WGA nominees skew awards season by excluding non-members

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.

Richard Linklater's Boyhood up for WGA's original screenplay award
Richard Linklater’s Boyhood is up for the WGA’s best original screenplay award

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.

WGA recognises the adaptation of a biography of Alan Turing
The WGA has recognised the adaptation of a biography of Alan Turing

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