As the awards season continues in full swing, the Writers Guild of America is the latest set of industry insiders to honour its peers with nominations for its annual awards.
Mirroring the Oscars, the WGA divides its film nominees into two categories, original and adapted, but unlike the other awards at this time of year, it’s a less reliable indicator of which way Academy voters might swing at the end of next month, because many of the main Oscar contenders – including Birdman and The Theory of Everything – don’t qualify for the WGA’s list, as they weren’t written by guild members, making the awards not so much the best screenplay of the year, but the best screenplay of the year by a writer who pays the WGA.
The coming-of-age drama Boyhood, which was shot over twelve years, and the real-life wrestling drama Foxcatcher continue to feature among the nominations, courtesy of the WGA’s original screenplay competition. They’re up against three other films which have also been picking up nominations; The Grand Budapest Hotel, Nightcrawler and Whiplash.
The story of Britain’s Second World War code-breaking hero Alan Turing, The Imitation Game, is up for the WGA’s adapted screenplay award, against Gillian Flynn’s adaptation of her own novel, Gone Girl. Based on the Marvel comic of the same name, Guardians of the Galaxy is also in the running for the honour, with the short-list rounded off with American Sniper and Wild.
The WGA will hand out its awards at a ceremony in the Century City area of Los Angeles on Valentines Day, the weekend before the Oscars.
A detailed list of nominees:
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Boyhood, Written by Richard Linklater; IFC Films
Foxcatcher, Written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman; Sony Pictures Classics
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness; Fox Searchlight
Nightcrawler, Written by Dan Gilroy; Open Road Films
Whiplash, Written by Damien Chazelle; Sony Pictures Classics
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
American Sniper, Written by Jason Hall; Based on the book by Chris Kyle with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice; Warner Bros.
Gone Girl, Screenplay by Gillian Flynn; Based on her novel; 20th Century Fox
Guardians of the Galaxy, Written by James Gunn and Nicole Perlman; Based on the Marvel comic by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
The Imitation Game, Written by Graham Moore; Based on the book Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges; The Weinstein Company
Wild, Screenplay by Nick Hornby; Based on the book by Cheryl Strayed; Fox Searchlight
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
Finding Vivian Maier, Written by John Maloof & Charlie Siskel; Sundance Selects
The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz, Written by Brian Knappenberger; FilmBuff
Last Days in Vietnam, Written by Mark Bailey & Kevin McAlester; American Experience Films
Red Army, Written by Gabe Polsky; Sony Pictures Classics
TV DRAMA SERIES
Game of Thrones, Written by David Benioff, Bryan Cogman, George R.R. Martin, D.B. Weiss; HBO
The Good Wife, Written by Leonard Dick, Keith Eisner, Ted Humphrey, Michelle King, Robert King, Erica Shelton Kodish, Matthew Montoya, Luke Schelhaas, Nichelle Tramble Spellman, Craig Turk, Julia Wolfe; CBS
House of Cards, Written by Bill Cain, Laura Eason, Sam R. Forman, William Kennedy, Kenneth Lin, John Mankiewicz, David Manson, Beau Willimon; Netflix
Mad Men, Written by Lisa Albert, Heather Jeng Bladt, Semi Chellas, Jonathan Igla, David Iserson, Janet Leahy, Erin Levy, Patricia Resnick, Tom Smuts, Matthew Weiner, Carly Wray; AMC
True Detective, Written by Nic Pizzolatto; HBO
TV COMEDY SERIES
Louie, Written by Pamela Adlon, Louis C.K.; FX
Orange Is the New Black, Written by Stephen Falk, Sian Heder, Tara Herrmann, Sara Hess, Nick Jones, Jenji Kohan, Lauren Morelli, Alex Regnery, Hartley Voss; Netflix
Silicon Valley, Written by John Altschuler, Alec Berg, Matteo Borghese, Jessica Gao, Mike Judge, Dave Krinsky, Carson Mell, Dan O’Keefe, Clay Tarver, Rob Turbovsky, Ron Weiner; HBO
Transparent, Written by Bridget Bedard, Micah Fitzerman-Blue, Noah Harpster, Ethan Kuperberg, Ali Liebegott, Faith Soloway, Jill Soloway; Amazon Prime
Veep, Written by Simon Blackwell, Kevin Cecil, Roger Drew, Sean Gray, Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin, Georgia Pritchett, David Quantick, Andy Riley, Tony Roche, Will Smith; HBO
TV EPISODIC DRAMA
“A Day’s Work” (Mad Men), Written by Jonathan Igla and Matthew Weiner; AMC
“Devil You Know” (Boardwalk Empire), Written by Howard Korder; HBO
“Donald the Normal” (Rectify), Written by Kate Powers & Ray McKinnon; Sundance Channel
“Friendless Child” (Boardwalk Empire), Written by Riccardo DiLoreto & Cristine Chambers and Howard Korder; HBO
“The Last Call” (The Good Wife), Written by Robert King & Michelle King; CBS
“The Lion and the Rose” (Game of Thrones), Written for Television by George R.R. Martin; HBO
TV EPISODIC COMEDY
“The Cold” (Modern Family), Written by Rick Wiener & Kenny Schwartz; ABC
“Landline” (New Girl), Written by Rob Rosell; Fox
“Low Self Esteem City” (Orange Is the New Black), Written by Nick Jones; Netflix
“So Did the Fat Lady” (Louie), Written by Louis C.K.; FX
“Three Dinners” (Modern Family), Written by Abraham Higginbotham & Steven Levitan & Jeffrey Richman; ABC
“The Wilderness” (Transparent), Written by Ethan Kuperberg; Amazon Prime