Eighth Grade, Can You Ever Forgive Me? win big at 2019 Writers Guild Awards: See the full list

Joey Nolfi
Updated
2019 WGA Award winners announced: See the full list

The Writers Guild of America has named its top screenplays of 2018.

In ceremonies held simultaneously in New York and Los Angeles Sunday night, the 3,700-strong industry union handed out its annual awards for the best screenplays of the year in both film and television. Chelsea Peretti hosted on the West Coast while Roy Wood Jr. kept the show moving in New York.

The FX drama The Americans earned another farewell award tonight, while scribes from General Hospital, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and Barry were given more pats on the back.

On the film side, Can You Ever Forgive Me? starring the Oscar-nominated Melissa McCarthy won the trophy for best-adapted screenplay while Eighth Grade, the terrific dramedy about an introverted teenage girl in her final middle school days, won best original screenplay.

Among the Original Screenplay nominees, only WGA nominees Roma, Vice, and Green Book crossed over to received Oscar nods, with Eighth Grade and A Quiet Place failing to make the jump despite significant crossover membership between both organizations. On the adapted side, the Academy nominated all four of the WGA’s respective nominees, though it swapped Black Panther‘s script for The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.

Since 2008, eight of the WGA’s Original Screenplay winners have gone on to win the corresponding Oscar. That number holds at eight among the Adapted Screenplay set.

Elsewhere on the awards circuit, the precursor industry guilds have all split their top winners (the Directors Guild chose Roma, the Screen Actors Guild went with Black Panther, and the Producers Guild heralded Green Book), making it difficult to predict the Academy’s choice for Best Picture as the Feb. 24 Oscars ceremony approaches.

Read on for the list of 2019 WGA Award winners.

SCREENPLAY NOMINEES

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

  • Eighth Grade, Written by Bo Burnham; A24 — WINNER

  • 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

  • Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Screenplay by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty, Based on the book by Lee Israel; Fox Searchlight — WINNER

  • 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.

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

  • Bathtubs Over Broadway, Written by Ozzy Inguanzo & Dava Whisenant; Focus Features — WINNER

  • Fahrenheit 11/9, Written by Michael Moore; Briarcliff Entertainment

  • Generation Wealth, Written by Lauren Greenfield; Amazon Studios

  • In Search of Greatness, Written by Gabe Polsky; Art of Sport

TELEVISION, NEW MEDIA, AND NEWS NOMINEES

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 — WINNER

  • 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
NEW SERIES
LONG FORM ORIGINAL

  • Castle Rock, Writers: Marc Bernardin, Scott Brown, Lila Byock, Mark Lafferty, Sam Shaw, Dustin Thomason, Gina Welch, Vinnie Wilhelm; Hulu — WINNER

  • 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

  • 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 — WINNER

  • 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

SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA ORIGINAL

  • After Forever, Written by Michael Slade & Kevin Spirtas; Vimeo.com

  • Class of Lies, Written by Tessa Leigh Williams; Snapchat — WINNER

  • Love Daily, Written by Lauren Ciaravalli, Andrew Eisen, Aaron Eisenberg, Will Eisenberg, Alexis Jacknow, Nathaniel Katzman, Yulin Kuang, Nathan Larkin-Connolly, Alexis Roblan, Bennet D. Silverman, Ryan Wood; Go90.com

  • West 40s, Written by Mark Sam Rosenthal & Brian Sloan; West40s.com

SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA ADAPTED

  • The Walking Dead: Red Machete, Written by Nick Bernardone; AMC.com — WINNER

ANIMATION

  • “Bart’s Not Dead” (The Simpsons), Written by Stephanie Gillis; Fox — WINNER

  • “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

  • “Paean To The People” (Homeland), Written by Alex Gansa; Showtime — WINNER

  • “The Precious Blood of Jesus” (Ozark), Written by David Manson; Netflix

EPISODIC COMEDY
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

  • 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 — WINNER

  • 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

  • Nathan For You, Writers: Leo Allen, Nathan Fielder, Carrie Kemper, Michael Koman, Adam Locke-Norton, Eric Notarnicola; Comedy Central — WINNER

  • 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
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

