# Writers Guild of America Awards

The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949.

## Eligibility

The screen awards are for films that were exhibited theatrically during the preceding calendar year. The television awards are for series that were produced and aired between December 1 and November 30, regardless of how many episodes aired during this time period.
Additionally, scripts must be produced under the jurisdiction of the WGA or under a collective bargaining agreement in Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, or the United Kingdom.

## Lifetime achievement awards

Each year at the awards, two lifetime achievement awards are presented. One is for screenwriting, and the other is for TV writing:
* Laurel Award for TV Writing Achievement
* Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement

## Categories

(As of 2023)

## History

In 2004, the awards show was broadcast on television for the first time.
In the years 2008 through 2018, the awards also included video game writing.

### Discontinued categories

* Best Written Musical (1949–1969)
* Best Written Western (1949–1951)
* Best Written Film Concerning American Scene (1949–1952)
* Best Written Drama (1949–1969)
** Best Drama Written Directly for the Screenplay (1970–1984)
** Best Drama Adapted from Another Media (1970–1984)
* Best Written Comedy (1949–1969)
** Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screenplay (1970–1984)
** Best Comedy Adapted from Another Media (1970–1984)
* Best Videogame Writing (2008–2018)

## Winners

A * denotes a film that also went on to win an Academy Award.

### Films
#### Current awards
##### Best Original Screenplay

* 1967: Bonnie and Clyde – David Newman and Robert Benton
* 1968: The Producers – Mel Brooks *
* 1984: Broadway Danny Rose – Woody Allen
* 1985: Witness – Pamela Wallace, William Kelley, and Earl W. Wallace *
* 1986: Hannah and Her Sisters – Woody Allen *
* 1987: Moonstruck – John Patrick Shanley *
* 1988: Bull Durham – Ron Shelton
* 1989: Crimes and Misdemeanors – Woody Allen
* 1990: Avalon – Barry Levinson
* 1991: Thelma & Louise – Callie Khouri *
* 1992: The Crying Game – Neil Jordan *
* 1993: The Piano – Jane Campion *
* 1994: Four Weddings and a Funeral – Richard Curtis
* 1995: Braveheart – Randall Wallace
* 1996: Fargo – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen *
* 1997: As Good as It Gets – Mark Andrus and James L. Brooks
* 1998: Shakespeare in Love – Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard *
* 1999: American Beauty – Alan Ball *
* 2000: You Can Count on Me – Kenneth Lonergan
* 2001: Gosford Park – Julian Fellowes *
* 2002: Bowling for Columbine – Michael Moore
* 2003: Lost in Translation – Sofia Coppola *
* 2004: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – Charlie Kaufman, Michael Gondry, and Pierre Bismuth *
* 2005: Crash – Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco *
* 2006: Little Miss Sunshine – Michael Arndt *
* 2007: Juno – Diablo Cody *
* 2008: Milk – Dustin Lance Black *
* 2009: The Hurt Locker – Mark Boal *
* 2010: Inception – Christopher Nolan
* 2011: Midnight in Paris – Woody Allen *
* 2012: Zero Dark Thirty – Mark Boal
* 2013: Her – Spike Jonze *
* 2014: The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness
* 2015: Spotlight – Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer *
* 2016: Moonlight – Barry Jenkins; story by Tarell Alvin McCraney *
* 2017: Get Out – Jordan Peele *
* 2018: Eighth Grade – Bo Burnham
* 2019: Parasite – Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin-won; story by Bong Joon-ho *
* 2020: Promising Young Woman — Emerald Fennell *
* 2021: Don't Look Up — Adam McKay and David Sirota
* 2022: Everything Everywhere All at Once — Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert *
* 2023: The Holdovers — David Hemingson

