Parasite’s Bong Joon-Ho said during his acceptance speech, as he won the best original screenplay honor at the 2020 Writer’s Guild awards. The South Korean film director and screenwriter was up against 1917, Booksmart, Knives Out, and Marriage Story.
“There are some people who make barriers higher but we writers love to destroy barriers.”
The 72nd annual Writers Guild Awards hosted by Ana Gasteyer in Los Angeles and John Fugelsang in New York had Hollywood stars like Amy Poehler, Kevin Bacon, and FX’s Pose Dominique Jackson presenting the awards to the winners of the night. Director Bong Joon-Ho wasn’t the only one who spoke about breaking down barriers. Dominique Jackson mentioned to The Knockturnal, ahead of the New York ceremony on the red carpet, about the importance of tearing down walls and bringing history to television through amazing writers.
On the TV side, HBO swept most of the big awards winning best drama for Succession, best new series for Watchmen, and the comedy category for Barry. The WGA East presented other honorary awards such as the Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence and Mentorship to longtime Saturday Night Live writer Paula Pell.
Here’s the complete list of winners:
SCREENPLAY
Original Screenplay
Parasite
Screenplay by Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won, Story by Bong Joon Ho; Neon
Adapted Screenplay
Jojo Rabbit
Screenplay by Taika Waititi, Based on the book Caging Skies by Christine Leunens; Searchlight
Documentary Screenplay
The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley
Written by Alex Gibney; HBO Documentary Films
TELEVISION, NEW MEDIA, AND NEWS
Drama Series
Succession
Written by Jesse Armstrong, Alice Birch, Jon Brown, Jonathan Glatzer, Cord Jefferson, Mary Laws, Lucy Prebble, Georgia Pritchett, Tony Roche, Gary Shteyngart, Susan Soon He Stanton, Will Tracy; HBO
Comedy Series
Barry
Written by Alec Berg, Duffy Boudreau, Bill Hader, Emily Heller, Jason Kim, Taofik Kolade, Elizabeth Sarnoff; HBO
New Series
Watchmen
Written by Lila Byock, Nick Cuse, Christal Henry, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Cord Jefferson, Jeff Jensen, Claire Kiechel, Damon Lindelof, Janine Nabers, Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Tom Spezialy, Carly Wray; HBO
Original Long Form
Chernobyl
Written by Craig Mazin; HBO
Adapted Long Form
Fosse/Verdon
Written by Debora Cahn, Joel Fields, Ike Holter, Thomas Kail, Steven Levenson, Charlotte Stoudt, Tracey Scott Wilson; Based on the book Fosse by Sam Wasson; FX Networks
Original Short Form New Media
Special
Written by Ryan O’Connell; Netflix
Animation
“Thanksgiving of Horror” (The Simpsons)
Written by Dan Vebber; Fox
Episodic Drama
“Tern Haven” (Succession)
Written by Will Tracy; HBO
Episodic Comedy
“Pilot” (Dead to Me)
Written by Liz Feldman; Netflix
Comedy/Variety Talk Series
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Senior Writers: Dan Gurewitch, Jeff Maurer, Jill Twiss, Juli Weiner Writers: Tim Carvell, Daniel O’Brien, John Oliver, Owen Parsons, Charlie Redd, Joanna Rothkopf, Ben Silva, Seena Vali; HBO
Comedy/Variety Specials
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee Presents: Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Part 2
Head Writer: Melinda Taub; Writing Supervised by: Joe Grossman, Nicole Silverberg; Writers: Samantha Bee, Kristen Bartlett, Pat Cassels, Sean Crespo, Mike Drucker, Mathan Erhardt, Lewis Friedman, Miles Kahn, Sahar Rizvi. Special Material by: Allison Silverman; TBS
Comedy/Variety Sketch Series
I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson
Writers: Jeremy Beiler, Zach Kanin, Tim Robinson, John Solomon; Netflix
Quiz And Audience Participation
Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?
Head Writer: Bret Calvert; Writers: Seth Harrington, Rosemarie DiSalvo; Nickelodeon
Daytime Drama
The Young and the Restless
Writers: Amanda L. Beall, Jeff Beldner, Sara Bibel, Matt Clifford, Annie Compton, Christopher Dunn, Sara Endsley, Janice Ferri Esser, Mellinda Hensley, Lynn Martin, Anne Schoettle, Natalie Minardi Slater, Teresa Zimmerman; CBS
Children’s Episodic, Long Form And Specials
“Remember Black Elvis?” (Family Reunion)
Written by Howard Jordan, Jr.; Netflix
Documentary Script – Current Events
“Trump’s Trade War” (Frontline)
Written by Rick Young; PBS
Documentary Script – Other Than Current Events
“Right To Fail” (Frontline)
Written by Tom Jennings; PBS
News Script – Regularly Scheduled, Bulletin, Or Breaking Report
“Terror in America: The Massacres in El Paso and Dayton” (Special Edition of the CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell)
Written by Jerry Cipriano, Joe Clines, Bob Meyer; CBS News
News Script – Analysis, Feature, Or Commentary
“Fly Like An Eagle” (60 Minutes)
Written by Katie Kerbstat Jacobson, Scott Pelley, Nicole Young; CBS News
Digital News
“Stories About My Brother”
Written by Prachi Gupta, Jezebel.com
RADIO/AUDIO
Radio Audio News Script – Regularly Scheduled, Bulletin, Or Breaking Report
“Hail and Farewell: Remembering Some Headline Makers”
Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio
Radio Audio News Script – Analysis, Feature, Or Commentary
“The Enduring Legacy of Jackie Kennedy Onassis”
Written by Dianne E. James, Gail Lee; CBS News Radio
PROMOTIONAL WRITING
On Air Promotion
Star Trek: Picard and All Rise Promos
Written by Jessica Katzenstein; CBS
