The Writers Guild of America’s annual awards ceremony is an interesting beast. Unlike the other guilds and their awards, it’s difficult to impress the WGA with a dramatic performance or a clever camera angle because the organization is only concerned with quality writing. A man getting attacked by a bear might look really exciting, but “man gets attacked by bear” doesn’t really pop off the page in a thrilling way—which is why the WGA broke from the trend and decided to largely ignore The Revenant.
With one of the biggest Oscar-hype machines excluded, the WGA instead awarded Spotlight and The Big Short, giving them Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay (respectively). On the TV side, Mad Men grabbed one last award for Best Drama Series, HBO’s Veep won for Best Comedy Series, and Mr. Robot won for Best New Series. Finally, the WGA also honored Rise Of The Tomb Raider with its award for best writing in a video game, despite the fact that the twist about that one guy being the immortal prophet was totally obvious.
You can see the full list of WGA Award winners at Variety, with the notable ones below.
Film Awards
Best Original Screenplay: Spotlight
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Big Short
Best Documentary Screenplay: Going Clear: Scientology And The Prison Of Belief
Television Awards
Best Drama Series: Mad Men
Best Comedy Series: Veep
Best New Series: Mr. Robot
Best Long Form Original: Saints & Strangers
Best Long Form Adapted: Fargo
Best Animation: “Housetrap,” Bob’s Burgers
Best Episodic Drama: “Uno,” Better Call Saul
Best Episodic Comedy: “San Hill Shuffle,” Silicon Valley
Comedy/Variety Series: Real Time With Bill Maher
Comedy/Variety Sketch Series: Inside Amy Schumer
Outstanding Achievement In Video Game Writing: Rise Of The Tomb Raider