Oscar night is less than a week away and two more movie guilds announced their awards over the weekend with the Writers Guild of America (WGA) following the other guilds by awarding Ben Affleck’s Argo for its adapted screenplay by Chris Terrio. Mark Boal’s original screenplay for Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty won in that category.
Meanwhile, the Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) gave out their 2013 Golden Reel Awards for sound editing with Ang Lee’s Life of Pi taking two awards, one for its music sound editing and another for its dialogue and ADR (automatic dialogue replacement). Les Misérables won an award for music sound editing in a musical while the James Bond movie Skyfall won for sound effects and foley.
Malik Bendjelloul’s documentary Searching for Sugar Man continued to win honors with the WGA awarding its screenplay.
“Breaking Bad,” “Louie” and “Girls” were honored by the WGA in some of their television writing categories. “Fringe,” “Smash,” “Game of Thrones,” “The Newsroom” and “American Horror Story” were among the television shows that received Golden Reel awards.
Wreck-It Ralph won a Golden Reel Award for sound editing in an animated motion picture while Jacques Audiard’s Rust & Bone received a sound editing award in the foreign language category.
What does this mean for Oscar night? Argo‘s win in the adapted screenplay category at the WGAs helps bolster its support leading into Oscar night, while Zero Dark Thirty could get a boost from its WGA win although it didn’t have to face Tarantino’s Django Unchained as it does on Oscar night since that was ineligible for the Writers Guild Awards.
As far as sound editing, it does give Life of Pi somewhat of an advantage in that often difficult Oscar category although that category is voted on by the full Academy, not just sound editors, and they usually give it to the movie with the loudest sound effects which in this case would be Skyfall.
The Oscar ballot deadline is tomorrow, February 19, at 5pm, so all of this past weekend’s awards could influence Academy voters.
You can read the full press release from the Writers Guild Awards below including the list of full winners:
The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) tonight announced the winners of the 2013 Writers Guild Awards for outstanding achievement in writing for screen, television, radio, news, promotional, videogame, and new media writing at simultaneous ceremonies at the JW Marriott L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles and the B.B. King Blues Club in New York City.
SCREEN WINNERS
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Zero Dark Thirty, Written by Mark Boal; Columbia Pictures
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Argo, Screenplay by Chris Terrio; Based on a selection from The Master of Disguise by Antonio J. Mendez and the Wired Magazine article The Great Escape by Joshuah Bearman; Warner Bros. Pictures
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
Searching for Sugar Man, Written by Malik Bendjelloul; Sony Pictures Classics
TELEVISION WINNERS
DRAMA SERIES
Breaking Bad, Written by Sam Catlin, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Gennifer Hutchison, George Mastras, Thomas Schnauz, Moira Walley-Beckett; AMC
COMEDY SERIES
Louie, Written by Pamela Adlon, Vernon Chatman, Louis C.K.; FX
NEW SERIES
Girls, Written by Judd Apatow, Lesley Arfin, Lena Dunham, Sarah Heyward, Bruce Eric Kaplan, Jenni Konner, Deborah Schoeneman, Dan Sterling; HBO
EPISODIC DRAMA
The Other Woman (Mad Men), Written by Semi Chellas and Matthew Weiner; AMC
EPISODIC COMEDY
Virgin Territory (Modern Family), Written by Elaine Ko; ABC
LONG FORM ORIGINAL
Hatfields & McCoys, Nights Two and Three, Teleplay by Ted Mann and Ronald Parker, Story by Bill Kerby and Ted Mann; History Channel
LONG FORM ADAPTED
Game Change, Written by Danny Strong, Based on the book by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann; HBO
ANIMATION
Ned N Ednas Blend Agenda (The Simpsons), Written by Jeff Westbrook; Fox
COMEDY / VARIETY (INCLUDING TALK) SERIES
Portlandia, Writers: Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein, Karey Dornetto, Jonathan Krisel,
Bill Oakley; IFC
COMEDY / VARIETY MUSIC, AWARDS, TRIBUTES SPECIALS
66th Annual Tony Awards, Written by Dave Boone; Special Material by Paul Greenberg; Opening and Closing Songs by David Javerbaum, Adam Schlesinger; CBS
DAYTIME DRAMA
