MUMBAI: Marking the 60th Anniversary of their annual awards, the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) have announced the winners of the 2008 Writers Guild Awards for outstanding achievement in writing for screen, television, documentary, radio, promotion, and videogames during 2007.
The Original Screenplay award went to Diablo Cody for Juno. The Adapted Screenplay award went to Ethan Coen and Joel Coen for No Country for Old Men, based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy. Documentary Screenplay went to Alex Gibney for Taxi to the Dark Side.
Other winners were The Wire, written by Ed Burns, Chris Collins, Dennis Lehane, David Mills, George Pelecanos, Richard Price, David Simon, William F. Zorzi; 30 Rock, written by Brett Baer, Jack Burditt, Kay Cannon, Robert Carlock, Tina Fey, Dave Finkel, Daisy Gardner, Donald Glover, Matt Hubbard, Jon Pollack, John Riggi, Tami Sagher, Ron Weiner; Mad Men, written by Lisa Albert, Bridget Bedard, Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton, Tom Palmer, Chris Provenzano, Robin Veith, Matthew Weiner; Episodic Drama – any length – one airing time The Second Coming (The Sopranos), written by Terence Winter; Episodic Comedy – any length – one airing time The Job (The Office), written by Paul Lieberstein and Michael Schur.
On Saturday night, the Writers Guild, East hosted an informal reception at the Hudson Theatre to honor the nominees and recipients of the 2008 WGA Awards. At the reception, Walter Bernstein was presented with the WGAE’s Evelyn F. Burkey Award, given in recognition of contributions that have brought honor and dignity to writers everywhere. Recipients of the WGAE’s other honorary awards will be announced and recognized at another time.
Due to the strike against the AMPTP companies, the Writers Guild, West chose not to hold its annual awards ceremony in Los Angeles. The recipients for its 2008 honorary and service awards, including Screen Laurel Award, Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television, Paul Selvin Award, Morgan Cox Award, and Valentine Davies Award, will be honored at an event later this year.
