Writers Guild of America Awards

Current awards

Best Original Screenplay

• 1967: Bonnie and Clyde – David Newman and Robert Benton
• 1968: The Producers – Mel Brooks *
• 1984: Broadway Danny Rose – Woody Allen
• 1985: Witness – Pamela Wallace, William Kelley, and Earl W. Wallace *
• 1986: Hannah and Her Sisters – Woody Allen *
• 1987: Moonstruck – John Patrick Shanley *
• 1988: Bull Durham – Ron Shelton
• 1989: Crimes and Misdemeanors – Woody Allen
• 1990: Avalon – Barry Levinson
• 1991: Thelma & Louise – Callie Khouri *
• 1992: The Crying Game – Neil Jordan *
• 1993: The Piano – Jane Campion *
• 1994: Four Weddings and a Funeral – Richard Curtis
• 1995: Braveheart – Randall Wallace
• 1996: Fargo – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen *
• 1997: As Good as It Gets – Mark Andrus and James L. Brooks
• 1998: Shakespeare in Love – Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard *
• 1999: American Beauty – Alan Ball *
• 2000: You Can Count on Me – Kenneth Lonergan
• 2001: Gosford Park – Julian Fellowes *
• 2002: Bowling for Columbine – Michael Moore
• 2003: Lost in Translation – Sofia Coppola *
• 2004: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – Charlie Kaufman, Michael Gondry, and Pierre Bismuth *
• 2005: Crash – Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco *
• 2006: Little Miss Sunshine – Michael Arndt *
• 2007: Juno – Diablo Cody *
• 2008: Milk – Dustin Lance Black *
• 2009: The Hurt Locker – Mark Boal *
• 2010: Inception – Christopher Nolan
• 2011: Midnight in Paris – Woody Allen *
• 2012: Zero Dark Thirty – Mark Boal
• 2013: Her – Spike Jonze *
• 2014: The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness
• 2015: Spotlight – Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer *
• 2016: Moonlight – Barry Jenkins; story by Tarell Alvin McCraney *
• 2017: Get Out – Jordan Peele *
• 2018: Eighth Grade – Bo Burnham
• 2019: Parasite – Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin-won; story by Bong Joon-ho *
• 2020: Promising Young Woman — Emerald Fennell *
• 2021: Don't Look Up — Adam McKay and David Sirota
• 2022: Everything Everywhere All at Once — Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert *
• 2023: The Holdovers — David Hemingson

Best Adapted Screenplay

• 1984: The Killing Fields – Bruce Robinson
• 1985: Prizzi's Honor – Richard Condon and Janet Roach
• 1986: A Room with a View – Ruth Prawer Jhabvala *
• 1987: Roxanne – Steve Martin
• 1988: Dangerous Liaisons – Christopher Hampton *
• 1989: Driving Miss Daisy – Alfred Uhry *
• 1990: Dances with Wolves – Michael Blake *
• 1991: The Silence of the Lambs – Ted Tally *
• 1992: The Player – Michael Tolkin
• 1993: Schindler's List – Steven Zaillian *
• 1994: Forrest Gump – Eric Roth *
• 1995: Sense and Sensibility – Emma Thompson *
• 1996: Sling Blade – Billy Bob Thornton *
• 1997: L.A. Confidential – Brian Helgeland and Curtis Hanson *
• 1998: Out of Sight – Scott Frank
• 1999: Election – Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor
• 2000: Traffic – Stephen Gaghan *
• 2001: A Beautiful Mind – Akiva Goldsman *
• 2002: The Hours – David Hare
• 2003: American Splendor – Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini
• 2004: Sideways – Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor *
• 2005: Brokeback Mountain – Larry McMurty and Diana Ossana *
• 2006: The Departed – William Monahan *
• 2007: No Country for Old Men – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen *
• 2008: Slumdog Millionaire – Simon Beaufoy *
• 2009: Up in the Air – Jason Reitman
• 2010: The Social Network – Aaron Sorkin *
• 2011: The Descendants – Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash *
• 2012: Argo – Chris Terrio *
• 2013: Captain Phillips – Billy Ray
• 2014: The Imitation Game – Graham Moore *
• 2015: The Big Short – Adam McKay and Charles Randolph *
• 2016: Arrival – Eric Heisserer
• 2017: Call Me by Your Name — James Ivory *
• 2018: Can You Ever Forgive Me? – Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty
• 2019: Jojo Rabbit – Taika Waititi *
• 2020: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm — Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Peter Baynham & Erica Rivinoja & Dan Mazer & Jena Friedman & Lee Kern; story by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Nina Pedrad; based on characters created by Sacha Baron Cohen
• 2021: CODA – Sian Heder *
• 2022: Women Talking – Sarah Polley *
• 2023: American Fiction – Cord Jefferson; based on the novel Erasure by Percival Everett *

