'Promising Young Woman' also emerges as a victor in movie field, while Jason Sudeikis' sports comedy 'Ted Lasso' leads the pack of TV winners by bagging two trophies.
- Mar 22, 2021
AceShowbiz - The Writers Guild of America Awards has presented the trophies for the best screenwriting for 2020. Announced on Monday, March 22, the winners of the 2021 WGA Awards included "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm" and "The Crown".
The "Borat" sequel won for Adapted Screenplay. The movie's star Sacha Baron Cohen co-wrote the script with Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer, Peter Baynham, Erica Rivinoja and others based on the characters he created.
Accepting the award, Cohen quipped of the film's long list of writers, "I can't help but think that we won it because 60 percent of the Writers Guild worked on this movie." He added, "A film like this is extremely hard to write, partly because it stars real people whose behavior is completely unpredictable. Well, apart, of course, for Rudy Giuliani, who did everything we hoped for."
"Promising Young Woman" emerged as a victor in Original Screenplay category, with the award going to Emerald Fennell. Fennell, who also directed the film, said in her speech, "I wish I could be in the room and see everyone in person. As it is, I will say thank from my bleak writers room in England."
"The Dissident", written by Mark Monroe and Bryan Fogel, rounded up the movie winner list with its win in Documentary Screenplay category.
"The Crown", meanwhile, won one of the coveted awards in TV categories as it nabbed the best script for a drama series, with the trophy going to Peter Morgan and Jonathan Wilson. Jason Sudeikis' sports drama "Ted Lasso", however, was the biggest winner in television field at it nabbed two awards, for Comedy Series and New Series.
FX's "Mrs. America", written by Tanya Barfield, Joshua Griffith, Sharon Hoffman, Boo Killebrew, Micah Schraft, April Shih and Dahvi Waller, took home the Original Long Form award, while Netflix's "The Queen's Gambit", which was written by Scott Frank and Allan Scott based on the novel by Walter Tevis, won the Adapted Long Form prize.
Netflix's "Ozark" additionally bagged one from Episodic Drama category for its episode titled "Fire Pink", which was written by Miki Johnson. Hulu's "The Great" won for the Episodic Comedy award for its episode, "The Great", written by Tony McNamara.
"At Home With Amy Sedaris" grabbed the award for Comedy/Variety Sketch Series, "Days of Our Lives" won among other Daytime Drama series, and "BoJack Horseman" won in the Animation category.
The winners were announced in a pre-taped, glib virtual ceremony. Presenters for the 73rd annual Writers Guild Awards included Riz Ahmed, Sacha Baron Cohen, Rachel Brosnahan, Sarah Cooper, Andra Day, Daveed Diggs, Ava DuVernay, Jimmy Fallon, Dominique Fishback, Brett Goldstein, Ryan O'Connell, Leslie Odom Jr., Amber Ruffin, Lilly Singh and Baratunde Thurston.
