Writers go for MIDNIGHT and DESCENDANTS' Scripts.

Last night, Sunday, February 19th, 2012, the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) announced the winners of the 2012 Writers Guild Awards for outstanding achievement in writing for 2011. Simultaneous ceremonies were held at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles and the B.B. King Blues Club in New York City.

 

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY: Better This World, written by Katie Galloway and Kelly Duane de la Vega.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Midnight in Paris, written by Woody Allen.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:  The Descendants, Screenplay by Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash; Based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings.

See the winners for television, radio, news, promotional, video games, and new media writing by clicking title of this post. To go to IMDb to see more about the motion picture, click links under the posters. This is the last Guild to give awards before Sunday night's 84th Academy Awards. 

Only one award remains before the 84th Academy Awards, but it usually does not indicate anything about the Oscars, the Spirit Awards for independent motion pictures, next Saturday, 25th. The awards will be presented, and broadcast by IFC, from the beach in Santa Monica. Dress is casual beach wear, including flip flops.

If you are a fan of the Razzie Awards, please note that they will NOT be awarded the night before the Oscars this year. They have changed their schedule. This year, RAZZIE NOMINATIONS will be revealed in a press conference at 6pm/PST, Saturday February 25 (aka Oscar Eve) in Santa Monica. The eventual "winners" will be announced on April 1st (aka April Fools' Day) -- Meaning you still have time to join and vote on our 32nd Annual RAZZIE Nominating Ballot.

Writers Guild Oscar Nominations, and Short List for Visual Effects

Download this official poster in many sizes for free!
 

Interesting that The Tree of Life is on the current visual effects list and not on the Writers Guilds' list. Here are the nominees from the Writers Guild:

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

50/50, written by Will Reiser;

Bridesmaids, written by Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig; 

Midnight in Paris, written by Woody Allen;
Win Win, screenplay by Tom McCarthy; story by Tom McCarthy and Joe Tiboni;
Young Adult, written by Diablo Cody.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Descendants, screenplay by Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash; based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemming;
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, screenplay by Steven Zaillian; based on the novel by Stieg Larsson, originally published by Norstedts;
The Help, screenplay by Tate Taylor; based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett;
Hugo, screenplay by John Logan; based on the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick;
Moneyball, screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin; Story by Stan Chervin; based on the book by Michael Lewis.

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

Better This World, written by Katie Galloway & Kelly Duane de la Vega;
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, written by Marshall Curry and Matthew Hamachek;
Nostalgia for the Light, written by Patricio Guzmán;
Pina, screenplay by Wim Wenders;
Position Among the Stars, script by Hetty Naaijkens-Retel Helmrich, Leonard Retel Helmrich;
Senna, written by Manish Pandey.

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There are now 10 motion pictures are on the short list in the 84th Academy Awards Visual Effects (VFX) category awaiting a possible Oscar nomination. They are listed below in alphabetical order:

    Captain America: The First Avenger

    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

    Hugo

    Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol

    Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

    Real Steel

    Rise of the Planet of the Apes

    Transformers: Dark of the Moon

    The Tree of Life

    X-Men: First Class

All members of the Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view 10-minute excerpts from each of the 10 shortlisted films on Thursday, January 19. Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.

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 The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 24, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood and Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

Writers Guild Motion Picture Winners

SERIES: Hollywood Guild Awards and Oscars®

Writers Guild of America (WGA), East (WGAE) and West (WGAW) Mortion Picture Screen Awards

The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and West (WGAW) announced the winners of the 2009 Writers Guild Awards for outstanding achievement in writing for screen, television, radio, news, promotional, and videogames, in simultaneous ceremonies at the Millennium Broadway Hotel in New York City and the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles last night, 20 February. Here are the motion picture screenwriting nominees with winners in red.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
(500) DAYS OF SUMMER, Written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber;
AVATAR, Written by James Cameron;
THE HANGOVER, Written by Scott Moore;
THE HURT LOCKER, Written by Mark Boal;
A SERIOUS MAN, Written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
CRAZY HEART, screenplay by Scott Cooper. based on the novel by Thomas Cobb;
JULIE & JULIA, screenplay by Nora Ephron, based on the books Julie & Julia by Julie Powell and My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme;
PECIOUS: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire, screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher, based on the novel Push by Sapphire;
STAR TREK, written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, based upon TV show Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry;
UP in the AIR, screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, based on the novel by Walter Kirn.

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY:
AGAINST the TIDE, screenplay by Richard Trank, based on original material written by Richard Trank and Rabbi Marvin Hier;
CAPITALISM: A Love Story, written by Michael Moore;
THE COVE, written by Mark Monroe;
EARTH DAYS, written by Robert Stone;
GOOD HAIR, written by Chris Rock, Jeff Stilson, Lance Crouther and Chuck Sklar;
SOUNDTRAK for a REVOLUTION, written by Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman.

