The Writers Guild of America has just announced the nominations for their annual awards for Best Screenplays (by writers who are guild signatories). That’s right, before you get nervous thinking that your favorite may have been left off the list, you must remember that the WGA is the group that is not all-inclusive and leaves out several of the top contenders each year due to them not being part of the guild or not following their very specific rules. For this reason, you won’t see Inside Out, The Hateful Eight, and Ex Machina in the Original Screenplay category or Room, Brooklyn, or Anomalisa in the Adapted screenplay category.
Taking a look at what’s left over for the nominations, we find many that were expected to make a showing, including Spotlight and Bridge of Spies for Original Screenplay, though they apparently had to sink to really low depths to fill in the last available spot with Amy Schumer’s abysmal Trainwreck. As expected, Steve Jobs, The Big Short, and The Martian were all included for Adapted Screenplay, though when it comes to Carol and Trumbo, it’s more likely that these were the replacements for some of the scripts that were “disqualified.”
When it comes to prognosticating the Oscars, unfortunately these awards aren’t going to tell us anything this year, as far too many of the top favorites have been left out. Just know that the Oscar nominations are going to look quite different. As far as the WGA awards go, it looks like it’ll be a pretty easy victory for Spotlight, and probably for The Big Short as well, especially with all of the industry nominations it’s been receiving lately. However, will they be able to stand up against their tough competition when it comes time for the Oscars? Looks like we’ll have to wait until the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards to see where things are standing on that front.
Speaking of which, in the not-too-distant future (next Sunday A.D.) are the Golden Globe Awards, so be sure to join us then for the annual live-blogging of the winners to see if your favorites take home the gold. In the meantime, please see below for a list of today’s WGA nominations (plus the previously-announced TV nominees):
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Bridge of Spies, Written by Matt Charman and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen; DreamWorks Pictures
Sicario, Written by Taylor Sheridan; Lionsgate
Spotlight, Written by Josh Singer & Tom McCarthy; Open Road Films
Straight Outta Compton, Screenplay by Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff; Story by S. Leigh Savidge & Alan Wenkus and Andrea Berloff; Universal Pictures
Trainwreck, Written by Amy Schumer; Universal Pictures
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Big Short, Screenplay by Charles Randolph and Adam McKay; Based on the Book by Michael Lewis; Paramount Pictures
Carol, Screenplay by Phyllis Nagy; Based on the Novel The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith; The Weinstein Company
The Martian, Screenplay by Drew Goddard; Based on the Novel by Andy Weir; Twentieth Century Fox
Steve Jobs, Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin; Based on the Book by Walter Isaacson; Universal Pictures
Trumbo, Written by John McNamara; Based on the Biography by Bruce Cook; Bleecker Street Media
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
Being Canadian, Written by Robert Cohen; Candy Factory Films
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, Written by Alex Gibney; HBO Documentary Films
Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, Written by Brett Morgen; HBO Documentary Films
Prophet’s Prey, Written by Amy J. Berg; Showtime Documentary Films
DRAMA SERIES
The Americans, Written by Peter Ackerman, Joshua Brand, Joel Fields, Stephen Schiff, Lara Shapiro, Joe Weisberg, Tracey Scott Wilson, Stuart Zicherman; FX