##### Best Adapted Screenplay

* 1984: The Killing Fields – Bruce Robinson
* 1985: Prizzi's Honor – Richard Condon and Janet Roach
* 1986: A Room with a View – Ruth Prawer Jhabvala *
* 1987: Roxanne – Steve Martin
* 1988: Dangerous Liaisons – Christopher Hampton *
* 1989: Driving Miss Daisy – Alfred Uhry *
* 1990: Dances with Wolves – Michael Blake *
* 1991: The Silence of the Lambs – Ted Tally *
* 1992: The Player – Michael Tolkin
* 1993: Schindler's List – Steven Zaillian *
* 1994: Forrest Gump – Eric Roth *
* 1995: Sense and Sensibility – Emma Thompson *
* 1996: Sling Blade – Billy Bob Thornton *
* 1997: L.A. Confidential – Brian Helgeland and Curtis Hanson *
* 1998: Out of Sight – Scott Frank
* 1999: Election – Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor
* 2000: Traffic – Stephen Gaghan *
* 2001: A Beautiful Mind – Akiva Goldsman *
* 2002: The Hours – David Hare
* 2003: American Splendor – Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini
* 2004: Sideways – Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor *
* 2005: Brokeback Mountain – Larry McMurty and Diana Ossana *
* 2006: The Departed – William Monahan *
* 2007: No Country for Old Men – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen *
* 2008: Slumdog Millionaire – Simon Beaufoy *
* 2009: Up in the Air – Jason Reitman
* 2010: The Social Network – Aaron Sorkin *
* 2011: The Descendants – Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash *
* 2012: Argo – Chris Terrio *
* 2013: Captain Phillips – Billy Ray
* 2014: The Imitation Game – Graham Moore *
* 2015: The Big Short – Adam McKay and Charles Randolph *
* 2016: Arrival – Eric Heisserer
* 2017: Call Me by Your Name — James Ivory *
* 2018: Can You Ever Forgive Me? – Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty
* 2019: Jojo Rabbit – Taika Waititi *
* 2020: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm — Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Peter Baynham & Erica Rivinoja & Dan Mazer & Jena Friedman & Lee Kern; story by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Nina Pedrad; based on characters created by Sacha Baron Cohen
* 2021: CODA – Sian Heder *
* 2022: Women Talking – Sarah Polley *
* 2023: American Fiction – Cord Jefferson; based on the novel Erasure by Percival Everett *

##### Best Documentary Screenplay

* 2004: Super Size Me – Morgan Spurlock
* 2005: Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room – Alex Gibney
* 2006: Deliver Us from Evil – Amy J. Berg
* 2007: Taxi to the Dark – Alex Gibney
* 2008: Waltz with Bashir – Ari Folman
* 2009: The Cove – Mark Monroe
* 2010: Inside Job – Charles Ferguson
* 2011: Better This World – Katie Galloway, and Kelly Duane de la Vega
* 2012: Searching for Sugar Man – Malik Bendjelloul
* 2013: Stories We Tell – Sarah Polley
* 2014: The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz – Brian Knappenberger
* 2015: Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief – Alex Gibney
* 2016: Command and Control – Robert Kenner, Brian Pearle, Kim Roberts, and Eric Schlosser
* 2017: Jane – Brett Morgen
* 2018: Bathtubs Over Broadway – Ozzy Inguanzo, and Dava Whisenant
* 2019: The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley – Alex Gibney
* 2020: The Dissident — Mark Monroe and Bryan Fogel
* 2021: Exposing Muybridge – Marc Shaffer
* 2022: Moonage Daydream – Brett Morgen
* 2023: The Pigeon Tunnel – Errol Morris

#### Discontinued categories
##### Best Written Drama

* 1949: The Snake Pit – Frank Partos and Millen Brand
* 1950: All the King's Men – Robert Rossen
* 1951: Sunset Boulevard – Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, and D. M. Marshman Jr. *
* 1952: A Place in the Sun – Michael Wilson and Harry Brown *
* 1953: High Noon – Carl Foreman
* 1954: From Here to Eternity – Daniel Taradash *
* 1955: On the Waterfront – Budd Schulberg *
* 1956: Marty – Paddy Chayefsky *
* 1957: Friendly Persuasion – Michael Wilson
* 1958: 12 Angry Men – Reginald Rose
* 1959: The Defiant Ones – Nedrick Young and Harold Jacob Smith *
* 1960: The Diary of Anne Frank – Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett
* 1961: Elmer Gantry – Richard Brooks *
* 1962: The Hustler – Sidney Carroll and Robert Rossen
* 1963: To Kill a Mockingbird – Horton Foote *
* 1964: Hud – Harriet Frank Jr. and Irving Ravetch
* 1965: Becket – Edward Anhalt *
* 1966: The Pawnbroker – Edward Lewis Wallant, Morton Fine, and David Friedkin
* 1967: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – Ernest Lehman
* 1968: Bonnie and Clyde – David Newman and Robert Benton
* 1969: The Lion in Winter – James Goldman *

