73rd Writers Guild of America Awards

Award ceremony for writing of 2020

The 73rd Writers Guild of America Awards honored the best writing in film, television and radio of 2020. Nominees for television and radio were announced on February 3, 2021,[1][2] while nominees for film were announced on February 16, 2021. The winners were announced in a virtual ceremony on March 21, 2021.

Winners and Nominees

Film

Best Original Screenplay
  • Promising Young Woman (Focus Features) — Emerald Fennell
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Documentary Screenplay

Television

Drama Series
Comedy Series
New Series
Long Form – Original
Long Form – Adapted
  • The Queen's Gambit (Netflix) – Written by Scott Frank, Allan Scott, Based on the novel by Walter Tevis
    • Bad Education (HBO) – Written by Mike Makowsky, Based on the New York Magazine article "The Bad Superintendent' by Robert Kolker
    • Clouds (Disney+) – Screenplay by Kara Holden; Story by Casey La Scala & Patrick Kopka and Kara Holden, Based on the book entitled "Fly A Little Higher' by Laura Sobiech
    • The Good Lord Bird (Showtime) – Written by Jeff Augustin, Ethan Hawke, Erika L. Johnson, Mark Richard, Kristen SaBerre, Lauren Signorino, Based on the Novel by James McBride
    • Little Fires Everywhere (Hulu) – Written by Harris Danow, Rosa Handelman, Shannon Houston, Attica Locke, Raamla Mohamed, Amy Talkington, Liz Tigelaar, Nancy Won, Based on the book by Celeste Ng
Short Form New Media – Original
Animation
Episodic Drama
Episodic Comedy
Comedy/Variety – Talk Series
Comedy/Variety – Specials
  • Stephen Colbert's Election Night 2020: Democracy's Last Stand: Building Back America Great Again Better 2020 (Showtime) – Head Writers: Ariel Dumas, Jay Katsir; Writers: Delmonte Bent, Michael Brumm, River Clegg, Aaron Cohen, Nicole Conlan, Stephen T. Colbert, Paul Dinello, Glenn Eichler, Django Gold, Gabe Gronli, Barry Julien, Michael Cruz Kayne, Eliana Kwartler, Matt Lappin, Felipe Torres Medina, Opus Moreschi, Asher Perlman, Tom Purcell, Kate Sidley, Brian Stack, John Thibodeaux, Steve Waltien
Comedy/Variety – Sketch Series
Quiz and Audience Participation
  • Weakest Link (NBC) – Head Writer: Ann Slichter Writers: Chip Dornell, Paul Greenberg, Joyce Ikemi, Stuart Krasnow, Jon Macks, Mona Mira, Scott Saltzburg, Aaron Solomon, Chris Sturgeon, Grant Taylor
    • Hollywood Game Night (NBC) – Head Writers: Ann Slichter, Grant Taylor Writers: Michael Agbabian, Allie Kokesh, Dwight D. Smith
    • Jeopardy! (ABC) – Writers: Matthew Caruso, John Duarte, Harry Friedman, Mark Gaberman, Debbie Griffin, Michele Loud, Robert McClenaghan, Jim Rhine, Billy Wisse
    • Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Celebrity Season (Disney/ABC Syndication) – Head Writer: Bobby Patton Writers: Alan Bailey, Josh Halloway, Seth Harrington, Shawn Kennedy
Daytime Drama
  • Days of Our Lives (NBC) – Head Writer: Ron Carlivati; Writers: Lorraine Broderick, Joanna Cohen, Carolyn Culliton, Richard Culliton, Rick Draughon, David Kreizman, Rebecca McCarty, Ryan Quan, Dave Ryan, Katherine D. Schock, Elizabeth Snyder
    • General Hospital (ABC) – Head Writers: Dan O'Connor, Christopher Van Etten; Associate Head Writer: Anna Theresa Cascio; Writers: Barbara Bloom, Suzanne Flynn, Charlotte Gibson, Lucky Gold, Kate Hall, Elizabeth Korte, David Rupel, Lisa Seidman, Donny Sheldon, Scott Sickles

Children's

Children's Script – Episodic, Long form and Specials
  • "The Sleepover" (Netflix) – Written by Sarah Rothschild
    • "Countdown" – The Astronauts (Nickelodeon) – Written by Dan Knauf
    • "Mo Willems And The Storytime All Stars Present: Don't Let The Pigeon Do Storytime" (HBO Max) – Written by Mo Willems, Based on the children's books and published by Hyperion: Leonard the Terrible Monster; Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale; A Busy Creature's Day Eating!; Elephant and Piggy's Waiting is Not Easy!; and Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus
    • "The Not Too Late Show with Elmo" (HBO Max) – Writers: Geri Cole, Scott Gray, Benjamin Lehmann, Wendy Marston, Andrew Moriarty, Ken Scarborough, Moujan Zolfaghari
    • "The Power of We: A Sesame Street Special" (HBO Max) – Written by Geri Cole
    • "Speaking of Cancer" – Alexa & Katie (Netflix) – Written by Leo Chu & Eric S. Garcia & Julia Miranda