Better Call Saul, Written by Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Gennifer Hutchison, Bradley Paul, Thomas Schnauz, Gordon Smith; AMC
Game of Thrones, Written by David Benioff, Bryan Cogman, Dave Hill, D.B. Weiss; HBO
Mad Men, Written by Lisa Albert, Semi Chellas, Jonathan Igla, Janet Leahy, Erin Levy, Tom Smuts, Robert Towne, Matthew Weiner, Carly Wray; AMC
Mr. Robot, Written by Kyle Bradstreet, Kate Erickson, Sam Esmail, David Iserson, Randolph Leon, Adam Penn, Matt Pyken; USA
COMEDY SERIES
Broad City, Written by Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, Naomi Ekperigin, Ilana Glazer, Abbi Jacobson, Chris Kelly, Anthony King, Jen Statsky; Comedy Central
Silicon Valley, Written by Amy Aniobi, Alec Berg, Mike Judge, Carrie Kemper, Sonny Lee, Dan Lyons, Carson Mell, Dan O’Keefe, Clay Tarver, Ron Weiner; HBO
Transparent, Written by Arabella Anderson, Bridget Bedard, Micah Fitzerman-Blue, Noah Harpster, Ethan Kuperberg, Ali Liebegott, Our Lady J, Faith Soloway, Jill Soloway; Amazon Studios
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Written by Emily Altman, Jack Burditt, Robert Carlock, Azie Mira Dungey, Tina Fey, Lauren Gurganous, Charla Lauriston, Sam Means, Dan Rubin, Meredith Scardino, Allison Silverman, Lon Zimmet; Netflix
Veep, Written by Simon Blackwell, Jon Brown, Kevin Cecil, Roger Drew, Peter Fellows, Neil Gibbons, Rob Gibbons, Sean Gray, Callie Hersheway, Armando Iannucci, Sean Love, Ian Martin, Georgia Pritchett, David Quantick, Andy Riley, Tony Roche, Will Smith; HBO
NEW SERIES
Better Call Saul, Written by Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Gennifer Hutchison, Bradley Paul, Thomas Schnauz, Gordon Smith; AMC
Bloodline, Written by Jonathan Glatzer, Carter Harris, Glenn Kessler, Todd A. Kessler, Addison McQuigg, Arthur Phillips, Jeff Shakoor, Daniel Zelman; Netflix
The Last Man On Earth, Written by Andy Bobrow, Liz Cackowski, Erik Durbin, Will Forte, Kira Kalush, Matt Marshall, Tim McAuliffe, David Noel, Erica Rivinoja, John Solomon, Emily Spivey; Fox
Mr. Robot, Written by Kyle Bradstreet, Kate Erickson, Sam Esmail, David Iserson, Randolph Leon, Adam Penn, Matt Pyken; USA
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Written by Emily Altman, Jack Burditt, Robert Carlock, Azie Mira Dungey, Tina Fey, Lauren Gurganous, Charla Lauriston, Sam Means, Dan Rubin, Meredith Scardino, Allison Silverman, Lon Zimmet; Netflix
ORIGINAL LONG FORM
American Horror Story: Hotel, Written by Brad Falchuk, John J. Gray, Todd Kubrak, Crystal Liu, Ned Martel, Tim Minear, Ryan Murphy, Jennifer Salt, James Wong; FX
Flesh and Bone, Written by Bronwyn Garrity, Jami O’Brien, Adam Rapp, Moira Walley-Beckett, David Wiener; Starz
Sons of Liberty, Written by Stephen David, Kirk Ellis, David C. White; History Channel
Saints & Strangers, Written by Seth Fisher, Walon Green, Chip Johannessen, Eric Overmyer; National Geographic Channel
ADAPTED LONG FORM
Fargo, Written by Steve Blackman, Bob DeLaurentis, Noah Hawley, Ben Nedivi, Matt Wolpert, Based on the film Fargo; FX
The Red Tent, Written by Elizabeth Chandler, Anne Meredith, Based on the book The Red Tent by Anita Diamant; Lifetime
Show Me A Hero, Written by David Simon, William F. Zorzi, Based on the book by Lisa Belkin; HBO
ORIGINAL SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA
“Back to Reality” (Weight), Written by Daryn Strauss; weighttheseries.com
“Born This Way” (Anyone But Me), Written by Susan Miller; hulu.com
ADAPTED SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA
“Chapter Two: Phoebe” (Heroes Reborn: Dark Matters), Written by Zach Craley; nbc.com
“Part 8” (Fear The Walking Dead: Flight 462), Written by L. Signorino & Mike Zunic; amc.com