##### Best Original Drama

* 1970: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – William Goldman *
* 1971: Patton – Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North *
* 1972: Sunday Bloody Sunday – Penelope Gilliatt
* 1973: The Candidate – Jeremy Larner *
* 1974: Save the Tiger – Steve Shagan
* 1975: Chinatown – Robert Towne *
* 1976: Dog Day Afternoon – Frank Pierson *
* 1977: Network – Paddy Chayefsky *
* 1978: The Turning Point – Arthur Laurents
* 1979: Coming Home – Nancy Dowd, Robert C. Jones, and Waldo Salt *
* 1980: The China Syndrome – Mike Gray, T. S. Cook and James Bridges
* 1981: Melvin and Howard – Bo Goldman *
* 1982: Reds – Warren Beatty and Trevor Griffiths
* 1983: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial – Melissa Mathison
* 1984: Tender Mercies – Horton Foote *

##### Best Adapted Drama

* 1970: Midnight Cowboy – Waldo Salt *
* 1971: I Never Sang for My Father – Robert Anderson
* 1972: The French Connection – Ernest Tidyman *
* 1973: The Godfather – Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola *
* 1974: Serpico – Waldo Salt and Norman Wexler
* 1975: The Godfather Part II – Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo *
* 1976: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest – Bo Goldman and Lawrence Hauben *
* 1977: All the President's Men – William Goldman *
* 1978: Islands in the Stream – Denne Bart Petitclerc
* 1979: Midnight Express – Oliver Stone *
* 1980: Kramer vs. Kramer – Robert Benton *
* 1981: Ordinary People – Alvin Sargent *
* 1982: On Golden Pond – Ernest Thompson *
* 1983: Missing – Costa-Gavras and Donald E. Stewart *
* 1984: Reuben, Reuben – Julius J. Epstein

##### Best Written Comedy

* 1949: Sitting Pretty – F. Hugh Herbert
* 1950: A Letter to Three Wives – Joseph L. Mankiewicz *
* 1951: All About Eve – Joseph L. Mankiewicz *
* 1952: Father's Little Dividend – Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich
* 1953: The Quiet Man – Frank Nugent
* 1954: Roman Holiday – Ian McLellan Hunter, Dalton Trumbo, and John Dighton *
* 1955: Sabrina – Billy Wilder, Samuel Taylor, and Ernest Lehman
* 1956: Mister Roberts – Joshua Logan and Frank Nugent
* 1957: Around the World in 80 Days – James Poe, John Farrow, and S. J. Perelman *
* 1958: Love in the Afternoon – Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond
* 1959: Me and the Colonel – S. N. Behrman and George Froeschel
* 1960: Some Like It Hot – Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond
* 1961: The Apartment – Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond *
* 1962: Breakfast at Tiffany's – George Axelrod
* 1963: That Touch of Mink – Stanley Shapiro and Nate Monastar
* 1964: Lilies of the Field – James Poe
* 1965: Dr. Strangelove – Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern, and Peter George
* 1966: A Thousand Clowns – Herb Gardner
* 1967: The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming – William Rose
* 1968: The Graduate – Calder Willingham and Buck Henry
* 1969: The Odd Couple – Neil Simon

##### Best Original Comedy

* 1970: Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice – Paul Mazursky and Larry Tucker
* 1971: The Out-of-Towners – Neil Simon
* 1972: The Hospital – Paddy Chayefsky *
* 1973: What's Up, Doc? – Peter Bogdanovich, Buck Henry, David Newman, and Robert Benton
* 1974: A Touch of Class – Melvin Frank and Jack Rose
* 1975: Blazing Saddles – Mel Brooks, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, and Alan Uger
* 1976: Shampoo – Robert Towne and Warren Beatty
* 1977: The Bad News Bears – Bill Lancaster
* 1978: Annie Hall – Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman *
* 1979: Movie Movie – Larry Gelbart and Sheldon Keller
* 1980: Breaking Away – Steve Tesich *
* 1981: Private Benjamin – Nancy Meyers, Harvey Miller, and Charles Shyer
* 1982: Arthur – Steve Gordon
* 1983: Tootsie – Don McGuire, Larry Gelbart and Murray Schisgal
* 1984: The Big Chill – Lawrence Kasdan and Barbara Benedek

