Awards Season 2025: Writers' Guild Awards (WGA) and BAFTA Film Awards Winners

This past weekend has seen more awards nonsense, so let's get down to business and discuss the latest developments. 

WRITERS' GUILD AWARDS

The Writers' Guild Awards (WGA) were given out on Saturday 15th February. The film winners were:

Original Screenplay: Anora

Adapted Screenplay: Nickel Boys

Documentary Screenplay: Jim Henson: Idea Man

Both Anora and Nickel Boys are nominated in their respective categories at the Academy Awards, so these wins could bode well for their chances at the Oscars. 

That said, due to the WGA's eligibility criteria, several other Oscar-nominated screenplays weren't eligible for WGA consideration: this includes The Brutalist, September 5, and The Substance in the Original Screenplay category, and Conclave, Emilia Pérez, and Sing Sing in Adapted Screenplay.

Personally, Conclave might win Best Adapted Screenplay. But, as we've seen over the past few weeks, Anora seems to be gaining momentum in this awards season - so a Best Original Screenplay win wouldn't be too big a surprise. 

BAFTA FILM AWARDS

On Sunday 16th February 2025, the 78th British Academy Film Awards were given out in a star-studded ceremony, hosted by David Tennant for the second time. 

Here's a full list of BAFTA winners.

Best Film: Conclave

Outstanding British Film: Conclave

Leading Actor: Adrien Brody (The Brutalist)

Leading Actress: Mikey Madison (Anora)

Supporting Actor: Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain)

Supporting Actress: Zoe Saldaña (Emilia Pérez)

Director: Brady Corbet (The Brutalist)

Original Screenplay: A Real Pain

Adapted Screenplay: Conclave

Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director Or Producer: Rich Peppiatt (director/writer) (Kneecap)

Animated Film: Wallace And Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

Documentary: Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

Film Not In The English Language: Emilia Pérez

Cinematography: The Brutalist

Costume Design: Wicked

Editing: Conclave

Make Up And Hair: The Substance

Original Score: The Brutalist

Production Design: Wicked

Sound: Dune: Part Two

Special Visual Effects: Dune: Part Two

Casting: Anora

Short Animation: Wander To Wonder

Short Film: Rock, Paper, Scissors

Children's & Family Film: Wallace And Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

Rising Star: David Jonsson

Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema: MediCinema

BAFTA Fellowship: Warwick Davis

Conclave and The Brutalist were the big winners of the evening, with four BAFTAs each; Anora, Dune: Part Two, Emilia Pérez, A Real Pain, Wallace And Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, and Wicked all went home with two. 

Despite multiple nominations, A Complete Unknown, Nosferatu, The Apprentice, Blitz, Gladiator II, Sing Sing, The Wild Robot, and Hard Truths all went away with nothing. 

A couple of surprises here; the big one being Conclave winning Best Picture (which I'm personally overjoyed about, as it is one of my favourite films in contention in this awards season). Sadly, I don't think this is going to be repeated at the Oscars, so I'm going to enjoy this while I can. Mikey Madison's Best Actress win has also come as a bit of a curveball (I think a lot of people were expecting Demi Moore to take it for The Substance, Madison included as her off-the-cuff acceptance speech showed!). No surprises in the supporting categories, nor in the screenplays. I'm very chuffed to see two wins for Wallace And Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, although- again- I don't see this being replicated in two weeks' time.

Congratulations to all winners!

We've got another busy weekend of awards stuff next weekend, as the Independent Spirit Awards get handed out on Saturday 22nd February, and the SAG Awards are on Sunday 23rd February. 

I'll update with the winners as soon as I can after they're announced.

Awards Season 2025: Writers' Guild Awards (WGA), and Producers Guild Awards (PGA) Nominations

As I noted at the end of the blogpost yesterday, there were still a couple of the guild award nominations due to be announced, having been postponed from their original announcement dates due to the LA wildfires. Well, with little fanfare, they have both now been announced. 

WRITERS GUILD AWARDS (WGA)

This year's nominees for the WGA Awards were announced yesterday afternoon (15th January). Here they are:

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

A Real Pain

Anora

Challengers

Civil War

My Old Ass

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

A Complete Unknown

Dune: Part Two

Hit Man

Nickel Boys

Wicked

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

Jim Henson: Idea Man

Kiss The Future

Martha

War Game

I don't ever try to predict any of the nominees for the screenplay categories, but I do have an interest on which scripts get nominated. Last year, the WGA announced their nominees and winners outside of the usual awards season window, so I didn't end up including them in my countdown (for anyone interested, the winners were The Holdovers for Original Screenplay, American Fiction for Adapted Screenplay, and The Pigeon Tunnel [about John le Carré] for Documentary)

However, the WGA Awards aren't as good a predictor as some other guild awards because of the eligibility criteria to be nominated for one. Eligibility for the Writers Guild Awards is restricted to screenplays that were written under the guild’s Minimum Basic Agreement or under related agreements from affiliated international guilds.

This does mean that many screenplays that are eligible to be nominated for the Oscars aren't eligible for the WGA Awards. So, for instance, the screenplays for a lot of movies that have featured heavily in other awards ceremonies won't get a WGA nod: these include (deep breath) The Brutalist, The Substance, Hard Truths, September 5, All We Imagine As Light, Conclave, Emilia Pérez, Sing Sing, I’m Still Here, The Piano Lesson, Inside Out 2, The Outrun, Nosferatu, Nightbitch, Saturday Night, Babygirl, and Heretic. Given that there are only five slots in each category (Original and Adapted), there's a lot of these movie that won't get a look-in. But it'll be interesting to see how the Academy goes with it. 

The Writers Guild Awards will take place on Saturday 15th February 2025. 

PRODUCERS' GUILD AWARDS (PGA)

This year's PGA Awards nominees were announced today (16th January). The film nominees are as follows:

The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures

Anora

A Complete Unknown

A Real Pain

The Brutalist

Conclave

Dune: Part Two

Emilia Pérez

September 5

The Substance

Wicked

Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures

Flow

Inside Out 2

Moana 2

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

The Wild Robot

Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures 

(previously announced)

Gaucho Gaucho

Mediha

Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa

Porcelain War

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

We Will Dance Again

The inclusion of September 5 and A Real Pain is a bit of a surprise in the "Theatrical Motion Picture" category, as (in terms of Best Picture nods) they only featured as nominees at the Golden Globes but have been absent elsewhere, whereas films such as Sing Sing and Nickel Boys have appeared more frequently (with both garnering Critics' Choice and Independent Spirit Award noms).

However, with the exception of last year, the ten PGA and ten Oscar Best Picture nominees aren't always 100% identical. There's usually around an 80% crossover, which I see potentially happening here. 

Chuffed to see both Inside Out 2 and Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl included in the "Animated Theatrical Motion Picture" category; I thoroughly enjoyed both films. I am intrigued to try and see Flow if I can as it sounds very interesting. 

The PGA Awards ceremony is due to take place on Saturday 8th February 2025.

Congratulations to all nominees!

I think, if all is up-to-date, our next Awards Season stop is going to be the announcement of the Razzie Awards nominations on Wednesday (22nd January). I'm fully expecting to see Joker: Folie à Deux, Madame Web, and Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey II (yep, they made a sequel) getting dishonoured. Should provide a bit of levity if nothing else. 

Awards Season 2021: Producers' Guild Awards (PGA) Winners and Writers' Guild Awards (WGA) Winners

It's Oscars week! 

Yep, the annual parade of self-congratulatory flim-flam ends on Sunday (who said "hooray!"?) with the 94th Academy Awards. There are a few more awards bodies to still give out their trophies, and two of the major guilds did just that this past weekend. 

PRODUCERS' GUILD AWARDS

The Producers Guild Awards (PGA) were handed out on Saturday (19th March). The film winners are:

Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures: CODA

Documentary Film: Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures: Encanto

This makes things interesting. CODA's win has taken a lot of people by surprise, and it's potentially a sign that Academy voters are perhaps not as enamoured with The Power Of The Dog as they once were. Crucially, final voting for the Oscars is still open (it closes on March 22nd) so this might make a difference. 

As previous years have shown, a PGA win doesn't automatically equate to a Best Picture Oscar win, but there's a great deal of overlap between the two. The Documentary and Animated Feature winners were not surprises.

WRITERS' GUILD AWARDS

The Writers' Guild Awards (WGA) were given out yesterday (Sunday 20th March). The film winners were:

Original Screenplay: Don't Look Up

Adapted Screenplay: CODA

Documentary Screenplay: Exposing Muybridge

Both Don't Look Up and CODA are nominated in their respective categories for the Oscars, so they may well repeat this success this weekend. However, CODA may face competition from The Lost Daughter and The Power Of The Dog (both of which weren't eligible for WGA consideration but were for the Oscars). Likewise, Don't Look Up could potentially lose out to Belfast.  

And, for anyone who's interested, Exposing Muybridge (written and directed by Marc Shaffer) is about trailblazing 19th-century photographer Eadweard Muybridge (crazy spelling, crazy guy), who was the first photographer to capture something moving faster than the human eye can see: Leland Stanford's galloping horses. 

Congratulations to all winners!

So it's the Razzies that are next to be announced; that'll be on Saturday 26th March (back to their traditional "Oscar Eve" date). 

Awards Season 2022: Producers Guild Awards (PGA), Directors Guild Awards (DGA) and Writers Guild Awards (WGA) Nominations

 

Typical, isn't it? You wait for some awards season news, and then three come along at the same time. Today [Thursday 27th January 2022] saw the three major Guilds- the Producers Guild (PGA), Directors Guild (DGA), and Writers Guild (WGA)- announce their award nominations for this year. 

So here we go...

* * *

PRODUCERS GUILD AWARD (PGA)

Here are the nominations for the 33rd Producers Guild of America Awards

The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures

Being The Ricardos

Belfast

CODA

Don't Look Up

Dune

King Richard

Licorice Pizza

The Power Of The Dog

tick, tick...Boom!

West Side Story

Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures

Encanto

Luca

The Mitchells Vs The Machines

Raya And The Last Dragon

Sing 2

Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures 

(previously announced)

Ascension

The First Wave

Flee

In The Same Breath

The Rescue

Simple As Water

Summer Of Soul (...Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

Writing With Fire

The PGAs will be given out on Saturday 19th March (moved from their original date of Saturday 26th February). 

* * *

DIRECTORS GUILD AWARDS (DGA)

Here are today's DGA Awards nominations:

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film

Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza)

Kenneth Branagh (Belfast)

Jane Campion (The Power Of The Dog)

Steven Spielberg (West Side Story)

Denis Villeneuve (Dune)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Feature Film

Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Lost Daughter)

Rebecca Hall (Passing)

Tatiana Huezo (Prayers For The Stolen)

Lin-Manuel Miranda (tick, tick...Boom!)

Michael Sarnoski (Pig)

Emma Seligman (Shiva Baby)

The winners will be announced at the 74th Annual DGA Awards on Saturday March 12th.

* * *

WRITERS GUILD AWARDS (WGA)

And finally, here are the nominees for this year's Writers' Guild Awards (WGA).

Long-time readers of the awards season nonsense on here will know that the screenplay categories are not ones that I try and guess nominees (or winners) for, but as a writer, I'm interested to see what's got the nod.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Being The Ricardos

Don't Look Up

The French Dispatch

King Richard

Licorice Pizza

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

CODA

Dune

Nightmare Alley

tick, tick... Boom!

West Side Story

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

Being Cousteau

Exposing Muybridge

Like A Rolling Stone: The Life And Times Of Ben Fong-Torres

Due to how the Writers Guild of America works (where non-members are not permitted to be nominated for a WGA Award), there are several major films that were ineligible (but will be eligible for the Oscars): these include The Power Of The Dog, Belfast, Cyrano, The Lost Daughter, Parallel Mothers, Passing, and A Hero.

The Writers' Guild Awards will be handed out on Sunday 20th March.

Congratulations to all nominees!

Our next awards announcement is a week away, when the BAFTA Film Awards nominations are announced on Thursday February 3rd.

Awards Season 2021: Writers' Guild Awards (WGA) Winners

Just a quick post today, to update y'all on some awards nonsense. Yesterday (Sunday 21st February), the Writers' Guild Awards (WGA) were given out. 

The film winners were:

Original Screenplay: Promising Young Woman 

Adapted Screenplay: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Documentary Screenplay: The Dissident

Very happy to see Emerald Fennell's win here. I think a lot of people were surprised that Aaron Sorkin didn't win the Original Screenplay category for The Trial Of The Chicago 7. Sorkin has previously won a screenwriting Oscar (for his adapted screenplay of The Social Network), and also been nominated three further times. I would love to see Fennell take the Best Original Screenplay Oscar. Whether it'll happen is another matter. 

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm's win has surprised a few people, who considered it a bit of a dark horse in a category that also featured Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, One Night In Miami, News Of The World and The White Tiger (all of which were based on plays or novels, rather than characters). Also, given the very improvised nature of the film, one could argue that the script was essentially non-existent prior to shooting (although Sacha Baron Cohen and the writers will have come up with the broad strokes of scenes etc.). Will it repeat this at the Oscars? I'd say it's unlikely given that both Nomadland and The Father have nods for the Academy Awards. But never say never... 

For anyone interested, The Dissident (which got a BAFTA nomination for Best Documentary, but didn't get one at the Oscars) is a documentary about the murder of Washington Post journalist and Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, which is directed by Bryan Fogel and written by Fogel and Mark Monroe. 

Congratulations to all winners!

Next up: Producers Guild Awards (PGA) are given out on Wednesday (24th March). I'm gonna stick my neck out and say that Nomadland will win the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures. But we shall see...

Awards Season 2021: Writers' Guild Awards (WGA) Nominations

This is just a brief update to tell you about the nominees for this year's Writers' Guild Awards (WGA), which were announced earlier today. 

Long-time readers of the awards season nonsense on here will know that the screenplay categories are not ones that I try and guess nominees (or winners) for, but as a writer, I'm interested to see what's got the nod.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Judas And The Black Messiah

Palm Springs

Promising Young Woman

Sound Of Metal

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

News Of The World

One Night In Miami

The White Tiger

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

All In: The Fight For Democracy

The Dissident

Herb Alpert Is...

Red Penguins

Totally Under Control

Due to how the Writers Guild of America works (where non-members are not permitted to be nominated for a WGA Award), there are several major films that were ineligible (but will be eligible for the Oscars): these include Soul, Minari, Mank, Nomadland, The Father, Pieces Of A Woman, and The Personal History Of David Copperfield. 

Quentin Tarantino is famously not a WGA member, but that hasn't stopped him getting four Oscar nods for his screenplays, and two wins. So, unlike other certain guild awards, these don't have such a major impact on the Oscars.

The Writers' Guild Awards will be handed out on Sunday 21st March 2021. 

Congratulations to all nominees!

There's a brief break in awards stuff now; our next awards outing will be Sunday 28th February 2021, when the Golden Globes will be handed out. Enjoy the respite!

Awards Season 2020: Writers' Guild Awards (WGA) Winners

This might be the first of two awards season posts today (depending on what time I get to watch the BAFTA Film Awards tonight), or it might just be a short post. 

