# Nebula Award for Best Script

The Nebula Award for Best Script was given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy scripts for movies or television episodes. Awards are also given out for published literary works in the novel, novella, novelette, and short story categories. The Nebula Award for Best Script was awarded annually from 1974 through 1978, and from 2000 through 2009. It was presented under several names; in 1974, 1975, and 1977 the award was for Best Dramatic Presentation, while in 1976 the award was for Best Dramatic Writing. The award was discontinued in 2010 and replaced with Ray Bradbury Nebula Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation; this award was not originally a Nebula but was made one retroactively in 2019, and is presented at the Nebula Awards Ceremony and follows Nebula rules and procedures. The Nebula Awards have been described as one of "the most important of the American science fiction awards" and "the science-fiction and fantasy equivalent" of the Emmy Awards.

## Selection process

Nebula Award nominees and winners are chosen by members of the SFWA, though the authors of the nominees do not need to be a member. Works are nominated each year between November 15 and February 15 by published authors who are members of the organization, and the six works that receive the most nominations then form the final ballot, with additional nominees possible in the case of ties. Members may then vote on the ballot throughout March, and the final results are presented at the Nebula Awards ceremony in May. Authors are not permitted to nominate their own works, and ties in the final vote are broken, if possible, by the number of nominations the works received. Beginning with the 2009 awards, the rules were changed to the current format. Prior to then, the eligibility period for nominations was defined as one year after the publication date of the work, which allowed the possibility for works to be nominated in the calendar year after their publication and then reach the final ballot in the calendar year after that. Works were added to a preliminary ballot for the year if they had ten or more nominations, which were then voted on to create a final ballot, to which the SFWA organizing panel was also allowed to add an additional work.

## Award statistics

During the 15 nomination years, 14 awards for Best Script have been given, including the special award given to Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope in 1978 but not including 1977, since no nominee was given the award. No winner was declared that year as "no award" received the highest number of votes. With three awards The Lord of the Rings film trilogy earned the most awards or nominations of any franchise. The Christopher Nolan Batman movies, Battlestar Galactica, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Doctor Who franchises have each had two nominations, but no wins. Hayao Miyazaki, Christopher Nolan, Joss Whedon, and The Lord of the Rings screenwriters have had the most nominations, with three each.