For all nominees and winners, in all the categories, click the title of this post.

WGA Strike Settled!

INT. NIGHT.

A montage of various adults sitting at computers and typing furiously to a close up on one computer screen that reads, "WGA STRIKE OVER!" Freeze frame.

FADE OUT:

THE END

WGA Agreement and Awards

The Writers Guild Boards, East and West, today tentatively approved the agreement discussed in the previous post. It is still a nail biter, because the cut-off date to proceed with the full Oscar® telecast, which will include the presence of the host (Jon Stewart), celebrity presenters and recipients, etc., is this Thursday, Valentine's Day.

As of the moment of this post, according to a recent "breaking news" notification, membership meetings will be held Tuesday to allow writers to decide whether the three-month strike should be brought to an immediate end. This according to Patric Verrone, president of the guild's West Coast branch.

The Guild also announced their annual screenwriting awards. Diablo Cody won for her original feature script, JUNO. The adapted script award went to NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, written by brothers Joel and Ethan Coen, which is based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy. Both are Oscar-nominated for best motion picture.

The best documentary award went to Alex Gibney for TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE, which looks at U.S. torture practices in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is nominated in the best oscar documentary category.

In TV, HBO's "The Wire" won for the best writing of a TV drama, and NBC's "30 Rock" won for comedy.

Writers' Strike May End Monday

The New York Times is reporting this morning that the governing boards of the two writers’ guilds (WGA, West and WGA, East) are expected to meet as early as tomorrow, and the long and bitter strike could be over by Monday morning. They released a written agreement between the WGA and AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) negotiating committees upon which the WGA membership at large will vote. Read the proposed agreement here (pdf.)

After a self-imposed news blackout, the Guild let it be known yesterday (Friday) that the east and west divisions were in talks with AMPTP and, if they agreed, Guild members might be able to vote as early as Sunday (tomorrow), or Monday, to end the strike.

Earlier his month, the Directors Guild of American (DGA) reached a hand-shake agreement with AMPTP. Their members are scheduled to vote on ratifying that agreement 20 February. The question is: Will DGA ratify that agreement, or will they now consider the terms of the WGA - AMPTP agreement and vote to reject? If they do the latter, negotiations must start over.

Next up to negotiate with AMPTP? The Screen Actors Guild (SAG). Their agreement with AMPTP expires in June. SAG has steadfastly supported the WGA, most notably declining to participate in the 80th Academy Awards® broadcast.

That brings us to the next question. If the WGA ends the strike on Monday or so, how will that affect the Oscars®? The way I understand the communications I receive from the Academy, the cut-off date to proceed with the full Oscar telecast as usual, which will include the presence of the host (Jon Stewart), presenters, recipients, etc., or the glam and bling, is this Thursday, Valentine's Day. That's the date the service people (caterers, florists, waiters, etc.), and the craft guilds (carpenters, painters, lighting technicians, camera operators, stage hands, costumers, etc.) have set as the absolute date they must be authorized to deliver what the Academy will require on the 24th. In other words, AMPAS fully commits on the 14th to pay for the ordered services, and the support services will have the needed time to deliver same.

So, the final answer is, "The 80th Academy Awards can only be 'fully greenlighted,' if the strike is officially over by this Thursday (14th)." Otherwise, there will be that "other show," on the 24th, which Gil Cates does not want to produce, and most will not want to watch.

In Praise of the SAG Awards

Spanish actor Javier Bardém accepts SAG award for best supporting actor for NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. The award supposedly weighs 20 pounds.

Today's article in the television section of The New York Times, "Less Preening, More Fun and a Touch of Dignity at Awards Show," by Alessandra Stanley, contains nothing but praise for the Screen Actors Guild Awards' show last night, broadcast on TBS.

Recipients, one exception being Alec Baldwin, actually attended and accepted their awards. Since SAG is the guild of actors, and that guild is supporting the Writers Guild strike, the WGA granted a waiver and did not picket.

The evening also marked the 75th anniversary of SAG's founding, only five years after the founding of AMPAS®. SAG has the largest voting block in AMPAS, and SAG members will not attend the Oscars®, unless the WGA strike is settled before Oscar® night, 24 February. The writer of this blog also supports the strike, although not yet a member of the WGA.

According to the article, the SAG evening was "fast," without, "a preening master of ceremonies or any long production numbers," and "for the most part brisk and entertaining." There was, of course, less writing, and what writing done was probably done by those SAG members who are not also members of the WGA.

Note to Mr. Gil Cates, Producer, 80th Academy Awards®: Please read this article. The Oscar broadcast needs pruning and fine tuning, with less preening and long-winded buffoonery. Now!

But I digress. The winners were . . . . You will find them, plus more about the glitz and glam on my Awards Page, along with links and other info. This link will take you immediately to the exact spot on my page, and there is also a permanent link on the right sidebar of this blog.