Dustin Lance Black's "Milk" has won the WGA's original screenplay award while Simon Beaufoy took the adapted screenplay trophy for "Slumdog Millionaire."
The winners, based on voting by the 12,000 WGA members, were announced Saturday night at simultaneous ceremonies at the Century Plaza in Los Angeles and the Hudson Theater in New York. Last year's show in Los Angeles was canceled due to the WGA strike.
Ari Folman won the documentary screenplay award for "Waltz with Bashir" and "30 Rock" won TV awards for best comedy series and episode. Other TV trophies went to "Mad Men" for drama series, "In Treatment" for new series, "Breaking Bad" for drama episode and "The Simpsons" for animation while "Recount" and "John Adams" took the long-form awards.
Black's script, recounting Harvey Milk's rise as a pioneering force in gay politics, topped the screenplays for "Burn After Reading," "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," "The Visitor" and "The Wrestler."
Beaufoy's rags-to-riches tale, based on the novel "Q and A" by Vikas Swarup, bested the scripts for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "The Dark Knight," "Doubt" and "Frost/Nixon."
The victory maintains Academy Awards momentum for both pics. Focus Features' ' "Milk" was the only pic of the five WGA nominees to also score an Oscar nomination in the original category, where it faces off against "Frozen River," "Happy Go Lucky," "In Bruges" and "Wall-E."
The win for Fox Searchlight's "Slumdog" follows top awards from the DGA, PGA, SAG and the Golden Globes. Beaufoy's script is up in the Academy Awards' adapted category against "Benjamin Button," "Doubt," "Frost/Nixon" and "The Reader."
WGA winners have matched Oscar winners in the original category in nine of the last 14 years, including last year's double by Diablo Cody for "Juno." In the adapted category, the guild's winner has gone on to an Oscar 10 times in the last 14 years, including Joel and Ethan Coen's "No Country for Old Men" last year.
Folman's victory for Sony Classics' "Waltz with Bashir" comes a week after he won the DGA documentary award. The exploration of an Israeli soldier's lost memories is up for an Oscar for best foreign language film.
Writers honored for the best comedy series award for NBC's "30 Rock" include Jack Burditt, Kay Cannon, Robert Carlock, Tina Fey, Donald Glover, Andrew Guest, Matt Hubbard, Jon Pollack, John Riggi, Tami Sagher and Ron Weiner. It was the second year in a row that "30 Rock" has won the WGA award. Guest and Riggi won the episode trophy for "Succession."
Writers winning for AMC's "Mad Men" as top drama series included Lisa Albert, Jane Anderson, Rick Cleveland, Kater Gordon, David Isaacs, Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton, Marti Noxon, Robin Veith and Matthew Weiner. "Mad Men" won the new series trophy last year.
Writers honored for HBO's "In Treatment" as top new series included Rodrigo Garcia, Bryan Goluboff, Davey Holmes, William Merritt Johnson, Amy Lippman and Sarah Treem. Vince Gilligan was the sole scribe cited for the "Breaking Bad" pilot, which won for drama episode.
Jeff Westbrook won in animation for the “Apocalypse Cow” segment of "The Simpsons," which has dominated the category for many years. The Fox series received its first nomination in the comedy series category this year.
Danny Strong won the original long-form award for HBO's "Recount" while Kirk Ellis won the adapted long-form award for the first two segs of HBO's "John Adams," based on David McCullough's book.
NBC's "Saturday Night Live" won the comedy/variety series category and the "2008 Film Independent Spirit Awards" took the comedy/variety award for specials.
Neil Patrick Harris hosted the Los Angeles ceremonies while John Oliver of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" emceed the New York event.
