LOS ANGELES, CA & NEW YORK, NY (SMI-GLOBAL-ENTERTAINMENT JANUARY 27-MARCH 09,  2026)-Writers Guild of America East (WGAE) and Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) celebrated its 78th annual Writers Guild Awards announcing the winners of the 2026 for outstanding achievement in screenwriting, television, new media, news, radio/audio, and promotional writing of the calendar-year of 2025, during an award ceremony hosted by US comedian Roy Wood at the Edison Ballroom in New York City.  

 

" Sinners " by Ryan Coogler won for best Original Screenplay and "One Battle After Another"

by Paul Thomas Anderson won for best Adapted Screenplay in the Film category.

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In the Tv category HBO-Max " The Pitt " won 3-awards for Best Drama Series, New Series,

& Episodic Drama while "Prelude-The Righteous Gemstones (HBO Max) won for best Episodic

Comedy, "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver(HBO Max) won for best Comedy/Variety Talk or

Sketch Series and Marc Maron: Panicked (HBO Max) won for best Comedy/Variety-Special.

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Frontline PBS " Syria After Assad" won for Current Events and "American Experience "

(PBS)-Rob Rapley won for best Documentary script-other than Current Events. 

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In addition to the Film and TV categories, there were three Honorary Award recipients:

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Stephen Colbert -Received the Walter Bernstein Award for " Willingness to confront 

social injustice in the face of adversity".

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Terry George was honored with The Ian McLellan Hunter Award for Career Achievment

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Diane Son was recipient of the Richard B. Jablow Award for Devoted Service

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2026 Writers Guild Awards WINNERS

 

SCREENPLAY WINNERS

 

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

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Sinners, Written by Ryan Coogler; Warner Bros. Pictures WINNER

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ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

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One Battle After Another, Screenplay by Paul Thomas Anderson, Screen Story by

Paul Thomas Anderson, Inspired by the novel Vineland by Thomas Pynchon; Warner Bros. Pictures  WINNER

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​DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

2,000 Meters to Andriivka, Written by Mstyslav Chernov; Frontline Features   WINNER

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TELEVISION, STREAMING AND NEWS WINNERS

DRAMA SERIES

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The Pitt, Written by Cynthia Adarkwa, Simran Baidwan, Valerie Chu, R. Scott Gemmill, Elyssa Gershman,

Joe Sachs, Noah Wyle; HBO | Max   WINNER

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​COMEDY SERIES

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The Studio, Written by Evan Goldberg, Alex Gregory, Peter  Huyck, Frida Perez, Seth Rogen; Apple TV,   WINNER 

NEW SERIES

 

NEW SERIES

The Pitt, Written by Cynthia Adarkwa, Simran Baidwan, Valerie Chu, R. Scott Gemmill, Elyssa Gershman, Joe Sachs, Noah Wyle; HBO | Max   WINNER

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LIMITED SERIES

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Dying for Sex, Written by Sheila Callaghan, Harris Danow, Madeleine George, Elizabeth Meriwether, Kim Rosenstock, Sasha Stewart, Sabrina Wu, Keisha Zollar; FX/Hulu     WINNER

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TV & STREAMING MOTION PICTURES

​Deep Cover, Written by Derek Connolly & Colin Trevorrow; Prime Video  winner

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ANIMATION

“​“Shira Can’t Cook” (Long Story Short) Written by Mehar Sethi; Netflix   winner

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EPISODIC DRAMA

“7:00 A.M.” (The Pitt), Written by R. Scott Gemmill; HBO | Max   winner

 

“EPISODIC COMEDY

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“Prelude” (The Righteous Gemstones), Written by John Carcieri, Jeff Fradley, Danny R. McBride;

HBO | Max  WINNER

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COMEDY/VARIETY Series-TALK or Sketch

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Late Night with Seth Meyers, Head Writer: Alex Baze; Supervising Writers: Seth Reiss, Mike Scollins;

Closer Look Supervising Writer: Sal Gentile; Writers: Jermaine Affonso, Bryan Donaldson, Matt Goldich,

Jenny Hagel, John Lutz, Seth Meyers, Amber Ruffin, Mike Shoemaker, Ben Warheit, Jeff Wright; NBC WINNER

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​COMEDY/VARIETY SPECIALS

82n

Marc Maron: Panicked, Written by Marc Maron; HBO | Max   WINNER​

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QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION

Celebrity Jeopardy!, Head Writer: Robert Patton Writers: Kyle Beakley, Michael Davies, Terence Gray,

Amy Ozols, Tim Siedell, David Levinson-Wilk; ABC WINNER

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DAYTIME DRAMA

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The Young and the Restless, Associate Head Writers: Jeff Beldner, Marla Kanelos, Dave Ryan;

Writers: Susan Banks, Amanda L. Beall, Marin Gazzaniga, Rebecca McCarty, Madeleine Phillips;

CBS/Paramount +    WINNER

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CHILDREN’S EPISODIC, LONG FORM AND SPECIALS

"When We Lose Someone" (Tab Time), Written by Sean Presant; YouTube  WINNER

 

SHORT FORM STREAMING

The Rabbit Hole with Jimmy Kimmel, Writers: Jimmy Kimmel & Jesse Joyce; YouTube  WINNER

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​DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT Current Events

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"Trump's Power & the Rule of Law" (Frontline), Written by Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser; PBS  WINNER

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DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT Other  Than Current Events

"Syria After Assad" (Frontline), Written by Martin Smith; PBS

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"Forgotten Hero: Walter White and the NAACP" (American Experience), Written by Rob Rapley;

PBSThe Rise and Fall of Terrorgram" (Frontline), Written by Thomas Jennings and A.C. Thompson;

PBS WINNER

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"​NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT

 

Devastating Flooding in Texas" (World News Tonight with David Muir),

Written by David Muir, Karen Mooney and Dave Bloch; ABC News  WINNER

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NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY

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Remembering Palestinian Journalists Killed by Israeli Forces (Ayman),

Written by Lisa Salinas; MSNBC  WINNER​

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DIGITAL NEWS

""An Isolated Boarding School Promised to Help Troubled Girls. Former Students Say

They Were Abused, " Written by Sebastian Murdock and Taiyler Mitchell; HuffPost  WINNER

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RADIO/AUDIO WINNERS

RADIO/AUDIO DOCUMENTARY

​"Jerry Lewis’ Lost Holocaust Clown Movie" (Decoder Ring), Written by Max Freedman; Slate  WINNER

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​RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT  WINNER

 

"ABC News Radio Top of the Hour News," Written by Robert Hawley; ABC News Radio  WINNER

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AUDIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE OR COMMENTARY

 

"The Life and Legacy of Jimmy Carter," Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio WINNER

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PROMOTIONAL WRITING WINNER

ON AIR PROMOTION

"Behind the Crown: King & Conqueror EPK", Written by Molly Neylan; CBS

"CBS Comedy ", Written by Dan Greenberger; CBS WINNER