The British film-maker Christopher Nolan has picked up the prestigious Writers Guild of America award for the Best Original Screenplay, as another set of industry professionals hand out their prizes in Hollywood, ahead of the Oscars at the end of this month.
As he collected his award for Inception, he said it would have meant more to him had certain other films been nominated – alluding to the fact that because the King’s Speech, which is hotly tipped to win several Oscars, wasn’t made under the terms of the WGA contract, it wasn’t eligible for the awards.
If David Seidler goes on to pick up the Oscar for The King’s Speech, it will raise questions about the credibility of the WGA Awards as an indicator of the year’s best films.
The Guild gave it’s prize for the Best Adapted Screenplay to Aaron Sorkin, for The Social Network, following the path laid out by previous awards-bodies.
The WGA also hands out TV awards, honouring Mad Men as the Best TV Drama Series, Modern Family as the Best TV Comedy Series and Boardwalk Empire as the Best New Series.
Other awards included the writer of The Queen, Peter Morgan, for The Special Relationship – about Tony Blair’s working relationship with George Bush – in the Long Form Original category.