"Get Out," "Call Me by Your Name" Claim Top Feature Honors At Writers Guild Awards
In this Feb. 9, 2017 file photo, Jordan Peele poses for a portrait in Los Angeles to promote his directorial debut, "Get Out." The film earned him the Writers Guild Award for Best Original Screenplay. (Photo by Rich Fury/Invision/AP, File)
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Jordan Peele earned Best Original Screenplay distinction for Get Out (Universal Pictures) at the Writers Guild Awards on Sunday night (2/11). The top prize for Adapted Screenplay went to James Ivory for Call Me by Your Name (Sony Pictures Classics), based on the novel by Andre Aciman. And winning for Documentary Screenplay was Brett Morgen for Jane (National Geographic).

Coming up big in the TV competition was The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu) which topped both the Drama Series and New Series categories. The winning coterie of writers on The Handmaid’s Tale consisted of Ilene Chaiken, Nina Fiore, Dorothy Fortenberry, Leila Gerstein, John Herrera, Lynn Renee Maxcy, Bruce Miller, Kira Snyder, Wendy Straker Hauser and Eric Tuchman. Taking the Comedy Series honor were Veep (HBO) writers Gabrielle Allan, Rachel Axler, Ted Cohen, Jennifer Crittenden, Alex Gregory, Steve Hely, Peter Huyck, Erik Kenward, Billy Kimball, David Mandel, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Dan Mintz, Lew Morton, Georgia Pritchett and Will Smith. The Original Long Form winner was Barbara Stepansky for Flint (Lifetime). And earning Best Adapted Longform on the strength of Big Little Lies (HBO) was David E. Kelley who penned the teleplay based on the novel by Liane Moriarty.

The Writers Guild Awards held concurrent gala ceremonies in L.A. and New York, emceed respectively by actor/writer/comedian Patton Oswalt and writer/comic Amber Ruffin. The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) presented three honorary awards at the NY proceedings. It was a reunion for Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock alums as Tracy Morgan and Rachel Dratch presented Tina Fey and Robert Carlock with the Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence and Mentorship. Ken Burns presented the Ian McLellan Hunter Award for Career Achievement to his long-time collaborator Geoffrey C. Ward (The Vietnam War, The Roosevelts, The Civil War). Courtney Simon (As the World Turns) presented the Richard B. Jablow Award for Devoted Service to the Guild to Hamilton Nolan (Splinter News/Gizmodo Media Group).

WGA West meanwhile bestowed several honoray awards during its L.A. ceremony. Actress Glenn Close presented the WGAW’s Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television Writing Achievement to Emmy-winning writer-producer Alison Cross (Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story, Roe vs. Wade, S.W.A.T.); Doug Wick & Lucy Fisher presented the WGAW’s Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement to Writers Guild and Academy Award-winning screenwriter-director-producer James L. Brooks (Terms of Endearment, Broadcast News, As Good As It Gets); When We Rise co-star Ivory Aquino presented the WGAW’s Valentine Davies Award to Writers Guild and Academy Award-winning screenwriter and LGBTQ rights activist Dustin Lance Black (Milk, When We Rise) for his social activism which has positively impacted the LGBTQ community; Washington Post editor Martin “Marty” Baron presented the WGAW’s Paul Selvin Award to The Post screenwriters Liz Hannah and Josh Singer, whose Post screenplay embodies the spirit of constitutional and civil rights and liberties, including the First Amendment and freedom of the press.

Here’s a category-by-category rundown of Writers Guild Award winners:

FILM WINNERS

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Get Out, Written by Jordan Peele; Universal Pictures

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Call Me by Your Name, Screenplay by James Ivory; Based on the Novel by André Aciman; Sony Pictures Classics

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
Jane, Written by Brett Morgen; National Geographic

TELEVISION AND NEW MEDIA WINNERS

DRAMA SERIES
The Handmaid’s Tale, Written by Ilene Chaiken, Nina Fiore, Dorothy Fortenberry, Leila Gerstein, John Herrera, Lynn Renee Maxcy, Bruce Miller, Kira Snyder, Wendy Straker Hauser, Eric Tuchman; Hulu

COMEDY SERIES
Veep, Written by Gabrielle Allan, Rachel Axler, Ted Cohen, Jennifer Crittenden, Alex Gregory, Steve Hely, Peter Huyck, Erik Kenward, Billy Kimball, David Mandel, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Dan Mintz, Lew Morton, Georgia Pritchett, Will Smith; HBO

