“Moonlight,” and “Arrival” were the big film winners last night at the annual Writers Guild Awards, and FX’s “Atlanta” “OJ” and “The Americans” HBO’s, “Confirmation,” “Last Night With John Oliver,” NBC’s “This Is Us,” also took home prizes. (A full list of winners is below– some films going for Oscars were ineligible FYI.) The ceremony was held simultaneously in New York.
Alas, Donald Trump’s reward for his recent behavior was a night full of jokes directed at him. Wickedly funny host Patton Oswalt, as well as presenters and winners, skewered the 45th president throughout the evening. Oswalt introduced a running joke throughout the night about the two Russian Guards brought in for ‘security,’ who stood stage left the entire time. He then started on Trump, “People here tonight are angry about two things, that “Deadpool” is nominated for Best Screenplay and that Trump is President. Trump feels that there’s nothing American about the WGA. Maybe it’s time to build a wall around Hollywood. The WGA, proudly serving the Communist party since 1949. Welcome to the last ever WGA awards. Let’s celebrate the end of the written word and say goodbye to the apostrophe in the word ‘your.’ “
Patton referred to guest James Woods in the audience: “I want to be very careful about making jokes about Trump. I don’t want to be kicked to death tonight by James Woods.” Woods leaped on the stage and playfully proceeded to take a shoe off Patton.
The Paddy Chayefsky honoree Aaron Sorkin made clear how ‘out of touch” Trump is and reminded the storytellers out there, that,”So what can we do? A lot actually. Because the most powerful delivery system ever invented for a story is a story. The men and women in this room, and the one just like it in New York, are America’s storytellers. And we come from everywhere. We’re old and young, black and white, gay and straight, wealthy and struggling and liberal and conservative.”
Following Sorkin was Anthony Atamanuik, an Upright Citizens Brigade alum who should be making Alec Baldwin really nervous now with his spot-on imitation of Trump including orange pancake makeup and tacky hairpiece. Speaking as Trump he joked: “I thought the WGA stood for White Guys Association. When we hired WGA writers for “The Apprentice,” the guild didn’t send their best. They bring the drugs, crime and awful spec scripts of “2 Broke Girls. ” You’re bad writers because you wrote “2 Broke Girls, “ but at least it’s not “Whitney.”
Fake Trump was upset that the WGA did not hold their awards at a Trump Hotel and lauded George Jefferson as a “great businessman.” He also told the crowd not to expect him to be impeached. “Kellyanne Riefenstahl says it’s the biggest win ever. A total landslide or mudslide for you Californians. “
Woods introduced his longtime friend, three-time Academy Award winner Oliver Stone. Woods started his career with Stone’s “Salvador”: “Oliver had the temerity to ask me recently if he should retire? I said, Are you fucking kidding me? Trump just got elected. You can go on forever now.”
Stone took a different turn than the overt bashing. He urged the up and comers to be fearless and to speak out. “It would be remiss of me not to remind you, especially you younger writers, that you can be critical of your government and your society. You don’t have to fit in. It’s fashionable now to take shots at the Republicans and Trump and avoid the Obamas and Clintons. But remember this, in the thirteen wars we’ve started over the last 30 years and the $14 trillion we spent, and the hundreds of thousands of lives that have perished from this earth, remember that it wasn’t one leader, but a system, both Republican and Democrat. It’s a system that has been perpetuated under the guise that these are just wars, justifiable in the name of our flag.”
The LA event also brought out Norman Lear, Denzel Washington, Tom Ford, Louis C. K, Richard Curtis, Mykelti Williamson, Diablo Cody, Chelsea Handler, Jeff Daniels, Kerry Washington, Jeff Goldblum, Tony Hale, Fred Armisen, Shoreh Aghdashloo and was filled with industry VIPS.
In New York, long time soap opera writer (and actress) Courtney B. Simon was honored as well. Congrats!
A full list of Winners is below
FILM WINNERS
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Moonlight, Screenplay by Barry Jenkins, Story by Tarell Alvin McCraney; A24
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Arrival, Screenplay by Eric Heisserer; Based on the Story “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang; Paramount Pictures
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
Command and Control, Telescript by Robert Kenner & Eric Schlosser, Story by Brian Pearle and Kim Roberts; Based on the book Command and Control by Eric Schlosser; American Experience Films
TELEVISION AND NEW MEDIA WINNERS
DRAMA SERIES
The Americans, Written by Peter Ackerman, Tanya Barfield, Joshua Brand, Joel Fields, Stephen Schiff, Joe Weisberg, Tracey Scott Wilson; FX
COMEDY SERIES
Atlanta, Written by Donald Glover, Stephen Glover, Jamal Olori, Stefani Robinson, Paul Simms; FX
NEW SERIES
Atlanta, Written by Donald Glover, Stephen Glover, Jamal Olori, Stefani Robinson, Paul Simms; FX
ORIGINAL LONG FORM
Confirmation, Written by Susannah Grant; HBO
ADAPTED LONG FORM
The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, Written by Scott Alexander, Joe Robert Cole, D.V. DeVincentis, Maya Forbes, Larry Karaszewski, Wally Wolodarsky, Based on the book The Run of His Life by Jeffrey Toobin; FX
ORIGINAL SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA
“The Party” (The Commute), Written by Linsey Stewart & Dane Clark; youtube.com
ADAPTED SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA
“Part 4” (Fear the Walking Dead: Passage), Written by Lauren Signorino & Mike Zunic; amc.com
ANIMATION
“Stop the Presses” (BoJack Horseman), Written by Joe Lawson; Netflix
EPISODIC DRAMA
“The Trip” (This Is Us), Written by Vera Herbert; NBC
EPISODIC COMEDY
“Kimmy Goes on a Playdate!” (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), Written by Robert Carlock; Netflix
COMEDY / VARIETY TALK SERIES
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Writers: Kevin Avery, Tim Carvell, Josh Gondelman, Dan Gurewitch, Geoff Haggerty, Jeff Maurer, John Oliver, Scott Sherman, Will Tracy, Jill Twiss, Juli Weiner; HBO
COMEDY / VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
Saturday Night Live, Head Writers: Rob Klein, Bryan Tucker Writers: James Anderson, Fred Armisen, Jeremy Beiler, Chris Belair, Megan Callahan, Michael Che, Mikey Day, Jim Downey, Tina Fey, Fran Gillespie, Sudi Green, Tim Herlihy, Steve Higgins, Colin Jost, Zach Kanin, Chris Kelly, Erik Kenward, Paul Masella, Dave McCary, Dennis McNicholas, Seth Meyers, Lorne Michaels, Josh Patten, Paula Pell, Katie Rich, Tim Robinson, Sarah Schneider, Pete Schultz, Streeter Seidell, Dave Sirus, Emily Spivey, Andrew Steele, Will Stephen, Kent Sublette; NBC
COMEDY / VARIETY SPECIALS
Triumph The Primary Election Special 2016, Written by Andy Breckman, Josh Comers, Raj Desai, David Feldman, R J Fried, Jarrett Grode, Ben Joseph, Matthew Kirsch, Michael Koman, Mike Lawrence, Brian Reich, Craig Rowin, Robert Smigel, Zach Smilovitz, David Taylor, Andrew Weinberg; Additional Materials by Ray James, Jesse Joyce, Jason Reich, Alex Scordelis; Hulu
QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
Hollywood Game Night, Head Writer: Grant Taylor; Writers: Michael Agbabian, Alex Chauvin, Ann Slichter, Dwight D. Smith; NBC
DAYTIME DRAMA
General Hospital, Writers: Shelly Altman, Anna Theresa Cascio, Andrea Archer Compton, Suzanne Flynn, Janet Iacobuzio, Elizabeth Korte, Daniel James O’Connor, Jean Passanante, Dave Rupel, Katherine Schock, Scott Sickles, Chris Van Etten, Christopher Whitesell; ABC
CHILDREN’S EPISODIC
“Mel vs. The Night Mare of Normal Street” (Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street), Written by Laurie Parres; Amazon Studios
CHILDREN’S LONG FORM
Once Upon a Sesame Street Christmas, Written by Geri Cole & Ken Scarborough; HBO
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – CURRENT EVENTS
“The Choice 2016” (Frontline), Written by Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser; PBS (TIE)
“Inside Assad’s Syria” (Frontline), Written by Martin Smith; PBS (TIE)
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS
“Jackie Robinson, Part One,” Written by David McMahon & Sarah Burns; PBS
TV NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“Muhammad Ali: Remembering A Legend” (48 Hours), Written by Jerry Cipriano, John Craig Wilson; CBS News
TV NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“CBS Sunday Morning Almanac” June 12, 2016 (CBS Sunday Morning), Written by Thomas A. Harris; CBS
RADIO WINNERS
RADIO DOCUMENTARY
“Chernobyl: 30 Years Later,” Written by Andrew Evans; ABC News Radio
RADIO NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“World News This Week” August 26, 2016, Written by Tara Gimbel Tanis; ABC News Radio
RADIO NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“Morley Safer: A Journalist’s Life,” Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio
PROMOTIONAL WINNERS
ON-AIR PROMOTION (TELEVISION, NEW MEDIA OR RADIO)
“CBS On-Air Reel,” Written by Brian Retchless; CBS On-Air Promotion
TELEVISION GRAPHIC ART AND ANIMATION
“The Real History of Cinco de Mayo” (Gawker Media Group), Graphic Animation by Elisa Solinas; Lifehacker.com
VIDEOGAME WINNER
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN VIDEOGAME WRITING
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Written by Neil Druckmann, Josh Scherr; Additional Writing Tom Bissell, Ryan James; Naughty Dog
