"Eighth Grade," "Can You Ever Forgive Me?" Top Writers Guild Awards
In this June 20, 2018 photo, actress Elsie Fisher, left, and director/writer Bo Burnham pose at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles to promote their new film “Eighth Grade.” (Photo by Rebecca Cabage/Invision/AP)
"Mrs. Maisel," "The Americans," "Barry" among TV winners
  • LOS ANGELES & NEW YORK
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Eighth Grade (A24) and Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Fox Searchlight) won the marquee feature honors--for Best Original and Adapted Screenplay, respectively, at the 2019 Writers Guild Awards. Concurrent ceremonies at The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles and the Edison Ballroom in New York City recognized outstanding achievement in writing for film, television, new media, videogames, news, radio/audio, promotional, and graphic animation categories.

Director Bo Burnham penned the original screenplay for Eighth Grade while Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty authored the adapted screenplay for Can You Ever Forgive Me?

While Can You Ever Forgive Me? is in the running for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar, Eighth Grade wasn’t nominated for the Original Screenplay Academy Award. Still, in the Writers Guild competition, Eighth Grade bested a field of nominees that included Green Book, Roma and Vice which are all vying for the Original Screenplay Oscar.

On the TV front, top drama series distinction was earned by writers Peter Ackerman, Hilary Bettis, Joshua Brand, Joel Fields, Sarah Nolen, Stephen Schiff, Justin Weinberger, Joe Weisberg and Tracey Scott Wilson for The Americans (FX Networks). Winning for comedy series was The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon Prime) and its writers Kate Fodor, Noah Gardenswartz, Jen Kirkman, Sheila Lawrence, Daniel Palladino and Amy Sherman Palladino. And the winning the new series honor were writers Alec Berg, Duffy Boudreau, Bill Hader, Emily Heller, Liz Sarnoff, Ben Smith and Sarah Solemani for Barry (HBO).

Here’s a full category-by-category rundown of the evening’s 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

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
 

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

COMEDY SERIES
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Written by Kate Fodor, Noah Gardenswartz, 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

LONG FORM ORIGINAL
Castle Rock, Writers: Marc Bernardin, Scott Brown, Lila Byock, Mark Lafferty, Sam Shaw, Dustin Thomason, Gina Welch, Vinnie Wilhelm; Hulu

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

SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA ORIGINAL
Class of Lies, Written by Tessa Leigh Williams; Snapchat

SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA ADAPTED
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
“The Precious Blood of Jesus” (Ozark), Written by David Manson; Netflix

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
 

RADIO/AUDIO NOMINEES

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 WRITING NOMINEES

ON-AIR PROMOTION (RADIO OR TELEVISION)
“Tribute to Star Trek for the 2019 Creative Arts Emmys,” Written by Sean Brogan; CBS

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