## Winners and nominees

In the following table, the years correspond to the date of the ceremony, rather than when the work was first released. Entries with a blue background and an asterisk (*) next to the writer's name have won the award; those with a white background are the other nominees on the shortlist. Entries with a gray background and a plus sign (+) mark a year when "no award" was selected as the winner.
* Winners and joint winners  + No winner selected
Winners and nominees :
| Year | Writer(s) | Work | Publisher |
| 1974 | Stanley R. Greenberg (script), Harry Harrison (original novel)* | Soylent Green | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| 1974 | Michael Crichton | Westworld | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| 1974 | Bruce Jay Friedman | Steambath | PBS |
| 1974 | Brian Moore (script, original novel) | Catholics | ITV |
| 1975 | Woody Allen* | Sleeper | United Artists |
| 1975 | Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy (script), Mary Shelley (original novel) | Frankenstein: The True Story | NBC |
| 1975 | René Laloux and Roland Topor (script), Stefan Wul (original novel) | Fantastic Planet | Argos Films |
| 1976 | Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder (script), Mary Shelley (original novel)* | Young Frankenstein | United Artists |
| 1976 | John Carpenter and Dan O'Bannon | Dark Star | Jack H. Harris Enterprises |
| 1976 | L. Q. Jones (script), Harlan Ellison (original novella) | A Boy and His Dog | LQ/JAF |
| 1976 | William Harrison (script, original story) | Rollerball | United Artists |
| 1977 | (no award)+ | | |
| 1977 | Harlan Ellison | Harlan! Harlan Ellison Reads Harlan Ellison | Alternative World Recordings |
| 1977 | David Zelag Goodman (script), William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson (original novel) | Logan's Run | United Artists |
| 1977 | Paul Mayersberg (script), Walter Tevis (original novel) | The Man Who Fell to Earth | Columbia Pictures |
| 1978 | George Lucas* | Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope | 20th Century Fox |
| 2000 | M. Night Shyamalan* | The Sixth Sense | Hollywood Pictures |
| 2000 | Robert J. Avrech (script), Jane Yolen (original novel) | The Devil's Arithmetic | Showtime Networks |
| 2000 | Brad Bird and Tim McCanlies (script), Ted Hughes (original novel) | The Iron Giant | Warner Bros. |
| 2000 | John Millerman | The Uranus Experiment: Part 2 | Private Black Label |
| 2000 | Larry and Andy Wachowski | The Matrix | Warner Bros. |
| 2001 | David Howard and Robert Gordon* | Galaxy Quest | DreamWorks |
| 2001 | Frank Darabont (script), Stephen King (original novel) | The Green Mile | Warner Bros. |
| 2001 | Hayao Miyazaki (script) and Neil Gaiman (English translation) | Princess Mononoke | Studio Ghibli/Miramax Films |
| 2001 | Charlie Kaufman | Being John Malkovich | Propaganda Films |
| 2001 | M. Night Shyamalan | Unbreakable | Touchstone Pictures |
| 2001 | Kevin Smith | Dogma | View Askew Productions |
| 2002 | James Schamus, Kuo Jung Tsai, and Hui-Ling Wang (script), Wang Dulu (original novel)* | Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon | Sony Pictures Classics |
| 2002 | Ethan and Joel Coen | O Brother, Where Art Thou? | Touchstone Pictures |
| 2002 | Tom DeSanto and Bryan Singer (story), David Hayter (screenplay) | X-Men | 20th Century Fox |
| 2002 | Joss Whedon | Buffy the Vampire Slayer: "The Body" | Fox Television Studios/Mutant Enemy Productions |
| 2003 | Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Peter Jackson (script), J. R. R. Tolkien (original novel)* | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | New Line Cinema |
| 2003 | Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio | Shrek | DreamWorks |
| 2003 | Michael Taylor (script), Stephen King (original concept) | The Dead Zone: "Unreasonable Doubt" | DreamWorks |
| 2003 | Joss Whedon | Buffy the Vampire Slayer: "Once More, With Feeling" | Warner Bros. |
| 2004 | Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Stephen Sinclair, and Peter Jackson (script), J. R. R. Tolkien (original novel)* | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | New Line Cinema |
| 2004 | Scott Frank and Jon Cohen (script), Philip K. Dick (original story) | Minority Report | 20th Century Fox/DreamWorks |
| 2004 | David A. Goodman | Futurama: "Where No Fan Has Gone Before" | Fox Broadcasting Company |
| 2004 | Hayao Miyazaki (script), Cindy Davis Hewitt, and Donald H. Hewitt (English translation) | Spirited Away | Studio Ghibli/The Walt Disney Company |
| 2004 | Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson, and David Reynolds | Finding Nemo | Pixar/The Walt Disney Company |
| 2005 | Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Peter Jackson (script), J. R. R. Tolkien (original novel)* | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | New Line Cinema |
| 2005 | Brad Bird | The Incredibles | Pixar/The Walt Disney Company |
| 2005 | J. Mackye Gruber and Eric Bress | The Butterfly Effect | New Line Cinema |
| 2005 | Charlie Kaufman & Michel Gondry | Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind | Focus Features |
| 2006 | Joss Whedon* | Serenity | Universal Studios/Mutant Enemy Productions |
| 2006 | Carla Robinson, Bradley Thompson, and David Weddle | Battlestar Galactica: "Act of Contrition/You Can't Go Home Again" | Sci-Fi Channel |
| 2007 | Hayao Miyazaki (script), Cindy Davis Hewitt, and Donald H. Hewitt (English translation) | Howl's Moving Castle | Studio Ghibli/The Walt Disney Company |
| 2007 | Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer | Batman Begins | Warner Bros. |
| 2007 | Michael Taylor | Battlestar Galactica: "Unfinished Business" | Sci-Fi Channel |
| 2007 | Steven Moffat | Doctor Who: "The Girl in the Fireplace" | BBC Cymru Wales/BBC One |
| 2008 | Guillermo del Toro* | Pan's Labyrinth | Picturehouse |
| 2008 | Alfonso Cuarón, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus, and Hawk Ostby (script), P. D. James (original novel) | Children of Men | Universal Studios |
| 2008 | Steven Moffat | Doctor Who: "Blink" | BBC Cymru Wales/BBC One |
| 2008 | Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan (script), Christopher Priest (original novel) | The Prestige | Touchstone Pictures |
| 2008 | Larry and Andy Wachowski (script), David Lloyd (original graphic novel) | V for Vendetta | Warner Bros. |
| 2008 | Marc Scott Zicree and Michael Reaves | Star Trek: New Voyages: "World Enough and Time" | Cawley Entertainment Company/The Magic Time Company |
| 2009 | Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter* | WALL-E | Pixar/The Walt Disney Company |
| 2009 | Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan, and David S. Goyer | The Dark Knight | Warner Bros. |
| 2009 | Brad Wright | Stargate Atlantis: "The Shrine" | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |