The Grand Budapest Hotel has won the top film prize at this year’s Writers Guild Awards.
Wes Anderson’s comedy, which is nominated for nine Oscars, won the award for best original screenplay – for a script co-authored by Anderson and Hugo Guinness.
Graham Moore picked up best adapted screenplay award for his work on The Imitation Game, about World War II code-breaker Alan Turing.
The annual awards were announced simultaneously at ceremonies at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles and the Edison Ballroom in New York City.
Grand Budapest Hotel – which picked up the BAFTA for best original screenplay earlier this month – is nominated in the same category at this year’s Academy Awards on February 22.
Graham Moore’s script for The Imitation Game is also Oscar-nominated in the best adapted screenplay category.
It was beaten to the BAFTA by Anthony McCarten’s The Theory of Everything – which was not eligible as a nominee at the Writers Guild Awards (WGAs), because of Guild rules regarding jurisdiction and membership.
Another major Oscar contender, Birdman, was also ineligible because four of the writers are not guild members.
The Writers Guild Awards have a healthy track record of predicting the Oscar winners – picking the same winners in the adapted screenplay category 14 times over the past 20 years.
However, last year John Ridley’s script for 12 Years a Slave was ineligible at the WGAs, yet went on to win the Oscar for adapted screenplay.
HBO’s hit series True Detective, starring Matthew McConaughey, led the television categories, winning best drama and best new series.
Louie also picked up two awards, for best comedy series and best comedy episode.
Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes collected the Paddy Chayefsky Award for career achievement in TV, telling the audience she remains “amazed there is a job where I get to make stuff up for a living”.
There was a standing ovation as the Screen Laurel Award was presented to Daniel Ramis, on behalf of his late father Harold Ramis, whose screenwriting credits included Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day.
Harold Ramis died a year ago this month, at the age of 69.
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The complete list of winners of the 2015 Writers Guild Awards for outstanding achievement in writing for film, television, new media, games, news, radio, promotional, and graphic animation categories:
FILM WINNERS
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness; Fox Searchlight
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Imitation Game, Written by Graham Moore; Based on the book Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges; The Weinstein Company
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz, Written by Brian Knappenberger; FilmBuff
TELEVISION AND NEW MEDIA WINNERS
DRAMA SERIES
True Detective, Written by Nic Pizzolatto; HBO
COMEDY SERIES
Louie, Written by Pamela Adlon, Louis C.K.; FX
NEW SERIES
True Detective, Written by Nic Pizzolatto; HBO
EPISODIC DRAMA
“The Last Call” (The Good Wife), Written by Robert King & Michelle King; CBS
EPISODIC COMEDY
“So Did the Fat Lady” (Louie), Written by Louis C.K.; FX
LONG FORM ORIGINAL
Deliverance Creek, Written by Melissa Carter; Lifetime
LONG FORM ADAPTED
Olive Kitteridge, Teleplay by Jane Anderson, Based on the novel by Elizabeth Strout; HBO
SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA – ORIGINAL
“Episode 113: Rachel” (High Maintenance), Written by Katja Blichfeld & Ben Sinclair; helpingyoumaintain.com
ANIMATION
“Brick Like Me” (The Simpsons), Written by Brian Kelley; Fox
COMEDY / VARIETY (INCLUDING TALK) – SERIES
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Writers: Kevin Avery, Tim Carvell, Dan Gurewitch, Geoff Haggerty, Jeff Maurer, John Oliver, Scott Sherman, Will Tracy, Jill Twiss, Juli Weiner; HBO
COMEDY / VARIETY – MUSIC, AWARDS, TRIBUTES – SPECIALS
71st Annual Golden Globe Awards, Written by Barry Adelman; Special Material by Alex Baze, Dave Boone, Robert Carlock, Tina Fey, Jon Macks, Sam Means, Seth Meyers, Amy Poehler, Mike Shoemaker; NBC
QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
Hollywood Game Night, Head Writer: Grant Taylor; Writers: Alex Chauvin, Ann Slichter; NBC
Photo Getty Images
DAYTIME DRAMA
General Hospital, Written by Ron Carlivati, Anna Theresa Cascio, Suzanne Flynn, Kate Hall, Elizabeth Korte, Daniel James O’Connor, Elizabeth Page, Katherine Schock, Scott Sickles, Chris Van Etten; ABC
CHILDREN’S SCRIPT – EPISODIC & SPECIALS
“Haunted Heartthrob” (Haunted Hathaways), Written by Bob Smiley; Nickelodeon
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – CURRENT EVENTS
“United States of Secrets: The Program (Part One)” (Frontline); PBS; Written by Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser; PBS
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS
“League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis” (Frontline), Written by Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser; PBS
TV NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“Nelson Mandela: A Man Who Changed the World” (World News with Diane Sawyer), Written by Dave Bloch, Lisa Ferri, Diane Sawyer; ABC News
TV NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“Nowhere to Go” (60 Minutes), Written by Oriana Zill de Granados, Scott Pelley, Michael Rey; CBS
RADIO WINNERS
RADIO DOCUMENTARY
“Three Shots Rang Out: The JFK Assassination 50 Years Later,” Written by Darren Reynolds; ABC News Radio
RADIO NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“World News This Week,” Written by Andrew Evans; ABC News Radio
RADIO NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“Civil Rights at 50,” Written by Jane Tillman Irving; WCBS Radio
PROMOTIONAL WRITING WINNER
ON-AIR PROMOTION (TELEVISION, NEW MEDIA OR RADIO)
“How I Met Your Mother,” Written by Dan Greenberger; CBS
VIDEOGAME WINNER
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN VIDEOGAME WRITING
The Last of Us: Left Behind, Written by Neil Druckmann; Sony Computer Entertainment
There were no nominees in Children’s Script – Long Form or Special or Television Graphic Art and Animation categories this year.
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Writers Guild Awards 2015 winners will be honored February 14 at simultaneous ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York.
Full list of nominees:
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Boyhood
Written by Richard Linklater; IFC Films
Foxcatcher
Written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman; Sony Pictures Classics
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness; Fox Searchlight
Nightcrawler
Written by Dan Gilroy; Open Road Films
Whiplash
Written by Damien Chazelle; Sony Pictures Classics
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
American Sniper
Written by Jason Hall; Based on the book by Chris Kyle with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice; Warner Bros.
Gone Girl
Screenplay by Gillian Flynn; Based on her novel; 20th Century Fox
Guardians of the Galaxy
Written by James Gunn and Nicole Perlman; Based on the Marvel comic by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
The Imitation Game
Written by Graham Moore; Based on the book Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges; The Weinstein Company
Wild
Screenplay by Nick Hornby; Based on the book by Cheryl Strayed; Fox Searchlight
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
Finding Vivian Maier
Written by John Maloof & Charlie Siskel; Sundance Selects
The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz
Written by Brian Knappenberger; FilmBuff
Last Days in Vietnam
Written by Mark Bailey & Kevin McAlester; American Experience Films
Red Army
Written by Gabe Polsky; Sony Pictures Classics
