Moonlight, Arrival honored at Writers Guild of America Awards

By Tribute on February 21, 2017 | 4 Comments

The Writers Guild of America Awards took place in Beverly Hills on Sunday, Feb. 19, honoring the top talent in writing for film, television, radio and video games. With the Oscars just around the corner, the WGAs could be a preview of what’s to come next week.

Moonlight, an awards season front-runner, received the honor for best original screenplay, which was helmed by Barry Jenkins. The film beat out other nominees Hell or High Water, Loving, Manchester by the Sea, and perhaps its biggest competitor, La La Land, for the win.

Another Academy Award contender, Arrival, took home the WGA for best adapted screenplay. Interestingly enough, both Moonlight and Arrival are nominated in the best adapted screenplay category at the Oscars.

Small-screen WGA winners included NBC’s This Is Us, which won in the episodic drama category. Donald Glover‘s hit show Atlanta, was awarded the best new series, and also won the prize in the comedy category.

See the full list of WGA winners below! ~Ashleen Grange

FILM WINNERS

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Moonlight, Screenplay by Barry Jenkins

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Arrival, Screenplay by Eric Heisserer

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
Command and Control, Telescript by Robert Kenner & Eric Schlosser

TELEVISION AND NEW MEDIA WINNERS

DRAMA SERIES
The Americans

COMEDY SERIES
Atlanta

NEW SERIES
Atlanta

ORIGINAL LONG FORM
Confirmation

ADAPTED LONG FORM
The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

ORIGINAL SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA
“The Party” (The Commute)

ADAPTED SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA
“Part 4” (Fear the Walking Dead: Passage)

ANIMATION
“Stop the Presses” (BoJack Horseman)

EPISODIC DRAMA
“The Trip” (This Is Us)

EPISODIC COMEDY
“Kimmy Goes on a Playdate!” (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)

COMEDY / VARIETY TALK SERIES
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

COMEDY / VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
Saturday Night Live

COMEDY / VARIETY SPECIALS
Triumph The Primary Election Special 2016

QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
Hollywood Game Night

DAYTIME DRAMA
General Hospital

CHILDREN’S EPISODIC
“Mel vs. The Night Mare of Normal Street” (Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street)

CHILDREN’S LONG FORM
Once Upon a Sesame Street Christmas

DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – CURRENT EVENTS
“The Choice 2016” (Frontline) (TIE)
“Inside Assad’s Syria” (Frontline) (TIE)

DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS
Jackie Robinson, Part One

TV NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“Muhammad Ali: Remembering A Legend” (48 Hours)

TV NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“CBS Sunday Morning Almanac” June 12, 2016 (CBS Sunday Morning)

RADIO WINNERS

RADIO DOCUMENTARY
Chernobyl: 30 Years Later

RADIO NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
World News This Week

RADIO NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
Morley Safer: A Journalist’s Life

PROMOTIONAL WINNERS

ON-AIR PROMOTION (TELEVISION, NEW MEDIA OR RADIO)
CBS On-Air Reel

TELEVISION GRAPHIC ART AND ANIMATION
The Real History of Cinco de Mayo

VIDEOGAME WINNER

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN VIDEOGAME WRITING
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

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1. Grindal • February 21, 2017 @ 12:15 PM

   Well deserved for Arrival, smartest movie of 2016

2. Connor • February 21, 2017 @ 1:06 PM

   I hope the Academy honors Moonlight as well. It’s a story that needs to be told, and it’s expressed beautifully.

3. Carol • February 21, 2017 @ 2:04 PM

   So surprised Moonlight beat out La La Land! Curious to see what the Academy thinks…

4. Kris • February 22, 2017 @ 12:12 PM

   Moonlight was the most the most over rated movie I saw for this Oscar season. Boring, boring, boring.

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