  • 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 — WINNER

DAYTIME DRAMA

  • Days of Our Lives, Head Writer: Ron Carlivati; Writers: Sheri Anderson, Lorraine Broderick, David Cherrill, 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

  • 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 — WINNER

CHILDREN’S EPISODIC AND SPECIALS

  • “Carnivorous Carnival: Part One” (A Series of Unfortunate Events), Teleplay by Joe Tracz; Netflix

  • “The Ersatz Elevator: Part One” (A Series of Unfortunate Events), Teleplay by Daniel Handler; Netflix — WINNER

  • “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

DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – CURRENT EVENTS

  • “Black Hole Apocalypse” (Nova), Written by Rushmore DeNooyer; PBS

  • “Blackout in Puerto Rico” (Frontline), Written by Rick Young; PBS

  • “The Gang Crackdown” (Frontline), Written by Marcela Gaviria; PBS

  • “Trump’s Takeover” (Frontline), Written by Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser; PBS — WINNER

DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS

  • “Bitter Rivals: Iran and Saudi Arabia – Part 1” (Frontline), Written by David Fanning & Linda Hirsch & Martin Smith; PBS

  • “The Circus, Part One” (American Experience), Written by Sharon Grimberg; PBS

  • “The Eugenics Crusade” (American Experience), Written by Michelle Ferrari; PBS — WINNER

  • “Into The Amazon” (American Experience), Written by John Maggio; PBS

NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT

  • “Catastrophe” (60 Minutes), Written by Scott Pelley, Katie Kerbstat, Nicole Young; CBS News — WINNER

  • “Las Vegas Massacre” (CBS Evening News with Anthony Mason), Written by Jerry Cipriano and Joe Clines; CBS News

  • “The Spotted Pig” (60 Minutes), Written by Anderson Cooper and Oriana Zill de Granados; CBS News

NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY

  • “100,000 Women” (60 Minutes), Written by Scott Pelley and Oriana Zill de Granados; CBS News

  • “On Broadway: Rodgers and Hammerstein” (CBS Sunday Morning), Written by Mo Rocca and Kay M. Lim; CBS News

  • “War Crime” (60 Minutes), Written by Scott Pelley, Katie Kerbstat, Nicole Young; CBS News

  • “Wounds of War” (60 Minutes), Written by Scott Pelley, Katie Kerbstat, Nicole Young; CBS News — WINNER

DIGITAL NEWS

  • “D.C.’s Biggest Homeless Shelter Is About to Close. Will Amazon Take Its Place?,” Written by Emma Roller; Splinter

  • “How To Not Die In America,” Written by Molly Osberg; Splinter

  • “Inside The Culture Of Sexism At Riot Games,” Written by Cecilia D’Anastasio; Kotaku.com — WINNER

RADIO/AUDIO NOMINEES

RADIO/AUDIO DOCUMENTARY

  • “2017 Year in Review,” Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio

  • “RFK: 50 Years After Shots Rang Out at The Ambassador Hotel,” Written by Andrew Evans; ABC News Radio — WINNER

RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT

  • “5pm CBS News Radio Glor Newscast,” Written by James Hutton; CBS News Radio

  • “ABC News 6p Hourly 9-27-2018,” Written by Stephanie Pawlowski; ABC News Radio

  • “Remembering The Good, The Bad and the Brilliant,” Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio — WINNER

  • “World News This Week 9-21-2018,” Written by Joan B. Harris; ABC News Radio

RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY

  • “John McCain: A Life of Service,” Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio — WINNER

  • “A Tribute to Le Grand Orange,” Written by Thomas A. Sabella; CBS Radio News

PROMOTIONAL WRITING NOMINEES

ON-AIR PROMOTION (RADIO OR TELEVISION)

  • “FBI 2018 Promo Reel,” Written by Ralph Buado; CBS

  • “Tribute to Star Trek for the 2018 Creative Arts Emmys,” Written by Sean Brogan; CBS — WINNER

  • “Westworld: Season 2 Promo (Super Bowl spot),” Written by Jonathan Nolan; HBO

VIDEOGAME NOMINEES

VIDEOGAME 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

  • 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 — WINNER

  • 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