Yesterday the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) announced the nominations for outstanding achievement in screenwriting during 2016; best news for me are the inclusion of films like Nocturnal Animals and Loving, two films that have been absent in most up-to-date film critics honors.As announced previously the 2017 Screen Laurel Award goes to Oliver Stone and the Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television to Aaron Sorkin. The East group will honor John Waters with the WGAE's Career Achievement Award and Steve O'Donnell with receive the Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence.
Feature films eligible for a Writers Guild Award were exhibited theatrically for at least one week in Los Angeles during 2016 and were written under the WGA’s Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) or under a bona fide collective bargaining agreement of the Writers Guild of Canada, Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, Writers Guild of Ireland, Writers’ Guild of South Africa, New Zealand Writers Guild, Film Writers’ Association (India), La Guilde Francaise des Scénaristes (France), Scriptwriters Guild of Israel, Société des Auteurs de Radio, Télévision et Cinéma (Québec), or Verband Deutscher Drehbuchautoren (VDD/Germany), collectively known as affiliate Guilds.
Theatrical screenplays produced under the jurisdiction of the WGA or an affiliate Guild must have been submitted for Writers Guild Awards consideration.
Documentaries eligible for a Writers Guild Award featured an onscreen writing credit and were exhibited theatrically in Los Angeles or New York for one week during 2016. Theatrical documentaries must have been produced under the jurisdiction of the WGA or an affiliate Guild to be eligible for awards consideration.
The Writers Guild Awards honor outstanding writing in film, television, new media, videogames, news, radio, promotional, and graphic animation categories. The following are the nominees in the Feature Films categories.
Original Screenplay
Hell or High Water, Written by Taylor Sheridan
La La Land, Written by Damien Chazelle
Loving, Written by Jeff Nichols
Manchester by the Sea, Written by Kenneth Lonergan
Moonlight, Screenplay by Barry Jenkins, Story by Tarell McCraney
Adapted Screenplay
Arrival, Screenplay by Eric Heisserer; Based on the Story “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang
Deadpool, Written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick; Based on the X-Men Comic Books
Fences, Screenplay by August Wilson; Based on his Play
Hidden Figures, Screenplay by Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi; Based on the Book by Margot Lee Shetterly
Nocturnal Animals, Screenplay by Tom Ford; Based on the Novel Tony and Susan by Austin Wright
Documentary Screenplay
Author: The JT LeRoy Story, Written by Jeff Feuerzeig
Command and Control, Telescript by Robert Kenner & Eric Schlosser, Story by Brian Pearle and Kim Roberts; Based on the book Command and Control by Eric Schlosser;
Zero Days, Written by Alex Gibney
To check nominees in all categories go here. The awards will be presented at concurrent ceremonies on Sunday, February 19, 2017, in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton and in New York City at the Edison Ballroom, WGA West awards ceremony will be hosted by Patton Oswalt and WGA East awards ceremony will be hosted by Lewis Black.