The Young and the Restless, Written by Amanda Beall, Jeff Beldner, Susan Dansby, Janice Ferri Esser, Jay Gibson, Scott Hamner, Marla Kanelos, Natalie Minardi Slater, Beth Milstein, Michael Montgomery, Anne Schoettle, Linda Schreiber, Sarah K. Smith, Christopher J. Whitesell, Teresa Zimmerman; CBS
CHILDREN’S EPISODIC & SPECIALS
The Good Sport (Sesame Street); Written by Christine Ferraro; PBS
CHILDRENS LONG FORM OR SPECIAL
Girl vs. Monster, Teleplay by Annie DeYoung and Ron McGee, Story by Annie DeYoung; Disney Channel
DOCUMENTARY CURRENT EVENTS
Money, Power and Wall Street: Episode One (Frontline), Written by Martin Smith and Marcela Gaviria; PBS
DOCUMENTARY OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS
The Fabric of the Cosmos: The Illusion of Time (Nova), Telescript by Randall MacLowry, Story by Joseph McMaster and Randall MacLowry; PBS
NEWS REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
Tragedy In Colorado: The Movie Theatre Massacre, Written by Lisa Ferri, Joel Siegel; ABC News
NEWS ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
The Ghost of Joe McCarthy (Moyers & Company), Written by Bill Moyers, Michael Winship; Thirteen/ WNET
RADIO WINNERS
NEWS REGULARLY SCHEDULED OR BREAKING REPORT
World News This Year 2011, Written by Darren Reynolds; ABC News Radio
NEWS ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
Dishin Digital, Written by Robert Hawley; WCBS-AM
PROMOTIONAL WRITING AND GRAPHIC ANIMATION WINNERS
ON-AIR PROMOTION (RADIO OR TELEVISION)
Partners, Written by Dan A. Greenberger; CBS
TELEVISION GRAPHIC ANIMATION
The Oscars (Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood), Animation by Bob Pook; CBS
VIDEOGAME WRITING WINNER
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN VIDEOGAME WRITING
Assassins Creed III: Liberation, Scriptwriting by Richard Farrese, Jill Murray; Ubisoft
NEW MEDIA WRITING WINNERS
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN WRITING ORIGINAL NEW MEDIA
The Compromises, Episode 1, The Pest, Episode 3, The Snake, Episode 4, The Bonding, Episode 6, The Future, Episode 7/Series Finale (Jack in a Box), Written by Michael Cyril Creighton; jackinaboxsite.com
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN WRITING DERIVATIVE NEW MEDIA
Hide And Seek, Keys to the Kingdom, The Chosen Ones, Parting Shots (The Walking Dead: Cold Storage), Written by John Esposito; amctv.com
The Writers Guild Awards honor outstanding writing in film, television, new media, videogames, news, radio and promotional writing, and graphic animation. The awards were presented jointly in all competitive categories during simultaneous ceremonies on Sunday, February 17, 2013, in Los Angeles at the JW Marriott L.A. LIVE and in New York at the B.B. King Blues Club.
Emmy-winning Castle TV star Nathan Fillion hosted the West Coast WGA ceremony, which was executive produced by Cort Casady. Presenters who appeared at the L.A. show included:
two-time Academy Award-nominee and Golden Globe-winning actress Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty), Modern Family co-stars, two-time Emmy-winning actress Julie Bowen and ALMA Award-winning actor Rico Rodriguez, Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Jane Lynch (Glee), Academy Award-winning director Steven Spielberg (Lincoln), Golden Globe-nominated actor Tobey Maguire (The Great Gatsby), two-time Academy Award-nominated actress Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook), Screen Actors Guild Award-winning actress Kate Walsh (Private Practice, Greys Anatomy), three-time Writers Guild and nine-time Emmy Award-nominated actress-writer Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation) and her Parks and Recreation co-star, Independent Spirit Award-nominated actor Adam Scott, Emmy-nominated actress Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad), Emmy-nominated actor Walton Goggins (Justified), actor Alfred Molina (Monday Mornings), Emmy and Writers Guild Award-winning Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner, ALMA Award-winning actress Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation), Emmy-winning actor Sam Waterston (The Newsroom), three-time Emmy-winning actor Brad Garrett (Everybody Loves Raymond), actor Craig Robinson (The Office), writer/actor/director Mark Duplass (The Mindy Project), screenwriters Jon Lucas & Scott Moore (The Hangover), and Writers Guild Award-nominated Key and Peele co-creators/co-stars Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele.