Best Documentary Screenplay

• 2004: Super Size Me – Morgan Spurlock
• 2005: Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room – Alex Gibney
• 2006: Deliver Us from Evil – Amy J. Berg
• 2007: Taxi to the Dark – Alex Gibney
• 2008: Waltz with Bashir – Ari Folman
• 2009: The Cove – Mark Monroe
• 2010: Inside Job – Charles Ferguson
• 2011: Better This World – Katie Galloway, and Kelly Duane de la Vega
• 2012: Searching for Sugar Man – Malik Bendjelloul
• 2013: Stories We Tell – Sarah Polley
• 2014: The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz – Brian Knappenberger
• 2015: Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief – Alex Gibney
• 2016: Command and Control – Robert Kenner, Brian Pearle, Kim Roberts, and Eric Schlosser
• 2017: Jane – Brett Morgen
• 2018: Bathtubs Over Broadway – Ozzy Inguanzo, and Dava Whisenant
• 2019: The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley – Alex Gibney
• 2020: The Dissident — Mark Monroe and Bryan Fogel
• 2021: Exposing Muybridge – Marc Shaffer
• 2022: Moonage Daydream – Brett Morgen
• 2023: The Pigeon Tunnel – Errol Morris

Discontinued categories

Best Written Drama

• 1949: The Snake Pit – Frank Partos and Millen Brand
• 1950: All the King's Men – Robert Rossen
• 1951: Sunset Boulevard – Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, and D. M. Marshman Jr. *
• 1952: A Place in the Sun – Michael Wilson and Harry Brown *
• 1953: High Noon – Carl Foreman
• 1954: From Here to Eternity – Daniel Taradash *
• 1955: On the Waterfront – Budd Schulberg *
• 1956: Marty – Paddy Chayefsky *
• 1957: Friendly Persuasion – Michael Wilson
• 1958: 12 Angry Men – Reginald Rose
• 1959: The Defiant Ones – Nedrick Young and Harold Jacob Smith *
• 1960: The Diary of Anne Frank – Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett
• 1961: Elmer Gantry – Richard Brooks *
• 1962: The Hustler – Sidney Carroll and Robert Rossen
• 1963: To Kill a Mockingbird – Horton Foote *
• 1964: Hud – Harriet Frank Jr. and Irving Ravetch
• 1965: Becket – Edward Anhalt *
• 1966: The Pawnbroker – Edward Lewis Wallant, Morton Fine, and David Friedkin
• 1967: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – Ernest Lehman
• 1968: Bonnie and Clyde – David Newman and Robert Benton
• 1969: The Lion in Winter – James Goldman *

Best Original Drama

• 1970: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – William Goldman *
• 1971: Patton – Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North *
• 1972: Sunday Bloody Sunday – Penelope Gilliatt
• 1973: The Candidate – Jeremy Larner *
• 1974: Save the Tiger – Steve Shagan
• 1975: Chinatown – Robert Towne *
• 1976: Dog Day Afternoon – Frank Pierson *
• 1977: Network – Paddy Chayefsky *
• 1978: The Turning Point – Arthur Laurents
• 1979: Coming Home – Nancy Dowd, Robert C. Jones, and Waldo Salt *
• 1980: The China Syndrome – Mike Gray, T. S. Cook and James Bridges
• 1981: Melvin and Howard – Bo Goldman *
• 1982: Reds – Warren Beatty and Trevor Griffiths
• 1983: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial – Melissa Mathison
• 1984: Tender Mercies – Horton Foote *

Best Adapted Drama

• 1970: Midnight Cowboy – Waldo Salt *
• 1971: I Never Sang for My Father – Robert Anderson
• 1972: The French Connection – Ernest Tidyman *
• 1973: The Godfather – Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola *
• 1974: Serpico – Waldo Salt and Norman Wexler
• 1975: The Godfather Part II – Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo *
• 1976: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest – Bo Goldman and Lawrence Hauben *
• 1977: All the President's Men – William Goldman *
• 1978: Islands in the Stream – Denne Bart Petitclerc
• 1979: Midnight Express – Oliver Stone *
• 1980: Kramer vs. Kramer – Robert Benton *
• 1981: Ordinary People – Alvin Sargent *
• 1982: On Golden Pond – Ernest Thompson *
• 1983: Missing – Costa-Gavras and Donald E. Stewart *
• 1984: Reuben, Reuben – Julius J. Epstein