##### Best Adapted Comedy

* 1970: Goodbye, Columbus – Arnold Schulman
* 1971: MASH – Ring Lardner Jr. *
* 1972: Kotch – John Paxton
* 1973: Cabaret – Jay Presson Allen
* 1974: Paper Moon – Alvin Sargent
* 1975: The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz – Lionel Chetwynd and Mordecai Richler
* 1976: The Sunshine Boys – Neil Simon
* 1977: The Pink Panther Strikes Again – Blake Edwards and Frank Waldman
* 1978: Oh, God! – Larry Gelbart
* 1979: Heaven Can Wait – Elaine May and Warren Beatty and Same Time, Next Year – Bernard Slade
* 1980: Being There – Jerzy Kosiński
* 1981: Airplane! – Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker
* 1982: Rich and Famous – Gerard Ayres
* 1983: Victor/Victoria – Blake Edwards
* 1984: Terms of Endearment – James L. Brooks *

##### Best Written Musical

* 1949: Easter Parade – Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, and Sidney Sheldon
* 1950: On the Town – Adolph Green and Betty Comden
* 1951: Annie Get Your Gun – Sidney Sheldon
* 1952: An American in Paris – Alan Jay Lerner *
* 1953: Singin' in the Rain – Betty Comden and Adolph Green
* 1954: Lili – Helen Deutsch and Paul Gallico
* 1955: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers – Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich, and Dorothy Kingsley
* 1956: Love Me or Leave Me – Daniel Fuchs and Isobel Lennart *
* 1957: The King and I – Ernest Lehman
* 1958: Les Girls – Vera Caspary and John Patrick
* 1959: Gigi – Alan Jay Lerner *
* 1960: The Five Pennies – Robert Smith, Jack Rose, and Melville Shavelson
* 1961: Bells Are Ringing – Betty Comden and Adolph Green
* 1962: West Side Story – Ernest Lehman
* 1963: The Music Man – Meredith Willson, Franklin Lacey, and Marion Hargrove
* 1964: Not awarded
* 1965: Mary Poppins – Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi
* 1966: The Sound of Music – Maria Augusta Trapp, Howard Lindsay, Russel Crouse, and Ernest Lehman
* 1967: Not awarded
* 1968: Thoroughly Modern Millie – Richard Morris
* 1969: Funny Girl – Isobel Lennart

##### Best Written Film Concerning Problems with the American Scene

* 1949: The Snake Pit – Frank Partos and Millen Brand
* 1950: All the King's Men – Robert Rossen
* 1951: The Men – Carl Foreman
* 1952: Bright Victory – Robert Buckner

##### Best Written Western

* 1949: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre – John Huston *
* 1950: Yellow Sky – W. R. Burnett and Lamar Trotti
* 1951: Broken Arrow – Albert Maltz

### Video games

The video game category was first added in 2008, but discontinued after the 2019 awards.

#### Outstanding Achievement in Video Game Writing

* 2008: Dead Head Fred – Dave Ellis, Adam Cogan
* 2009: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed – Haden Blackman, Shawn Pitman, John Stafford, and Cameron Suey
* 2010: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – Amy Hennig
* 2011: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood – Patrice Désilets, Jeffrey Yohalem, and Corey May
* 2012: Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception – Amy Hennig
* 2013: Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – Richard Farrese and Jill Murray
* 2014: The Last of Us – Neil Druckmann
* 2015: The Last of Us: Left Behind – Neil Druckmann
* 2016: Rise of the Tomb Raider – John Stafford, Cameron Suey, Rhianna Pratchett, and Philip Gelatt
* 2017: Uncharted 4: A Thief's End – Neil Druckmann, Josh Scherr, Tom Bissell, and Ryan James
* 2018: Horizon Zero Dawn – John Gonzalez, Benjamin McCaw, Ben Schroder, Anne Toole, Dee Warrick, and Meg Jayanth
* 2019: God of War – Matt Sophos, Richard Zangrande Gaubert, and Cory Barlog