, Bill Hader, Emily Heller, Liz Sarnoff, Ben Smith, Sarah Solemani; HBO
ORIGINAL LONG FORM
Castle Rock, Writers: Marc Bernardin, Scott Brown, Lila Byock, Mark Lafferty, Sam Shaw, Dustin Thomason, Gina Welch, Vinnie Wilhelm; Hulu
ADAPTED LONG FORM
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
ORIGINAL SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA
Class of Lies, Written by Tessa Leigh Williams; Snapchat
ADAPTED SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA
The Walking Dead: Red Machete, Written by Nick Bernardone; AMC.com
ANIMATION
“Bart’s Not Dead” (The Simpsons), Written by Stephanie Gillis; Fox
EPISODIC DRAMA
“Paean To The People” (Homeland), Written by Alex Gansa; Showtime
EPISODIC COMEDY
“Chapter One: ‘Make Your Mark’” (Barry), Written by Alec Berg & Bill Hader; HBO
COMEDY/VARIETY TALK SERIES
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
COMEDY/VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
Nathan For You, Writers: Leo Allen, Nathan Fielder, Carrie Kemper, Michael Koman, Adam Locke-Norton, Eric Notarnicola; Comedy Central
COMEDY/VARIETY SPECIALS
The Fake News with Ted Nelms, Written by John Aboud, Andrew Blitz, Michael Colton, Ed Helms, Elliott Kalan, Joseph Randazzo, Sara Schaefer; Comedy Central
QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
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
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
“The Ersatz Elevator: Part One” (A Series of Unfortunate Events), Teleplay by Daniel Handler; Netflix
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – CURRENT EVENTS
“Trump’s Takeover” (Frontline), Written by Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser; PBS
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS
“The Eugenics Crusade” (American Experience), Written by Michelle Ferrari; PBS
NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“Catastrophe” (60 Minutes), Written by Scott Pelley, Katie Kerbstat, Nicole Young; CBS News
NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“Wounds of War” (60 Minutes), Written by Scott Pelley, Katie Kerbstat, Nicole Young; CBS News
DIGITAL NEWS
“Inside The Culture Of Sexism At Riot Games,” Written by Cecilia D’Anastasio; Kotaku.com
ALSO READ: ASC scolds Oscars for cutting category for commercials
RADIO/AUDIO WINNERS
RADIO/AUDIO DOCUMENTARY
“RFK: 50 Years After Shots Rang Out at The Ambassador Hotel,” Written by Andrew Evans; ABC News Radio
RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT—REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“Remembering The Good, The Bad and the Brilliant,” Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio
RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“John McCain: A Life of Service,” Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio
PROMOTIONAL WINNER
ON-AIR PROMOTION (RADIO OR TELEVISION)
“Tribute to Star Trek for the 2018 Creative Arts Emmys,” Written by Sean Brogan; CBS
VIDEOGAME WINNER
VIDEOGAME WRITING
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
Who wins on Sunday is anyone’s guess, but you can be sure someone will.
Source: Writers Guild
