OSCAR PREDICTIONS AND OSCAR NEWS
Oscar 2009: Hurt Locker and Up in the Air Win Writers Guild Awards
The Hurt Locker" and "Up in the Air" have won the top feature screenplay awards from the Writers Guild of America.
Mark Boal took the original screenplay trophy for Summit's "Hurt Locker," topping "500 Days of Summer," "Avatar," "The Hangover" and "A Serious Man."
"I'm honored and stunned," Boal told the audience at the Century Plaza in Los Angeles. And he singled out director Kathryn Bigelow for backing "an unpopular story about an unpopuilar war" in his thank-yous.
Boal also thanked the U.S. soldiers in Iraq with whom he was embeddded in 2004 to learn about bomb-defusing squads.
The adapted trophy went to Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner for "Up in the Air" for their adaptation of Walter Kirn's novel. "Up in the Air," rleleased by Paramount, topped "Crazy Heart," "Julie and Julia," "Precious" and "Star Trek."
Turner gave thanks to his fellow members, adding, "We don't write because we want to — we write because we have to."
Reitman singled out his father Ivan Reitman, a producer on the film, for his encouragement. "He told me, 'You got the goods,' " Reitman added.
The WGA screenplay awards have been a reliable indicator for Oscar winners. Winners of original screenplay trophies have matched in 10 of the last 15 years, including Dustin Lance Black winning last year for "Milk." The adapted screenplay awards have matched in 11 of the last 15 years, including Simon Beaufoy winning both last year for "Slumdog Millionaire."
Mark Monroe won the documentary award for dolphin slaughter docu "The Cove," which continued its awards season momentum.
ABC's "Modern Family" won the new series award. Nick's "Welcome to the Jungle" took the children's episodic and specials kudo.
The longform original award went to Lifetime's "Georgia O'Keefe and the longform adapted kudo was awarded to HBO's "Taking Chance."
"Saturday Night Live" and "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" tied in the comed-variety category.
"Family Guy" showrunner Seth MacFarlane emceed and opened with a parody on "Ya Got Trouble" from "The Music Man," featuring such lines as "without a script, this town would fall off the fucking map."
At the WGA East ceremony held earlier tonight in New York, there was a tie for best single comedy between "30 Rock" episode "Apollo" by Robert Carlock and the "Modern Family" pilot by Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd.
Best single animation went to "The Simpsons" scribe Joel H. Cohen for the episode "Wedding for Disaster." All five noms in this category went to "The Simpsons."
NBC' s "30 Rock" won the comedy series award for the second year in a row.
Larry David received among the biggest laughs of the night in accepting the Paddy Chayefsky lifetime achievement award for television, noting that something bad always happens to him after anything positive.
"This has doom and gloom written all over it," David said. "It's a great honor but not worth getting hit by a bus."
Fox's "House" won the drama episode award for the "Broken: Part 1 and 2" segment penned by Russell Friend, Garrett Leonard, David Foster and David Shore.
The evening's final award for drama series went to AMC's "Mad Men," repeating its victory from last year for Lisa Albert, Andrew Collville, Kater Gordon, Cathryn Humphries, Andre Jacquemetton, Marie Jacquemetton, Brett Johnson, Erin Levy, Marti Noxon, Frank Pierson, Robin Veith, Dahvi Waller and showrunner Matthew Weiner.