“The Summer of Love, Part 1: Meet Charlie” (Aquarius), Written by Mike Moore & David Reed; nbc.com
ANIMATION
“Gayle Makin’ Bob Sled” (Bob’s Burgers), Written by Lizzie Molyneux & Wendy Molyneux; Fox
“Halloween of Horror” (The Simpsons), Written by Carolyn Omine; Fox
“Hank After Dark” (BoJack Horseman), Written by Kelly Galuska; Netflix
“Housetrap” (Bob’s Burgers), Written by Dan Fybel; Fox
“Sky Police” (The Simpsons), Written by Matt Selman; Fox
“Walking Big & Tall” (The Simpsons), Written by Michael Price; Fox
EPISODIC DRAMA
“Explosivos” (Narcos), Written by Andy Black; Netflix
“International Assassin” (The Leftovers), Written by Damon Lindelof & Nick Cuse; HBO
“Mind’s Eye” (The Good Wife), Written by Robert King & Michelle King; CBS
“Mother’s Mercy” (Game of Thrones), Written for Television by David Benioff & D.B. Weiss; HBO
“Person to Person” (Mad Men), Written by Matthew Weiner; AMC
“Uno” (Better Call Saul), Written by Vince Gilligan & Peter Gould; AMC
EPISODIC COMEDY
“Alive in Tucson” (The Last Man On Earth), Written by Will Forte; Fox
“Connection Lost” (Modern Family), Written by Megan Ganz & Steven Levitan; ABC
“Joint Session” (Veep), Teleplay by Simon Blackwell & Georgia Pritchett, Story by Armando Iannucci & Simon Blackwell & Georgia Pritchett; HBO
“Racegate” (Maron), Written by Dave Anthony; IFC
“Rock, Paper, Scissors, Gun” (black-ish), Written by Peter Saji; ABC
“Sand Hill Shuffle” (Silicon Valley), Written by Clay Tarver; HBO
COMEDY / VARIETY TALK SERIES
Conan, Writers: Jose Arroyo, Josh Comers, Dan Cronin, Andres du Bouchet, Jessie Gaskell, Michael Gordon, Brian Kiley, Laurie Kilmartin, Rob Kutner, Todd Levin, Levi MacDougall, Conan O’Brien, Matt O’Brien, Andy Richter, Frank Smiley, Brian Stack, Mike Sweeney; TBS
Real Time with Bill Maher, Writers: Scott Carter, Adam Felber, Matt Gunn, Brian Jacobsmeyer, Jay Jaroch, Chris Kelly, Bill Maher, Billy Martin, Danny Vermont; HBO
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Writers: Dan Amira, Steve Bodow, Travon Free, Hallie Haglund, Elliott Kalan, Matt Koff, Adam Lowitt, Dan McCoy, Jo Miller, Zhubin Parang, Owen Parsons, Daniel Radosh, Lauren Sarver, Jon Stewart, Delaney Yeager; Comedy Central
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Writers; Michael Brumm, Nate Charny, Aaron Cohen, Stephen Colbert, Cullen Crawford, Paul Dinello, Eric Drysdale, Rob Dubbin, Ariel Dumas, Glenn Eichler, Gabriel Gronli, Barry Julien, Jay Katsir, Daniel Kibblesmith, Matt Lappin, Opus Moreschi, Tom Purcell, Jen Spyra, Brian Stack; CBS
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Writers: Jonathan Adler, Patrick Borelli, Gerard Bradford, Luke Cunningham, Mike DiCenzo, Mike Drucker, Jess Dweck, Dicky Eagan, Caroline Eppright, Jimmy Fallon, John Haskell, JR Havlan, Josh Lieb, Arthur Meyer, A.D. Miles, Chase Mitchell, Dan Opsal, Gavin Purcell, Jon Rineman, Albertina Rizzo, David Young; NBC
COMEDY / VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
Inside Amy Schumer, Head Writer: Jessi Klein Writers: Hallie Cantor, Kim Caramele, Kyle Dunnigan, Jon Glaser, Kurt Metzger, Christine Nangle, Dan Powell, Tami Sagher, Amy Schumer; Comedy Central
Key & Peele, Written by Colton Dunn, Rebecca Drysdale, Keegan-Michael Key, Phil Augusta Jackson, Jay Martel, Jordan Peele, Ian Roberts, Alex Rubens, Charlie Sanders, Rich Talarico; Comedy Central
Saturday Night Live, Head Writer: Colin Jost, Rob Klein, Bryan Tucker Writers: James Anderson, Jeremy Beiler, Megan Callahan, Michael Che, Mikey Day, Steve Higgins, Zach Kanin, Chris Kelly, Erik Kenward, Dave McCary, Dennis McNicholas, Lorne Michaels, Claire Mulaney, Mike O’Brien, Josh Patten, Alison Rich, Katie Rich, Tim Robinson, Natasha Rothwell, Nick Rutherford, Meredith Scardino, Sarah Schneider, Pete Schultz, Streeter Seidell, John Solomon, Kent Sublette; NBC
COMEDY / VARIETY SPECIALS
