The screenplay nominees have been announced for the 2017 Writers Guild Awards which are set to take place on February 19, 2017. The nominees represent the best in original screenplays, adapted screenplays, and documentaries released in theaters in 2016. The nominees were chosen by members of the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), and ceremonies honoring the winners will take place on both coasts.
Per the WGA, in order to qualify for consideration a feature film must have screened theatrically in Los Angeles for a minimum of one week in 2016. The screenplay must have been “written under the WGA’s Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) or under a bona fide collective bargaining agreement of the Writers Guild of Canada, Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, Writers Guild of Ireland, Writers’ Guild of South Africa, New Zealand Writers Guild, Film Writers’ Association (India), La Guilde Francaise des Scénaristes (France), Scriptwriters Guild of Israel, Société des Auteurs de Radio, Télévision et Cinéma (Québec), or Verband Deutscher Drehbuchautoren (VDD/Germany), collectively known as affiliate Guilds.”
Documentaries qualified for consideration if they featured an onscreen writing credit and had a one week run in either Los Angeles or New York during 2016. Additionally, in order to be eligible a theatrical documentary “must have been produced under the jurisdiction of the WGA or an affiliate Guild.”
WGA Screenplay Nominees:
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Hell or High Water, Written by Taylor Sheridan; CBS Films
La La Land, Written by Damien Chazelle; Lionsgate
Loving, Written by Jeff Nichols; Focus Features
Manchester by the Sea, Written by Kenneth Lonergan; Amazon Studios/Roadside Attractions
Moonlight, Written by Barry Jenkins, Story by Tarell McCraney; A24
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Arrival, Screenplay by Eric Heisserer; Based on the Story “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang; Paramount Pictures
Deadpool, Written by Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick; Based on the X-Men Comic Books; Twentieth Century Fox Film
Fences, Screenplay by August Wilson; Based on his Play; Paramount Pictures
Hidden Figures, Screenplay by Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi; Based on the Book by Margot Lee Shetterly; Twentieth Century Fox Film
Nocturnal Animals, Screenplay by Tom Ford; Based on the Novel Tony and Susan by Austin Wright; Focus Features
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
Author: The JT LeRoy Story, Written by Jeff Feuerzeig; Amazon Studios
Command and Control, Telescript by Robert Kenner and Eric Schlosser, Story by Brian Pearle and Kim Roberts; Based on the book Command and Control by Eric Schlosser; American Experience Films
Zero Days, Written by Alex Gibney; Magnolia Pictures
