The 76th Writers Guild of America Awards was held yesterday, April 14, 2024. The purpose of the event was to honor the best writing in film, television, and radio of 2023. It was quite unusual for this year’s event as the WGA Awards ceremonies were held more than a month after the 2024 Oscars. Nevertheless, the ceremony finally happened with the triumphs of the best. Among the winners were The Last Us, Beef, Poker Face, The Simpsons, and Last Week Tonight, which took home the trophies presented on Sunday night atย simultaneous ceremonies in New York and Los Angeles. The L.A. ceremony was hosted by Niecy Nash-Betts, while the N.Y. edition was hosted by Josh Gondelman.
Who are the winners and nominees of Writers Guild Awards?
Alexander Payneโs The Holdovers won the award for best original screenplay. While accepting his award in L.A., Holdovers writer David Hemingson thanked โa brilliant cast and a brilliant directorโ for bringing the story to life and accepted โin memory of my mother who raised me, my uncle who saved me, and my father, who gave me my love of the written word and taught me the value of integrity.โ
While Holdovers took home the trophy, the winner of the Best Original Screenplay Oscar, Anatomy of a Fall, was deemed ineligible for the WGA Awards. Thatโs because, unlike other guilds, the WGA deems ineligible any scripts for movies not produced under its Minimum Basic Agreement or a bona fide collective bargaining agreement with various affiliated countries.ย Additionally, Cord Jeffersonโs American Fiction won the Best Adapted Screenplay.
In the TV categories, The Bear won best comedy series, while Succession was named best drama series. The Last of Us won the award for best writing for a new series, and Beef won Best Limited Series writing. All grabbed trophies from the Emmys, SAG Awards, Golden Globes, and Critics Choice in recent months.
Succession also won the prize for Episodic Drama for the โLiving+โ episode after Peacockโs Poker Face took the Episodic Comedy trophy. HBOโs The Last of Us won the WGA Award for New Series, and Foxโs The Simpsons again won the Animation prize, this time for the episode โCarl Carlson Rides Again.โ
In a previously unannounced tribute, The WGA Eastโs Richard B. Jablow Award was presented to the members and leadership of IATSE, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, SAG-AFTRA, and American Federation of Musicians, for โdemonstrating unwavering support and sacrifice during the WGAโs 148-day strike.โ Jablow, for whom the award is named, helped found the WGAE, wrote its constitution and served as its first counsel.
Here are the winners at the 2024 Writers Guild Awards:
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
- The Holdovers, Written by David Hemingson; Focus Features
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
- American Fiction, Screenplay by Cord Jefferson, Based upon the novel Erasure by Percival Everett; Amazon MGM Studios
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
- The Pigeon Tunnel, Written by Errol Morris; Apple Original Films
DRAMA SERIES
- Succession, Written by Will Arbery, Jesse Armstrong, Miriam Battye, Jon Brown, Jamie Carragher, Ted Cohen, Nate Elston, Francesca Gardiner, Callie Hersheway, Lucy Prebble, Georgia Pritchett, Tony Roche, Susan Soon He Stanton, Will Tracy; HBO | Max
COMEDY SERIES
- The Bear, Written by Karen Joseph Adcock, Joanna Calo, Kelly Galuska, Rene Gube, Sofya Levitsky-Weitz, Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Alex Russell, Catherine Schetina, Christopher Storer; FX Networks
LIMITED SERIES
- Beef, Written by Joanna Calo, Bathsheba Doran, Jean Kyoung Frazier, Niko Gutierrez-Kovner, Lee Sung Jin, Alice Ju, Carrie Kemper, Mike Makowsky, Marie Hanhnhon Nguyen, Kevin Rosen, Alex Russell; Netflix
NEW SERIES
- The Last of Us, Written by Neil Druckmann, Halley Gross, Craig Mazin, Bo Shim; HBO | Max
ANIMATION
- โCarl Carlson Rides Againโ (The Simpsons), Written by Loni Steele Sosthand; Fox
EPISODIC DRAMA
- โLiving+โ (Succession), Written by Georgia Pritchett & Will Arbery; HBO | Max
EPISODIC COMEDY
- โEscape From Shit Mountainโ (Poker Face), Written by Nora Zuckerman & Lilla Zuckerman; Peacock
COMEDY/VARIETY TALK SERIES
- Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Senior Writers Daniel OโBrien, Owen Parsons, Charlie Redd, Joanna Rothkopf, Seena Vali Writers Johnathan Appel, Ali Barthwell, Tim Carvell, Liz Hynes, Ryan Ken, Mark Kramer, Sofia Manfredi, John Oliver, Taylor Kay Phillips, Chrissy Shackelford; HBO | Max
COMEDY/VARIETY SPECIALS
- Sarah Silverman: Someone You Love, Written by Sarah Silverman; HBO | Max
COMEDY/VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
- I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, Writers Tim Robinson, Zach Kanin, John Solomon, Gary Richardson, Reggie Henke, Brendan Jennings, Patti Harrison; Netflix
QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
- The Chase, Head Writer David Levinson Wilk Writers Erik Agard, Kyle Beakley, Micki Boden, Megan Broussard, Jonathan Daly, Brian Greene, Robert King, Jason Lundell, Sierra Mannie, Amy Ozols, Bobby Patton, Ellen Teitel, Ari Yolkut; NBC
CHILDRENโS EPISODIC, LONG-FORM AND SPECIALS
- โRomance Dawnโ (One Piece), Written by Matt Owens & Steven Maeda; Netflix
DAYTIME DRAMA
- Days of Our Lives, Head Writer Ron Carlivati Creative Consultant Ryan Quan Writers Sonja Alar, Jazmen Darnell Brown, Joanna Cohen, Carolyn Culliton, Richard Culliton, Cheryl Davis, Kirk Doering, Christopher Dunn, Jamey Giddens, David Kreizman, Henry Newman, Dave Ryan, Katherine D. Schock; Peacock
TV & NEW MEDIA MOTION PICTURES
- Quiz Lady, Written by Jen DโAngelo; Hulu
SHORT-FORM NEW MEDIA
- Carpool Karaoke, Written by Casey Stewart and David Young; Apple TV+
NEWS SCRIPT โ ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
- โHealing and Hopeโ (60 Minutes), Written by Scott Pelley, Nicole Young, Kristin Steve; CBS News
NEWS SCRIPT โ REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
- โSurprise Attack!โ (CBS Weekend News), Written by J. Craig Wilson, Ambrose Rafferty; CBS News
DIGITAL NEWS
- โThe Persuaders: A 5-Part Investigation into the Union-Busting Industry,โ Written by Dave Jamieson; HuffPost
RADIO/AUDIO DOCUMENTARY
- โThe Callโ (This American Life), Written by Mary Harris; Slate
RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT โ REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
- โWorld News This Week โ Week of March 17, 2023,โ Written by Joy Piazza; ABC News Radio
RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT โ ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
- โThe Diagnosis Was Fatal. She Couldnโt Get an Abortionโ (What Next), Written by Madeline Ducharme and Mary Harris; Slate
ON AIR PROMOTION
- โWCBS AM Promos,โ Written by Bill Tynan; WCBS Newsradio 880