BEVERLY HILLS, CA – Jordan Peele won the Writers Guild of America Award for best original screenplay for his script for “Get Out” Monday evening while James Ivory won for best adapted screenplay for “Call Me By Your Name.”
“I think this means so much because writers know how (expletive) hard it is to write something,” Peele said on stage last night at The Beverly Hilton. “This was a passion project. It was something that I put my love into, I put my soul into, so getting this from you means so much.”
The other nominees were Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani for “The Big Sick”; Steven Rogers for “I, Tonya,” Greta Gerwig for “Lady Bird” and Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor for “The Shape of Water.”
All but Rogers also are nominees for the best original screenplay Oscar, which will be awarded March 4.
Peele said he started writing the script for “Get Out” in 2008.
“There was a lot of ups and downs,” said Peele, previously best known for co-starring with former “Mad TV” castmate Keeegan-Michael Key in their 2012-15 Comedy Central sketch series “Key & Peele.”
Peele declined to answer reporters’ questions backstage.
Peele has received best original screenplay, best director and best picture Oscar nominations for “Get Out,” the third person to receive the three nominations for a debut film, following Warren Beatty and James L. Brooks.
Brooks received the guild’s Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement Sunday.
The 89-year-old Ivory said backstage, “To win a writers award is an incredible thing. I can’t describe it. It means an awful lot to me.”
The other nominees were Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber for “The Disaster Artist”; Scott Frank, James Mangold and Michael Green for “Logan”; Aaron Sorkin for “Molly’s Game”; and Virgil Williams and Dee Rees for “Mudbound.”
All but Williams and Rees are nominated in the best adapted screenplay category for the Oscars.
Ivory said the script was the first he wrote for a film he didn’t direct. He received best director Oscar nominations for “A Room with a View,” “Howards End” and “The Remains of the Day.”
Ivory told City News Service he first became involved in the project around 2012 when neighbors of his in upstate New York who had bought the film rights “and they wanted me to be an executive producer,” an offer he accepted.
“They thought if I was an executive producer it might help them raise money,” Ivory said. “It didn’t really, but eventually they got it going. Then I was offered to chance to co-direct it with Luca Guadagnino. I said I would, but I wanted to write my own screenplay if I was going to co-direct. That was agreed to.”
Guadagnino became the film’s sole director.
The award was the second in two days for Ivory. He and Andre Aciman — who wrote the novel of the same name from which “Call Me By Your Name” was adapted — received a USC Libraries’ Scripter Award, which honors authors of printed works and the screenwriters who adapt their stories.
In the television categories, “The Handmaid’s Tale” won for both best drama and best new series.
The other best drama nominees were “Better Call Saul,” “Stranger Things,” “The Americans” and “Game of Thrones.” The other best new series nominees were “Glow,” “American Vandal,” “The Deuce” and “Ozark.”
“Veep” won for best comedy series, beating out “Glow,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Master of None.” and “Veep.”
Alison Cross received the Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television Writing Achievement, given to a guild member who has “advanced the literature of television and made outstanding contributions to the profession of television writer.”
Cross’ credits include the screenplays for the made-for-television movies “Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story,” the true-life tale of a military officer’s legal challenge to fight her involuntary discharge after coming out as a lesbian, and “Roe vs. Wade,” on the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationally.
Cross is now a co-executive producer of the CBS police drama “S.W.A.T.”
Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black received the Valentine Davies Award for Humanitarian Service, recognizing his work for his civil and human rights efforts.
“The Post” screenwriters Liz Hannah and Josh Singer will receive the Paul Selvin Award, given each year for the script that “best embodies the spirit of the constitutional and civil rights and liberties that are indispensable to the survival of free writers everywhere.”
“Wolverine” and “Swamp Thing” comic book co-creator and animation writer Len Wein was posthumously awarded the Animation Caucus Animation Writing Award for his impact on animation and the legacy of his work. Wein died Sept. 10 at age 69.