2009 WGA WINNERS:
SCREEN WINNERS
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“Milk,” Written by Dustin Lance Black, Focus Features
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“Slumdog Millionaire,” Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy, Based on the Novel Q and A by Vikas
Swarup, Fox Searchlight Pictures
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
“Waltz with Bashir,” Written by Ari Folman, Sony Pictures Classics
TELEVISION WINNERS
DRAMATIC SERIES
“Mad Men,” Written by Lisa Albert, Jane Anderson, Rick Cleveland, Kater Gordon,
David Isaacs, Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton, Marti Noxon, Robin Veith,
Matthew Weiner; AMC
COMEDY SERIES
“30 Rock,” Written by Jack Burditt, Kay Cannon, Robert Carlock, Tina Fey, Donald Glover,
Andrew Guest, Matt Hubbard, Jon Pollack, John Riggi, Tami Sagher, Ron Weiner; NBC
NEW SERIES
“In Treatment,” Written by Rodrigo Garcia, Bryan Goluboff, Davey Holmes, William Merritt
Johnson, Amy Lippman, Sarah Treem; HBO
EPISODIC DRAMA – any length – one airing time
“Pilot” (Breaking Bad), Written by Vince Gilligan; AMC
EPISODIC COMEDY – any length – one airing time
“Succession” (30 Rock), Written by Andrew Guest & John Riggi; NBC
LONG FORM – ORIGINAL
“Recount,” Written by Danny Strong; HBO
LONG FORM – ADAPTATION
“John Adams,” “Episode 1, Join or Die,” Teleplay by Kirk Ellis, Based on the book by
David McCullough; “Episode 2, Independence,” Teleplay by Kirk Ellis, Based on the book by
David McCullough; HBO
ANIMATION – any length – one airing time
“Apocalypse Cow” (The Simpsons), Written by Jeff Westbrook; Fox
COMEDY/VARIETY – (INCLUDING TALK) SERIES
“Saturday Night Live,” Head Writers Seth Meyers, Andrew Steele, Paula Pell, Writers
Doug Abeles, James Anderson, Alex Baze, Jessica Conrad, James Downey,
Charlie Grandy, Steve Higgins, Colin Jost, Erik Kenward, Rob Klein, John Lutz,
Seth Meyers, Lorne Michaels, John Mulaney, Paula Pell, Simon Rich, Marika Sawyer,
Akiva Schaffer, Robert Smigel, John Solomon, Emily Spivey, Andrew Steele, Kent
Sublette, Jorma Taccone, Bryan Tucker, Additional Sketches by Robert Carlock; NBC
COMEDY/VARIETY – MUSIC, AWARDS, TRIBUTES – SPECIALS
“2008 Film Independent Spirit Awards,” Written by Billy Kimball, Aaron Lee, Jennifer Celotta,
Rainn Wilson; IFC/AMC
DAYTIME SERIALS
“As the World Turns,” Written by Jean Passanante, Leah Laiman, Courtney Simon, Lisa
Connor, David A. Levinson, Peter Brash, Richard Culliton, Susan Dansby, Cheryl Davis,
Leslie Nipkow; CBS
CHILDREN'S EPISODIC & SPECIALS
“Elmo's Christmas Countdown” (Sesame Workshop), Written by Joey Mazzarino; ABC
CHILDREN’S SCRIPT – LONG FORM OR SPECIAL
“Polar Bears” (The Naked Brothers Band), Written by Polly Draper; Nickelodeon
DOCUMENTARY – CURRENT EVENTS
“Bush's War: Part One” (Frontline), Written by Michael Kirk; PBS
DOCUMENTARY – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS
“Secrets of the Parthenon” (NOVA), Written by Gary Glassman; PBS
NEWS – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“ABC Weekend News,” Written by Joel Siegel, Karen Mooney, David Muir; ABC
NEWS – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“Yankee Stadium and the New Gilded Age” (Bill Moyers Journal), Writers Bill Moyers &
Michael Winship; PBS
RADIO WINNERS
DOCUMENTARY
“Black History Month,” Written by Anthony J. McHugh; CBS
NEWS – REGULARLY SCHEDULED OR BREAKING
“World News This Week,” Written by Marianne J. Pryor; ABC
NEWS – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“Tributes,” Written by Gail Lee; CBS
PROMOTIONAL WRITING AND GRAPHIC ART WINNERS
ON-AIR PROMOTION (RADIO OR TELEVISION)
“Jericho: Two-Minute Drills,” Written by Eric Jacobson; CBS
TELEVISION GRAPHIC ANIMATION
“Medical Animations” (CBS Evening News), David Rosen; CBS
VIDEOGAME WINNERS
VIDEOGAME WRITING
“Star Wars: The Force Unleashed,” Writers Haden Blackman, Shawn Pitman, John Stafford
and Cameron Suey, LucasArts
