The Writers Guild of America (WGA) handed out its top awards of the year in concurrent ceremonies on both the East and West Coasts on Saturday night, with big winners including Parasite and Jojo Rabbit on the film side, and Succession and Barry in TV. Ana Gasteyer hosted the Los Angeles ceremony at the Beverly Hilton hotel, while the New York event, held at the Edison Ballroom, was hosted by John Fugelsang.
Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won took home the award for original screenplay for Parasite, winning out over nominees such as Noah Baumbach for Marriage Story.
The other major film winner was Jojo Rabbit by Taika Waititi, which won over competitors including Todd Phillips and Scott Silver for Joker.
On the TV side, HBO dominated the winners’ list, starting with the night’s big winner, Succession, which won both best drama and best drama episode. It also scored the best comedy prize for Barry (although the pilot to Netflix’s Dead to Me won for comedy episode).
In longform, HBO won again with its Emmy winner Chernobyl, which won for original screenplay, while FX’s Fosse/Verdon won the top prize in adapted screenplay. HBO’s Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, won the comedy/variety talk prize, its fourth in a row.
Surprise wins included Netflix’s I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, which beat out titans like Saturday Night Live for comedy/variety sketch series.
Honorary award winners included screenwriter-director Nancy Meyers (Private Benjamin, Something’s Gotta Give), who received WGAW’s Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement; comedy writer Merrill Markoe (Late Night with David Letterman), who received WGAW’s Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television Writing Achievement; creator-director-producer Brad Falchuk (The Politician, Glee), who received WGAW’s Valentine Davies Award; and screenwriter Charles Randolph (The Big Short), who received WGAW’s Paul Selvin Award for his Bombshell screenplay.
In New York, honorary winners included writer Richard Price (The Color of Money, The Night Of) who was presented with the Ian McLellan Hunter Award for Career Achievement; writer/actress Paula Pell was presented with the Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence and Mentorship; writer Lisa Takeuchi Cullen (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) was presented the Richard B. Jablow Award for Devoted Service.
A complete list of the winners below:
Original Screenplay:
Parasite – Screenplay by Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won, Story by Bong Joon Ho; Neon
Adapted Screenplay:
Jojo Rabbit – Screenplay by Taika Waititi, Based on the book Caging Skies by Christine Leunens; Fox Searchlight
Documentary Screenplay:
The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley – Written by Alex Gibney; HBO Documentary Films
Drama Series:
Succession – Written by Jesse Armstrong, Alice Birch, Jon Brown, Jonathan Glatzer, Cord Jefferson, Mary Laws, Lucy Prebble, Georgia Pritchett, Tony Roche, Gary Shteyngart, Susan Soon He Stanton, Will Tracy; HBO
Comedy Series:
Barry – Written by Alec Berg, Duffy Boudreau, Bill Hader, Emily Heller, Jason Kim, Taofik Kolade, Elizabeth Sarnoff; HBO
New Series:
Watchmen – Written by Lila Byock, Nick Cuse, Christal Henry, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Cord Jefferson, Jeff Jensen, Claire Kiechel, Damon Lindelof, Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Tom Spezialy, Carly Wray; HBO
Original Long Form:
Chernobyl – Written by Craig Mazin; HBO
Adapted Long Form:
Fosse/Verdon – Written by Debora Cahn, Joel Fields, Ike Holter, Thomas Kail, Steven Levenson, Charlotte Stoudt, Tracey Scott Wilson, Based on the book Fosse by Sam Wasson; FX Networks
Original Short Form Media:
Special – Written by Ryan O’Connell; Netflix
Animation:
“Thanksgiving of Horror” (The Simpsons) – Written by Dan Vebber; Fox
Episodic Drama:
“Tern Haven” (Succession) – Written by Will Tracy; HBO
Episodic Comedy:
“Pilot” (Dead to Me) – Written by Liz Feldman; Netflix
Comedy/Variety Talk Series:
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver – Senior Writers: Dan Gurewitch, Jeff Maurer, Jill Twiss, Juli Weiner; Writers: Tim Carvell, Daniel O’Brian, John Oliver, Owen Parsons, Charlie Redd, Joanna Rothkopf, Ben Silva, Seena Vali; HBO
Comedy/Variety Specials:
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee Presents: Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Part 2 – Head Writer: Melinda Taub; Writing Supervised by: Joe Grossman, Nicole Silverberg; Writers: Samantha Bee, Kristen Bartlett, Pat Cassels, Sean Crespo, Mike Drucker, Mathan Erhardt, Lewis Friedman, Miles Kahn, Sahar Rizvi; Special Material by: Allison Silverman; TBS
Comedy/Variety Sketch Series:
I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson – Writers: Jeremy Beiler, Zach Kanin, Tim Robinson, John Solomon; Netflix
Quiz and Audience Participation:
Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? – Head Writer: Bret Calvert; Writers Seth Harrington, Rosemarie DiSalvo; Nickelodeon
Daytime Drama:
The Young and the Restless – Writers: Amanda L. Beall, Jeff Beldner, Sara Bibel, Matt Clifford, Annie Compton, Christopher Dunn, Sara Endsley, Janice Ferri Esser, Mellinda Hensley, Anne Schoettle, Natalie Minardi Slater, Teresa Zimmerman; CBS
Children’s Episodic and Specials:
“Remember Black Elvis?” (Family Reunion) – Written by Howard Jordan, Jr.; Netflix
Documentary Script – Current Events:
“Trump’s Trade War” (Frontline) – Written by: Rick Young; PBS
Documentary Script – Other Than Current Events:
“Right To Fail” (Frontline) – Written by: Tom Jennings; PBS
News Script – Regularly Scheduled, Bulletin or Breaking Report:
“Terror in America: The Massacres in El Paso and Dayton” (Special Edition of the CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell) – Written by: Jerry Cipriano, Joe Clines, Bob Meyer; CBS News
News Script – Analysis, Feature or Commentary:
“Fly Like An Eagle” (60 Minutes) – Written by: Katie Kerbstat Jacobson, Scott Pelley, Nicole Young; CBS News
Digital News:
Stories About My Brother – Written by Prachi Gupta; Jezebel.com
Radio/Audio News Script — Regularly Scheduled, Bulletin, or Breaking Report:
Hail and Farewell: Remembering Some Headline Makers – Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio
Radio/Audio News Script — Analysis, Feature or Commentary:
The Enduring Legacy of Jackie Kennedy Onassis – Written by Dianne E. James, Gail Lee; CBS News Radio
On-Air Promotion – Radio or Television:
“Star Trek: Picard” and “All Rise Promos,” – Written by Jessica Katzenstein; CBS