Yesterday (Saturday 1st February), the Writers' Guild Awards (WGA) were given out. 

The film winners were:

Original Screenplay: Parasite

Adapted Screenplay: Jojo Rabbit

Documentary Screenplay: The Inventor: Out For Blood In Silicon Valley


Both Parasite and Jojo Rabbit are nominated in the respective Screenplay categories for the Oscars, so we could potentially see this repeat next week (although the screenplay for Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood could give Parasite a run for its money; the Academy have a liking for Tarantino). Alex Gibney didn't get a nomination for the Best Documentary Oscar, so he'll be happy with this. 

Congratulations to all winners!

Tonight, the BAFTA Film Awards will be handed out. Next post will definitely be about them. But when? I like to keep you in suspense...

Awards Season 2020: Writers' Guild Awards (WGA) Nominations

This is just a brief update to tell you about the nominees for this year's Writers' Guild Awards (WGA), which were announced earlier today. 

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1917

Booksmart

Knives Out

Marriage Story

Parasite

Happy to see both Knives Out and Marriage Story included here, as they both have very strong screenplays (I haven't seen the others, but 1917 is out in the UK this weekend and it's definitely on my list).

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

The Irishman

Jojo Rabbit

Joker

Little Women

Considering a lot of my issues with Joker are down to the script, I'm a little underwhelmed to see it included here. However the screenplays for A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood and The Irishman are both superb (and I'll hopefully see the other two nominees shortly). 

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

Citizen K

Foster

The Inventor: Out For Blood In Silicon Valley

Joseph Pulitzer: Voice Of The People

The Kingmaker

Documentarian Alex Gibney (Taxi To The Dark Side) has two nods here- Citizen K and The Inventor- so he's automatically got a 40% chance of winning. 


The Writers' Guild Awards will be handed out on Saturday 1st February 2020. 

Congratulations to all nominees!


And if you thought two awards season posts in one day was excessive... I got bad news for ya, kid. There'll be another two coming tomorrow

There's a triple whammy of awards nominations happening on Tuesday: early morning, there'll be the announcement of the 2020 BAFTA Film Awards (usually around 7:30am GMT; not sure if I'll catch it live or not) whilst the Directors' Guild Awards (DGA) and the Producers' Guild Awards (PGA) also announce their nominations too! I'll combine the two Guild Awards into one post (I'm nice like that)

Awards Season 2019: Writers' Guild Awards Winners

Just a quick update today as The Writers' Guild Awards were handed out yesterday (Sunday 17th February).

The film winners were:

Original Screenplay: Eighth Grade

Adapted Screenplay: Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Documentary Screenplay: Bathtubs Over Broadway


Eighth Grade didn't get an Oscar nod for... well, anything, so it's good to see it noticed here. The surprise of winning wasn't lost on screenwriter Bo Burnham who exclaimed: 'To the other nominees in the category: Have fun at the Oscars, losers! How is this happening?' I'm pleased that the witty, poignant, and incisive screenplay for Can You Ever Forgive Me? got some love. It's unlikely to replicate that this weekend sadly, but it's good to see it getting recognised somewhere. 

Having read up about Bathtubs Over Broadway, it sounds utterly bizarre but strangely entertaining: comedy writer Steve Young discovered a hidden world of musical shows (full-on Broadway-style musicals) about some of America's most recognised corporations whilst researching a segment for The Late Show With David Letterman. This is the story of Young's search for the writers and performers of these shows. It's been generally overlooked in this awards season but it sounds quirky but fun. If this pops up on Netflix, I'd definitely give it a go. 


For those of you who aren't a fan of all this awards nonsense, you'll be pleased to know that we're almost done for this year. The peak is in sight, if you will. It's all gearing up to this coming weekend, where the Independent Spirit Awards and the Razzies will be given out on Saturday (23rd February) and then the Oscars ceremony is on Sunday (24th February).