Best Written Comedy

• 1949: Sitting Pretty – F. Hugh Herbert
• 1950: A Letter to Three Wives – Joseph L. Mankiewicz *
• 1951: All About Eve – Joseph L. Mankiewicz *
• 1952: Father's Little Dividend – Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich
• 1953: The Quiet Man – Frank Nugent
• 1954: Roman Holiday – Ian McLellan Hunter, Dalton Trumbo, and John Dighton *
• 1955: Sabrina – Billy Wilder, Samuel Taylor, and Ernest Lehman
• 1956: Mister Roberts – Joshua Logan and Frank Nugent
• 1957: Around the World in 80 Days – James Poe, John Farrow, and S. J. Perelman *
• 1958: Love in the Afternoon – Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond
• 1959: Me and the Colonel – S. N. Behrman and George Froeschel
• 1960: Some Like It Hot – Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond
• 1961: The Apartment – Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond *
• 1962: Breakfast at Tiffany's – George Axelrod
• 1963: That Touch of Mink – Stanley Shapiro and Nate Monastar
• 1964: Lilies of the Field – James Poe
• 1965: Dr. Strangelove – Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern, and Peter George
• 1966: A Thousand Clowns – Herb Gardner
• 1967: The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming – William Rose
• 1968: The Graduate – Calder Willingham and Buck Henry
• 1969: The Odd Couple – Neil Simon

Best Original Comedy

• 1970: Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice – Paul Mazursky and Larry Tucker
• 1971: The Out-of-Towners – Neil Simon
• 1972: The Hospital – Paddy Chayefsky *
• 1973: What's Up, Doc? – Peter Bogdanovich, Buck Henry, David Newman, and Robert Benton
• 1974: A Touch of Class – Melvin Frank and Jack Rose
• 1975: Blazing Saddles – Mel Brooks, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, and Alan Uger
• 1976: Shampoo – Robert Towne and Warren Beatty
• 1977: The Bad News Bears – Bill Lancaster
• 1978: Annie Hall – Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman *
• 1979: Movie Movie – Larry Gelbart and Sheldon Keller
• 1980: Breaking Away – Steve Tesich *
• 1981: Private Benjamin – Nancy Meyers, Harvey Miller, and Charles Shyer
• 1982: Arthur – Steve Gordon
• 1983: Tootsie – Don McGuire, Larry Gelbart and Murray Schisgal
• 1984: The Big Chill – Lawrence Kasdan and Barbara Benedek

Best Adapted Comedy

• 1970: Goodbye, Columbus – Arnold Schulman
• 1971: MASH – Ring Lardner Jr. *
• 1972: Kotch – John Paxton
• 1973: Cabaret – Jay Presson Allen
• 1974: Paper Moon – Alvin Sargent
• 1975: The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz – Lionel Chetwynd and Mordecai Richler
• 1976: The Sunshine Boys – Neil Simon
• 1977: The Pink Panther Strikes Again – Blake Edwards and Frank Waldman
• 1978: Oh, God! – Larry Gelbart
• 1979: Heaven Can Wait – Elaine May and Warren Beatty and Same Time, Next Year – Bernard Slade
• 1980: Being There – Jerzy Kosiński
• 1981: Airplane! – Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker
• 1982: Rich and Famous – Gerard Ayres
• 1983: Victor/Victoria – Blake Edwards
• 1984: Terms of Endearment – James L. Brooks *

Best Written Musical

• 1949: Easter Parade – Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, and Sidney Sheldon
• 1950: On the Town – Adolph Green and Betty Comden
• 1951: Annie Get Your Gun – Sidney Sheldon
• 1952: An American in Paris – Alan Jay Lerner *
• 1953: Singin' in the Rain – Betty Comden and Adolph Green
• 1954: Lili – Helen Deutsch and Paul Gallico
• 1955: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers – Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich, and Dorothy Kingsley
• 1956: Love Me or Leave Me – Daniel Fuchs and Isobel Lennart *
• 1957: The King and I – Ernest Lehman
• 1958: Les Girls – Vera Caspary and John Patrick
• 1959: Gigi – Alan Jay Lerner *
• 1960: The Five Pennies – Robert Smith, Jack Rose, and Melville Shavelson
• 1961: Bells Are Ringing – Betty Comden and Adolph Green
• 1962: West Side Story – Ernest Lehman
• 1963: The Music Man – Meredith Willson, Franklin Lacey, and Marion Hargrove
• 1964: Not awarded
• 1965: Mary Poppins – Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi
• 1966: The Sound of Music – Maria Augusta Trapp, Howard Lindsay, Russel Crouse, and Ernest Lehman
• 1967: Not awarded
• 1968: Thoroughly Modern Millie – Richard Morris
• 1969: Funny Girl – Isobel Lennart

Best Written Film Concerning Problems with the American Scene

• 1949: The Snake Pit – Frank Partos and Millen Brand
• 1950: All the King's Men – Robert Rossen
• 1951: The Men – Carl Foreman
• 1952: Bright Victory – Robert Buckner

Best Written Western

• 1949: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre – John Huston *
• 1950: Yellow Sky – W. R. Burnett and Lamar Trotti
• 1951: Broken Arrow – Albert Maltz