‘Moonlight’ and ‘Arrival’ Take Home Writers Guild Prizes

One week ahead of the Academy Awards, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) announced their annual awards celebrating the year’s best achievements in screenwriting, and by doing so added bit of suspense going into the Oscar ceremony. In the Best Original Screenplay category, it was Moonlight that took home the prize. The caveat here is that the Barry Jenkins film is nominated at the Academy Awards in the Best Adapted Screenplay category having been based from an (unproduced) play. Moonlight took home the prize against awards heavyweight La La Land and Manchester by the Sea, both of which are nominated in the Best Original Screenplay category at the Oscars. In the Best Adapted Screenplay category, the WGA selected Arrival, based on Ted Chiang’s short story Story of Your Life.

Check out the full list of film winners below:

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Moonlight – Barry Jenkins, story by Tarell McCraney

Nominees:

• Hell or High Water – Taylor Sheridan
• La La Land – Damien Chazelle
• Loving – Jeff Nichols
• Manchester by the Sea – Kenneth Lonergan

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Arrival – Eric Heisserer

Nominees:

• Deadpool – Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick
• Fences – August Wilson
• Hidden Figures – Allison Schroeder, Theodore Melfi
• Nocturnal Animals – Tom Ford

BEST DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY: Command and Control – – telescript by Robert Kenner and Eric Schlosser, story by Brian Pearle and Kim Roberts

Nominees:

• Author: The JT LeRoy Story – Jeff Feuerzeig
• Zero Days – Alex Gibney