What a difference a year makes. The Writers Guild of America gathered in pure celebration Saturday night to hand out its top awards -- with key feature prizes going to the critical darling "Slumdog Millionaire" and the biographical drama "Milk." The scene was in sharp contrast to last year's event, at which the honors were doled out during a break in strike talks.
Simon Beaufoy was awarded another in a string of critical and guild honors for "Slumdog" as the recipient of the adapted screenplay honor. The film, based on the novel "Q&A" by Vikas Swarup, is considered the Oscar front-runner with 10 nominations, including one for Beaufoy, who did not attend the WGA ceremony.
Dustin Lance Black received a standing ovation after his win for original screenplay for the inspirational drama "Milk," about slain San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk. In one of the night's most emotional moments, Black thanked "God for a dream come true and I thank God for giving us Harvey Milk."
The awards took place simultaneously at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles and at the Hudson Theatre in New York.
Other winners in film and TV categories included:
Documentary screenplay: "Waltz With Bashir," Ari Folman
Dramatic series: "Mad Men," Lisa Albert, Jane Anderson, Rick Cleveland, Kater Gordon, David Isaacs, Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton, Marti Noxon, Robin Veith, Matthew Weiner
Comedy series: "30 Rock," Jack Burditt, Kay Cannon, Robert Carlock, Tina Fey, Donald Glover, Andrew Guest, Matt Hubbard, Jon Pollack, John Riggi, Tami Sagher, Ron Weiner
New series: "In Treatment," Rodrigo Garcia, Bryan Goluboff, Davey Holmes, William Merritt Johnson, Amy Lippman, Sarah Treem
Long-form original: "Recount," Danny Strong
Long-form adaptation: "John Adams" ("Episode 1, Join or Die" and "Episode 2, Independence"), Kirk Ellis
FOR THE RECORD:
WGA Awards: An article in Sunday's California section about the Writers Guild of America Awards said that "Slumdog Millionaire" screenwriter Simon Beaufoy did not attend the event. He did attend the simultaneous ceremony in New York. —
Comedy/variety series: "Saturday Night Live," head writers -- Seth Meyers, Andrew Steele, Paula Pell
Episodic drama: "Pilot" ("Breaking Bad"), Vince Gilligan
Episodic comedy: "Succession" ("30 Rock"), Andrew Guest & John Riggi
Comedy/variety specials: "2008 Film Independent Spirit Awards," Billy Kimball, Aaron Lee, Jennifer Celotta, Rainn Wilson
Animation: "Apocalypse Cow" ("The Simpsons"), Jeff Westbrook
Children's episodic and specials: "Elmo's Christmas Countdown," Joey Mazzarino
Children's script, long-form: "Polar Bears" ("The Naked Brothers Band"), Polly Draper
Daytime serials: "As the World Turns," Jean Passanante, Leah Laiman, Courtney Simon, Lisa Connor, David A. Levinson, Peter Brash, Richard Culliton, Susan Dansby, Cheryl Davis, Leslie Nipkow
Videogame writing: "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed," Haden Blackman, Shawn Pitman, John Stafford, Cameron Suey
Valentine Davies Award: Carl Reiner, Vicki Riskin
Paul Selvin Award: Dustin Lance Black
susan.king@latimes.com
Simon Beaufoy was awarded another in a string of critical and guild honors for "Slumdog" as the recipient of the adapted screenplay honor. The film, based on the novel "Q&A" by Vikas Swarup, is considered the Oscar front-runner with 10 nominations, including one for Beaufoy, who did not attend the WGA ceremony.
The awards took place simultaneously at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles and at the Hudson Theatre in New York.
Other winners in film and TV categories included:
Documentary screenplay: "Waltz With Bashir," Ari Folman
Dramatic series: "Mad Men," Lisa Albert, Jane Anderson, Rick Cleveland, Kater Gordon, David Isaacs, Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton, Marti Noxon, Robin Veith, Matthew Weiner
Comedy series: "30 Rock," Jack Burditt, Kay Cannon, Robert Carlock, Tina Fey, Donald Glover, Andrew Guest, Matt Hubbard, Jon Pollack, John Riggi, Tami Sagher, Ron Weiner
New series: "In Treatment," Rodrigo Garcia, Bryan Goluboff, Davey Holmes, William Merritt Johnson, Amy Lippman, Sarah Treem
Long-form original: "Recount," Danny Strong
Long-form adaptation: "John Adams" ("Episode 1, Join or Die" and "Episode 2, Independence"), Kirk Ellis
FOR THE RECORD:
WGA Awards: An article in Sunday's California section about the Writers Guild of America Awards said that "Slumdog Millionaire" screenwriter Simon Beaufoy did not attend the event. He did attend the simultaneous ceremony in New York. —
Comedy/variety series: "Saturday Night Live," head writers -- Seth Meyers, Andrew Steele, Paula Pell
Episodic drama: "Pilot" ("Breaking Bad"), Vince Gilligan
Episodic comedy: "Succession" ("30 Rock"), Andrew Guest & John Riggi
Comedy/variety specials: "2008 Film Independent Spirit Awards," Billy Kimball, Aaron Lee, Jennifer Celotta, Rainn Wilson
Animation: "Apocalypse Cow" ("The Simpsons"), Jeff Westbrook
Children's episodic and specials: "Elmo's Christmas Countdown," Joey Mazzarino
Children's script, long-form: "Polar Bears" ("The Naked Brothers Band"), Polly Draper
Daytime serials: "As the World Turns," Jean Passanante, Leah Laiman, Courtney Simon, Lisa Connor, David A. Levinson, Peter Brash, Richard Culliton, Susan Dansby, Cheryl Davis, Leslie Nipkow
Videogame writing: "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed," Haden Blackman, Shawn Pitman, John Stafford, Cameron Suey
Valentine Davies Award: Carl Reiner, Vicki Riskin
Paul Selvin Award: Dustin Lance Black
susan.king@latimes.com