The 69th Annual Tony Awards, Written by Dave Boone; Special Material by Adam Goldman, Carol Leifer; CBS
2014 Kennedy Center Honors, Written by Lewis Friedman, Sara Lukinson, Nell Scovell, George Stevens, Jr., Michael Stevens; CBS
2015 Film Independent Spirit Awards, Written by Benji Aflalo, Wayne Federman, Marika Sawyer, Frank Sebastiano, Erik Weiner; IFC
Amy Schumer: Live at The Apollo, Written by Amy Schumer; HBO
Jimmy Kimmel Live: 10th Annual After The Oscars Special, Written by Jack Allison, Tony Barbieri, Jonathan Bines, Joelle Boucai, Greg Dorris, Gary Greenberg, Josh Halloway, Sal Iacono, Eric Immerman, Jimmy Kimmel, Bess Kalb, Jeff Loveness, Molly McNearney, Danny Ricker, Joe Strazzullo, Bridger Winegar; ABC
Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special, Written by James Anderson, Fred Armisen, Tina Fey, Steve Higgins, Chris Kelly, Erik Kenward, Rob Klein, Seth Meyers, Lorne Michaels, John Mulaney, Paula Pell, Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, Tom Schiller, Sarah Schneider, Marc Shaiman, Michael Shoemaker, Robert Smigel, Emily Spivey, Kent Sublette, Jorma Taccone, Bryan Tucker; NBC
QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
Hollywood Game Night, Head Writer: Grant Taylor; Writers: Michael Agbabian, Alex Chauvin, Ann Slichter, Dwight D. Smith; NBC
Jeopardy!, Written by John Duarte, Harry Friedman, Mark Gaberman, Deborah Griffin, Michele Loud, Robert McClenaghan, Jim Rhine, Steve D. Tamerius, Billy Wisse; ABC
DAYTIME DRAMA
General Hospital, Writers: Ron Carlivati, Anna Theresa Cascio, Andrea Archer Compton, Suzanne Flynn, Kate Hall, Elizabeth Korte, Daniel James O’Connor, Elizabeth Page, Jean Passanante, Katherine Schock, Scott Sickles, Chris Van Etten; ABC
The Bold and the Beautiful, Head Writers: Bradley P. Bell, Michael Minnis Writers: Rex M. Best, Shannon Bradley, Adam Dusevoir, Tracey Ann Kelly, Patrick Mulcahey, Mark Pinciotti, Michele Val Jean; CBS
CHILDREN’S EPISODIC
“Gortimer, Ranger and Mel vs. The Endless Night” (Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street), Written by Gretchen Enders & Aminta Goyel; Amazon Studios
“Girl Meets I am Farkle” (Girl Meets World), Written by Mark Blutman; Disney Channel
“Gortimer and the Surprise Signature” (Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street), Written by Garrett Frawley & Brian Turner; Amazon Studios
“Gortimer vs The Relentless Rainbow of Joy” (Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street), Written by David Anaxagoras and Luke Matheny; Amazon Studios
“Ranger vs. The Fabled Flower of Normal Street” (Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street), Written by Laurie Parres; Amazon Studios
CHILDREN’S LONG FORM SPECIAL
“Descendants,” Written by Josann McGibbon & Sara Parriott; Disney Channel
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – CURRENT EVENTS
“American Terrorist” (Frontline), Written by Thomas Jennings; PBS
“Gunned Down: The Power of the NRA” (Frontline), Written by Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser; PBS
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS
“Firestone and the Warlord” (Frontline), Written by Marcela Gaviria; PBS
“The Forgotten Plague” (American Experience), Written by Chana Gazit; PBS
“The Great Math Mystery” (Nova), Written by Daniel McCabe; PBS
“Secrets, Politics and Torture” (Frontline), Written by Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser; PBS
TV NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“Cuba” (60 Minutes), Written by Scott Pelley, Nicole Young, Oriana Zill de Granados, Andy Court and Robert Anderson; CBS News
“Yogi Berra Tribute,” Written by Gerald Mazza; CBS Newspath
TV NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“The Storm After the Storm” (60 Minutes), Written by Sharyn Alfonsi, Michael Rey and Oriana Zill de Granados; CBS News