Here is a complete list of winners in the competitive categories:
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
– “Get Out,” Jordan Peele
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
– “Call Me By Your Name,” screenplay by James Ivory; based on the novel by Andre Aciman
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
– “Jane,” written by Brett Morgen
TELEVISION
DRAMA SERIES
– “The Handmaid’s Tale,” written by Ilene Chaiken, Nina Fiore, Dorothy Fortenberry, Leila Gerstein, John Herrera, Lynn Maxcy, Bruce Miller, Kira Snyder, Wendy Straker Hauser, Eric Tuchman; Hulu
COMEDY SERIES
– “Veep,” written by Rachel Axler, Sean Gray, Alex Gregory, Peter Huyck, Erik Kenward, Billy Kimball, Steve Koren, Dave Mandel, Jim Margolis, Lew Morton, Georgia Pritchett, Will Smith, Alexis Wilkinson; HBO
NEW SERIES
– “The Handmaid’s Tale,” written by Ilene Chaiken, Nina Fiore, Dorothy Fortenberry, Leila Gerstein, John Herrera, Lynn Maxcy, Bruce Miller, Kira Snyder, Wendy Straker Hauser, Eric Tuchman; Hulu
LONG FORM ORIGINAL
– “Flint,” written by Barbara Stepansky; Lifetime
LONG FORM ADAPTED
– “Big Little Lies,” teleplay by David E. Kelley, Based on the novel by Liane Moriarty; HBO
SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA ADAPTED
– Starboy (Zac & Mia), teleplay by Allen Clary and Andrew Rothschild, based on the novel Zac & Mia by A.J. Betts, go90.com
ANIMATION
– “Time’s Arrow” (BoJack Horseman), written by Kate Purdy; Netflix
EPISODIC DRAMA
– “Chicanery” (Better Call Saul), written by Gordon Smith; AMC
EPISODIC COMEDY
– “Rosario’s Quinceanera” (Will & Grace), written by Tracy Poust & Jon Kinnally; NBC
COMEDY/VARIETY TALK SERIES
– “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” Writers: Tim Carvell, Josh Gondelman, Dan Gurewitch, Geoff Haggerty, Jeff Maurer, John Oliver, Scott Sherman, Will Tracy, Jill Twiss, Juli Weiner, Ben Silva, Seena Vali; HBO
COMEDY/VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
– “Saturday Night Live,” Head Writers: Chris Kelly, Sarah Schneider, Bryan Tucker, Writers: James Anderson, Kristen Bartlett, Jeremy Beiler, Neal Brennan, Zack Bornstein, Joanna Bradley, Megan Callahan, Michael Che, Anna Drezen, Fran Gillespie, Sudi Green, Steve Higgins, Colin Jost, Erik Kenward, Rob Klein, Nick Kocher, Michael Koman, Dave McCary, Brian McElhaney, Dennis McNicholas, Drew Michael, Lorne Michaels, Josh Patten, Katie Rich, Pete Schultz, Streeter Seidell, Will Stephen, Kent Sublette, Julio Torres; NBC Universal
COMEDY/VARIETY SPECIALS
– “39th Annual Kennedy Center Honors,” written by Dave Boone; CBS
QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
– “Hollywood Game Night,” head writer: Grant Taylor; Writers: Michael Agbabian, Alex Chauvin, Ann Slichter, Dwight D. Smith; NBC
DAYTIME DRAMA
– “General Hospital,” head writers: Shelly Altman, Jean Passanante; Writers: Anna Theresa Cascio, Suzanne Flynn, Charlotte Gibson, Lucky Gold, Kate Hall, Elizabeth Korte, Daniel James O’Connor, Dave Rupel, Katherine Schock, Scott Sickles, Christopher Van Etten, Christopher Whitesell; ABC
CHILDREN’S EPISODIC AND SPECIALS
– “American Girl – Ivy & Julie” (American Girl), written by May Chan; Amazon
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – CURRENT EVENTS
– “Confronting ISIS” (Frontline), written by Martin Smith; PBS
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS
– “The Great War” Part II (American Experience), written by Stephen Ives; PBS
NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT 3/8
– White Helmets (“60 Minutes”), written by Scott Pelley, Nicole Young, Katie Kerbstat; CBS News
NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
– Chief of Chobani (“60 Minutes”), written by Steve Kroft, Oriana Zill de Granados; CBS News
DIGITAL NEWS
– “The Super Predators,” written by Melissa Jeltsen, Dana Liebelson; Huffingtonpost.com
RADIO/AUDIO DOCUMENTARY
– “CBS Radio 90th Anniversary,” written by Dianne E. James, Gail Lee; CBS News Radio
RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT — REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
– “World News This Week: June 9, 2017,” written by Tara Gimbel Tanis; ABC News Radio
RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT — ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
– “Dishin’ Digital on WCBS-AM,” written by Robert Hawley; WCBS
ON-AIR PROMOTION (RADIO OR TELEVISION)
– “CBS Comedy,” written by Dan Greenberger; CBS Television
VIDEOGAME WRITING
– “Horizon Zero Dawn,” narrative director John Gonzalez, lead writer Benjamin McCaw, writing by Ben Schroder and Anne Toole, additional writing by Dee Warrick and Meg Jayanth
– “Madden NFL 18: Longshot,” written by Michael Young and Adrian Todd Zuniga, story by Michael Young.
City News Service; Photo: BEVERLY HILLS, CA – FEBRUARY 11: Writer/actor/director Jordan Peele poses with ‘Original Screenplay’ award for ‘Get Out’ during the 2018 Writers Guild Awards L.A. Ceremony at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on February 11, 2018 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for 2018 Writers Guild Awards L.A. Ceremony)