Documentary

Documentary Script – Current Events
  • "Agents of Chaos, Part II" (HBO) – Written by Alex Gibney & Michael J. Palmer
    • "Agents of Chaos, Part I" (HBO) – Written by Alex Gibney & Michael J. Palmer
    • "The Choice 2020: Trump vs. Biden" – Frontline (PBS) – Written by Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser
    • "Whose Vote Counts" – Frontline (PBS) – Written by Jelani Cobb, June Cross & Tom Jennings
Documentary Script – Other than Current Events
  • "Opioids, Inc." – Frontline (PBS) – Written by Tom Jennings
    • "The Poison Squad" – American Experience (PBS) – Written by John Maggio
    • "The Violence Paradox" – Nova (PBS) – Written by Michael Bicks and Anna Lee Strachan

News

News Script – Regularly Scheduled, Bulletin, or Breaking Report
  • "Anger in America" – World News Tonight with David Muir (ABC News) – Written by Dave Bloch, David Muir, Karen Mooney, David Schoetz
    • "Critical Condition" – 60 Minutes (CBS News) – Written by Katie Kerbstat Jacobson, Scott Pelley, Nicole Young
    • "Gale Sayers Obit" (WCBS-TV) – Written by Joe McLaughlin
    • "The Wild West of Covid Testing" – 60 Minutes (CBS News) – Written by Sharyn Alfonsi, Oriana Zill de Granados
News Script – Analysis, Feature, or Commentary
  • "Juneteenth: A Celebration of Overcoming" (ABC News) – Written by Dave Bloch
    • "Exhume the Truth" – 60 Minutes (CBS News) – Written by Katie Kerbstat Jacobson, Scott Pelley, Nicole Young
    • "The African Basketball Trail" – 60 Minutes (CBS News) – Written by Oriana Zill de Granados
Digital News
  • "The Store That Called the Cops on George Floyd" (Slate.com) – Written by Aymann Ismail
    • "Pornhub Doesn't Care" (Vice.com) – Written by Samantha Cole and Emanuel Maiberg
    • "This Week Has Happened Before" (Slate.com) – Written by Julia Craven
    • "Why Did the Government Separate This Family?" (Slate.com) – Written by Jeremy Stahl

Radio

Radio News Script – Regularly Scheduled, Bulletin, or Breaking Report
  • "Changemakers: Leaders Who Made a Difference" (CBS News Radio) – Written by Gail Lee
    • "CBS News on the Hour with Norah O'Donnell, March 10, 2020″ (CBS News Radio) – Written by James Hutton
    • "World News This Week, November 13, 2020″ (ABC News Radio/WNTW Podcasts) – Written by Joan Harris
Radio News Script – Analysis, Feature, or Commentary
  • "Against Those Thugs: Delores Tucker and Bill Bennett" (Slow Burn) (Slate Podcasts) – Written by Joel Anderson, Christopher Johnson
    • "The Gist: Spiel, April 3, 2020″ (Slate Podcasts) – Written by Mike Pesca
    • "Instrument of Hope" (ABC News Radio) – Written by Christopher Barry

Promotional writing

On-Air Promotion – Television or Radio
  • "Get Out The Vote – Check Out Those Moves" (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube) – Written by Meghana Reddy and Angad Bhalla
    • "Can You See It?" (Facebook) – Written by Meghana Reddy and Angad Bhalla
    • "Launch Trailers" (CBS All Access) – Written by Molly Neylan

Special awards

Paul Selvin Award

Will Berson, Shaka King, and Kenny and Keith Lucas, for Judas and the Black Messiah[3]

Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement
Laurel Award for TV Writing Achievement

References

  1. ^ Hipes, Patrick (February 3, 2021). "WGA Awards TV Nominations: 'Better Call Saul', 'Ted Lasso' & 'The Great' Lead Way". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  2. ^ Lewis, Hillary (February 3, 2021). "WGA Awards: 'Better Call Saul' Scores Leading 5 Noms as TV, New Media, News Categories Unveiled". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  3. ^ Lewis, Hilary; Kit, Borys (March 21, 2021). "WGA Awards: 'Promising Young Woman' Wins Original Screenplay, 'Borat 2' Takes Adapted Prize". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 17, 2022.

External links

  • Official website
  • v
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Film AwardsTelevision/
New Media Awards
  • Animation
  • Comedy Series
  • Comedy/Variety Talk Series
  • Comedy/Variety Specials
  • Comedy/Variety Sketch Series
  • Daytime Serials
  • Drama Series
  • Episodic Comedy
  • Episodic Drama
  • Long Form – Adapted
  • Long Form – Original
  • Short Form New Media
  • New Series
  • Children's Script
  • Documentary Script – Current Events
  • Documentary Script – Other Than Current Events
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