NEW SERIES
The Handmaid’s Tale, Written by Ilene Chaiken, Nina Fiore, Dorothy Fortenberry, Leila Gerstein, John Herrera, Lynn Renee Maxcy, Bruce Miller, Kira Snyder, Wendy Straker Hauser, Eric Tuchman; Hulu

ORIGINAL LONG FORM
Flint, Written by Barbara Stepansky; Lifetime

ADAPTED LONG FORM
Big Little Lies, Teleplay by David E. Kelley, Based on the Novel by Liane Moriarty; HBO

ADAPTED SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA
 “Starboy” (Zac & Mia), Teleplay by Allen Clary and Andrew Rothschild, Based on the novel Zac & Mia by A.J. Betts; go90.com

ANIMATION
“Time’s Arrow” (BoJack Horseman), Written by Kate Purdy; Netflix

EPISODIC DRAMA
“Chicanery” (Better Call Saul), Written by Gordon Smith; AMC

EPISODIC COMEDY
“Rosario’s Quinceanera” (Will & Grace), Written by Tracy Poust & Jon Kinnally; NBC

COMEDY/VARIETY TALK SERIES
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Writers: Tim Carvell, Josh Gondelman, Dan Gurewitch, Geoff Haggerty, Jeff Maurer, John Oliver, Scott Sherman, Will Tracy, Jill Twiss, Juli Weiner, Ben Silva, Seena Vali; HBO

COMEDY/VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
Saturday Night Live, Head Writers: Chris Kelly, Sarah Schneider, Bryan Tucker, Writers: James Anderson, Kristen Bartlett, Jeremy Beiler, Neal Brennan, Zack Bornstein, Joanna Bradley, Megan Callahan, Michael Che, Anna Drezen, Fran Gillespie, Sudi Green, Steve Higgins, Colin Jost, Erik Kenward, Rob Klein, Nick Kocher, Michael Koman, Dave McCary, Brian McElhaney, Dennis McNicholas, Drew Michael, Lorne Michaels, Josh Patten, Katie Rich, Pete Schultz, Streeter Seidell, Will Stephen, Kent Sublette, Julio Torres; NBC Universal

COMEDY/VARIETY SPECIALS
39th Annual Kennedy Center Honors, Written by Dave Boone; CBS

QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
Hollywood Game Night, Head Writer: Grant Taylor; Writers: Michael Agbabian, Alex Chauvin, Ann Slichter, Dwight D. Smith; NBC

DAYTIME DRAMA
General Hospital, Head Writers: Shelly Altman, Jean Passanante; Writers: Anna Theresa Cascio, Suzanne Flynn, Charlotte Gibson, Lucky Gold, Kate Hall, Elizabeth Korte, Daniel James O’Connor, Dave Rupel, Katherine Schock, Scott Sickles, Christopher Van Etten, Christopher Whitesell; ABC

CHILDREN’S EPISODIC AND SPECIALS
“An American Girl Story – Ivy & Julie 1976: A Happy Balance” (American Girl), Written by May Chan; Amazon

DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – CURRENT EVENTS
“Confronting ISIS” (Frontline), Written by Martin Smith; PBS

DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS
“The Great War, Part II” (American Experience), Written by Stephen Ives; PBS

NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“White Helmets” (60 Minutes), Written by Scott Pelley, Nicole Young, Katie Kerbstat; CBS News

NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“Chief of Chobani” (60 Minutes), Written by Steve Kroft, Oriana Zill de Granados; CBS News

DIGITAL NEWS
“The Super Predators,” Written by Melissa Jeltsen, Dana Liebelson; Huffingtonpost.com

RADIO/AUDIO WINNERS
 
RADIO/AUDIO DOCUMENTARY
“CBS Radio 90th Anniversary,” Written by Dianne E. James, Gail Lee; CBS News Radio

RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“World News This Week: June 9, 2017,” Written by Tara Gimbel Tanis; ABC News Radio

RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“Dishin’ Digital on WCBS-AM,” Written by Robert Hawley; WCBS

 
PROMOTIONAL WINNERS

ON-AIR PROMOTION (RADIO OR TELEVISION)
“CBS Comedy,” Written by Dan Greenberger; CBS Television

VIDEOGAME WINNER

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN VIDEOGAME WRITING
Horizon Zero Dawn, Narrative Director John Gonzalez; Lead Writer Benjamin McCaw; Writing by Ben Schroder, Anne Toole; Additional Writing by Dee Warrick, Meg Jayanth; Guerrilla Games

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