Full Winners List:
SCREEN WINNERS
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Hurt Locker, Written by Mark Boal; Summit Entertainment
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Up in the Air, Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner; Based upon the novel by Walter Kirn; Paramount Pictures
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
The Cove, Written by Mark Monroe; Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions
TELEVISION WINNERS
DRAMA SERIES
Mad Men, Written by Lisa Albert, Andrew Colville, Kater Gordon, Cathryn Humphris,
Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton, Brett Johnson, Erin Levy, Marti Noxon,
Frank Pierson, Robin Veith, Dahvi Waller, Matthew Weiner; AMC
COMEDY SERIES
30 Rock, Written by Jack Burditt, Kay Cannon, Robert Carlock, Tom Ceraulo, Vali Chandrasekaran, Tina Fey, Donald Glover, Steve Hely, Matt Hubbard, Dylan Morgan, Paula Pell, Jon Pollack, John Riggi, Tami Sagher, Josh Siegal, Ron Weiner, Tracey Wigfield; NBC
NEW SERIES
Modern Family, Written by Paul Corrigan, Sameer Gardezi, Joe Lawson, Steven Levitan, Christopher Lloyd, Dan O'Shannon, Brad Walsh, Caroline Williams, Bill Wrubel, Danny Zuker; ABC
EPISODIC DRAMA – any length – one airing time
"Broken, Part 1 and Part 2" (House), Written by Russel Friend & Garrett Lerner & David Foster & David Shore; Fox
EPISODIC COMEDY – any length – one airing time (**TIE**)
"Apollo, Apollo" (30 Rock), Written by Robert Carlock; NBC
"Pilot" (Modern Family), Written by Steven Levitan & Christopher Lloyd; ABC
LONG FORM – ORIGINAL – over one hour – one or two parts, one or two airing times
Georgia O'Keeffe, Written by Michael Cristofer; Lifetime
LONG FORM – ADAPTATION – over one hour – one or two parts, one or two airing times
Taking Chance, Teleplay by Lieutenant Colonel Michael R. Strobl, USMC (Ret.) and Ross Katz, Based on the short story by Lieutenant Colonel Michael R. Strobl, USMC (Ret.); HBO
ANIMATION – any length – one airing time
"Wedding for Disaster" (The Simpsons), Written by Joel H. Cohen; Fox
COMEDY / VARIETY – (INCLUDING TALK) SERIES (**TIE**)
Saturday Night Live, Head Writer: Seth Meyers, Writers Doug Abeles, James Anderson, Alex Baze, Jessica Conrad, James Downey, Steve Higgins, Colin Jost, Erik Kenward, Rob Klein, John Lutz, Lorne Michaels, John Mulaney, Paula Pell, Simon Rich, Marika Sawyer, Akiva Schaffer, John Solomon, Emily Spivey, Kent Sublette, Jorma Taccone, Bryan Tucker, Additional Sketch by Adam McKay, Andrew Steele; NBC
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Head Writer: Steve Bodow, Writers Rory Albanese, Kevin Bleyer, Rich Blomquist, Tim Carvell, Wyatt Cenac, Hallie Haglund, JR Havlan, David Javerbaum, Elliott Kalan, Josh Lieb, Sam Means, Jo Miller, John Oliver, Daniel Radosh, Jason Ross, Jon Stewart; Comedy Central
COMEDY / VARIETY – MUSIC, AWARDS, TRIBUTES – SPECIALS
Film Independent's 2009 Spirit Awards, Written by Billy Kimball, Neil MacLennan; IFC/AMC
DAYTIME SERIAL
The Young and the Restless, Written by Amanda L. Beall, Tom Casiello, Lisa Connor, Janice Ferri Esser, Eric Freiwald, Jay Gibson, Scott Hamner, Marla Kanelos, Beth Milstein, Natalie Minardi Slater, Melissa Salmons, Linda Schreiber, James Stanley, Sandra Weintraub, Teresa Zimmerman; CBS
CHILDREN'S EPISODIC & SPECIALS
"Welcome to the Jungle" (The Troop), Written by Max Burnett; Nickelodeon
CHILDREN'S SCRIPT – LONG FORM OR SPECIAL
Another Cinderella Story, Written by Erik Patterson, Jessica Scott; ABC Family
DOCUMENTARY – CURRENT EVENTS
"The Madoff Affair" (Frontline), Written by Marcela Gaviria, Martin Smith; PBS
DOCUMENTARY – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS
"The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer" (American Experience), Written by David Grubin; PBS
NEWS – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN OR BREAKING REPORT
World News with Charles Gibson, Written by Lee Kamlet, Julia Kathan, Joel Siegel; ABC
NEWS – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
"A Private War: Expose: America's Investigative Reports" (Bill Moyers Journal), Written by Thomas M. Jennings; PBS
RADIO WINNERS
DOCUMENTARY
2008 Year in Review, Written by Gail Lee; CBS
NEWS – REGULARLY SCHEDULED OR BREAKING
World News This Week – July 11, 2009, Written by Darren Reynolds; ABC Radio
NEWS – ANALYSIS, FEATURE OR COMMENTARY
Paul Harvey: An American Life, Written by Stu Chamberlain; ABC Radio
PROMOTIONAL WRITING AND GRAPHIC ANIMATION WINNERS
ON-AIR PROMOTION (RADIO OR TELEVISION)
"Vegas" (Dateline), "The Wanted" Promo, NBC Nightly News Promo, "Iran" (Dateline), "Cheat" (Dateline), Written by Barry Fitzsimmons; NBC
TELEVISION GRAPHIC ANIMATION
"Hudson Splashdown" (CBS Evening News with Katie Couric), David M. Rosen, Shannon L. Toma; CBS
VIDEOGAME WRITING WINNER
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Written by Amy Hennig; Sony Computer Entertainment
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