Attendees at the WGAWs awards ceremony included: James Gandolfini, Francis Ford Coppola, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, T. Bone Burnett, Jay Roach, Congressman Henry Waxman, and L.A. Councilmember Steve Koretz.
Versatile television and screen actor Richard Kind hosted the East Coast WGA ceremony, which was executive produced by Craig Shemin and Bonnie Datt. Presenters who appeared at the New York show included: Academy Award-nominated writer Lucy Alibar (Beasts of the Southern Wild), writer and actor Jonathan Ames (Bored to Death), stand-up comedian and writer W. Kamau Bell (Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell), Sundance Audience Award-winning actor and writer Mike Birbiglia (Sleepwalk With Me), Emmy-winning actor Bobby Cannavale (Boardwalk Empire, Nurse Jackie), Academy Award-nominated writer Scott Frank (Minority Report), actress and writer Gina Gershon (Killer Joe), actress and CBS News Sunday Morning contributor Nancy Giles (China Beach), stand-up comedienne and actress Lisa Lampanelli (Not Fade Away), Emmy-winning actress and writer Sonia Manzano (Sesame Street), Emmy-winning producer and writer Mike Reiss (The Simpsons), producer and writer Liz Tuccillo (Smash and Sex and the City) and author Meg Wolitzer (The Interestings, This Is Your Life).
Attendees at the WGAEs awards ceremony included: Fred Armisen Talia Balsam, Amy Berg, Eleanor Bergstein, Jacob Bernstein, Louis C.K., Lena Dunham, Terry George, Gina Gionfriddo, Steve Higgins, Alex Karpovsky, Brian Koppelman, Franklin Leonard, David Magee, John McLaughlin and Matthew Quick.
The Writers Guild of America, West presented special honors to: Tom Stoppard Laurel Award for Screen for lifetime achievement in screenwriting; Joshua Brand & John Falsey Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television for lifetime achievement in television writing; Tony Kushner (Lincoln) Paul Selvin Award for written work which embodies constitutional rights and civil liberties; past WGAW President Daniel Petrie, Jr. Morgan Cox Award for exemplary service to the Guild; Everybody Loves Raymond Creator Phil Rosenthal Valentine Davies Award for community service and humanitarian efforts; Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, Ryûzô Kikushima, and Hideo Oguni Jean Renoir Award for Screenwriting Achievement, given to international screenwriters who have advanced the literature of motion pictures and made outstanding contributions to the profession of screenwriter.
The Writers Guild of America, East presented special honors to: David Koepp Ian McClellan Hunter Award for Career Achievement in Writing, and Bob Schneider Richard E. Jablow Award for devoted service to the Guild. The Guild also presented a special tribute to the late Nora Ephron.
Credits for the WGAWs West Coast show included: Executive Producer Cort Casady, Director Joe DeMaio, Talent Producer Carole Propp, Head Writer Dave Boone, Writers Beth Armogida and Cort Casady, Coordinating Producer Michelle Robinson, Co-Producer Aaron Cooke, and Production Designer John Calkins.
Credits for the WGAEs East Coast show included: Executive Producer and Head Writer Craig Shemin, Executive Producer Bonnie Datt, Consulting Producer David Steven Cohen, and Producer Larry Bogush. The shows writers included: David Steven Cohen, Bonnie Datt, John Marshall and Frank Santopadre. Additional material provided by Tim Carvell, Travon Free, Dan McCoy and Sam Means.