Full Winner List of 2021 WGA Awards:
FILM
- Original Screenplay: "Promising Young Woman", Written by Emerald Fennell; Focus Features
- Adapted Screenplay: "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; Amazon Studios
- Documentary Screenplay: "The Dissident", Written by Mark Monroe and Bryan Fogel; Briarcliff Entertainment
TELEVISION
- Drama Series: "The Crown", Written by Peter Morgan, Jonathan Wilson; Netflix
- Comedy Series: "Ted Lasso", Written by Jane Becker, Leann Bowen, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, Joe Kelly, Bill Lawrence, Jamie Lee, Jason Sudeikis, Phoebe Walsh, Bill Wrubel; Apple TV+
- New Series: "Ted Lasso", Written by Jane Becker, Leann Bowen, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, Joe Kelly, Bill Lawrence, Jamie Lee, Jason Sudeikis, Phoebe Walsh, Bill Wrubel; Apple TV+
- Original Long Form: "Mrs. America", Written by Tanya Barfield, Joshua Griffith, Sharon Hoffman, Boo Killebrew, Micah Schraft, April Shih, Dahvi Waller; FX Networks
- Adapted Long Form: "The Queen's Gambit", Written by Scott Frank, Allan Scott, Based on the novel by Walter Tevis; Netflix
- Original and Adapted Short Form New Media: "FREERAYSHAWN", Written by Marc Maurino; Quibi
- Animation: "Xerox of a Xerox" ("BoJack Horseman"), Written by Nick Adams; Netflix
- Episodic Drama: "Fire Pink" ("Ozark"), Written by Miki Johnson; Netflix
- Episodic Comedy: "The Great" ("The Great"), Written by Tony McNamara; Hulu
- Comedy/Variety Talk Series: "Desus & Mero", Writers: Daniel "Desus Nice" Baker, Claire Friedman, Ziwe Fumudoh, Josh Gondelman, Robert Kornhauser, Joel "The Kid Mero" Martinez, Heben Nigatu, Mike Pielocik, Julia Young; Showtime
- Comedy/Variety Specials: "Stephen Colbert's Election Night 2020: Democracy's Last Stand: Building Back America Great Again Better 2020", Head Writers: Ariel Dumas, Jay Katsir Writers: Delmonte Bent, Michael Brumm, River Clegg, Aaron Cohen, Stephen T. Colbert, Nicole Conlan, Paul Dinello, Glenn Eichler, Django Gold, Gabe Gronli, Barry Julien, Michael Cruz Kayne, Eliana Kwartler, Matt Lappin, Felipe Torres Medina, Opus Moreschi, Asher Perlman, Tom Purcell, Kate Sidley, Brian Stack, John Thibodeaux, Steve Waltien; Showtime
- Comedy/Variety Sketch Series: "At Home With Amy Sedaris", Writers: Jeremy Beiler, Cole Escola, Peter Grosz, Amy Sedaris; truTV
- Quiz and Audience Participation: "Weakest Link", Head Writer: Ann Slichter Writers: Chip Dornell, Paul Greenberg, Joyce Ikemi, Stuart Krasnow, Jon Macks, Mona Mira, Scott Saltzburg, Aaron Solomon, Chris Sturgeon, Grant Taylor; NBC
- Daytime Drama: "Days of Our Lives", Head Writer: Ron Carlivati Writers: Lorraine Broderick, Joanna Cohen, Carolyn Culliton, Richard Culliton, Rick Draughon, David Kreizman, Rebecca McCarty, Ryan Quan, Dave Ryan, Katherine D. Schock, Elizabeth Snyder; NBC
- Children's Episodic, Long Form and Specials: "The Sleepover", Written by Sarah Rothschild; Netflix
- Documentary Script - Current Events: "Agents of Chaos, Part II", Written by Alex Gibney & Michael J. Palmer; HBO Documentary Films
- Documentary Script - Other Than Current Events: "Opioids, Inc." ("Frontline"), Written by Tom Jennings; PBS
- News Script - Regularly Scheduled, Bulletin, or Breaking Report: "Anger in America" ("World News Tonight with David Muir"), Written by Dave Bloch, David Muir, Karen Mooney, David Schoetz; ABC News
- News Script - Analysis, Feature or Commentary: "Juneteenth: A Celebration of Overcoming", Written by Dave Bloch; ABC News
- Digital News: "The Store That Called the Cops on George Floyd", Written by Aymann Ismail; Slate.com
- On Air Promotion: "Get Out The Vote - Check Out Those Moves", Written by Meghana Reddy and Angad Bhalla; Facebook, Instagram, YouTube
- Radio/Audio News Script - Regularly Scheduled, Bulletin, or Breaking Report: "Changemakers:
- Leaders Who Made a Difference", Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio
- Radio/Audio News Script - Analysis, Feature or Commentary: "Against Those Thugs: Delores Tucker and Bill Bennett" (Slow Burn) Written by Joel Anderson, Christopher Johnson; Slate Podcasts
