Film News: Writers Guild of America Announces Award Nominees

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CHICAGO – The announcements have been made and the nominees for the Writers Guild Awards for 2011 are set. Featuring six categories, two in film and four in television, the WGA award nominees range from first timers to names we have definitely heard before.

Earning his 20th nomination from the Writers Guild of America is longtime writer/director Woody Allen for his original screenplay for “Midnight in Paris.” This nomination comes in the same category as first time screenplay writer and first time nominee Will Reiser, who wrote the screenplay for the comedy/drama “50/50.” The rest of the original screenplay field includes Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig for “Bridesmaids,” Tom McCarthy for “Win Win,” and Diablo Cody for “Young Adult.”

In the adapted screenplay category, the nominees are: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash (aka Dean Pelton) for “The Descendants,” Steven Zillian for “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” as well as “Moneyball” which was also written by Aaron Sorkin, Tate Taylor for “The Help,” and John Logan for “Hugo.”

While you may be excited to see your favorite movie from the year on here, it must be noted that several films did not meet qualifications to be nominated for a WGA. The Writers Guild of America does not allow nominations to non-guild members and will not nominated a screenplay that wasn’t produced under the guild’s labor agreement guidelines. That being said, films such as “The Artist,” “Beginners,” “Drive,” “The Iron Lady,” “My Week with Marilyn,” “Shame” and many more screenplays were ineligible for a nomination. In total, only 33 films qualified for best adapted screenplay this year and only 55 original screenplays made the cut.

For a full look at the nominations, including the television nods, check out the full list provided below:

Film Nominees:

Original Screenplay

- “50/50,” Written by Will Reiser
- “Bridesmaids,” Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
- “Midnight in Paris,” Written by Woody Allen
- “Win Win,” Screenplay by Tom McCarthy; Story by Tom McCarthy & Joe Tiboni
- “Young Adult,” Written by Diablo Cody

Adapted screenplay

- “The Descendants,” Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
- “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” Screenplay by Steven Zaillian
- “The Help,” Screenplay by Tate Taylor
- “Hugo,” Screenplay by John Logan
- “Moneyball,”Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin; Story by Stan Chervin

Television Nominees:

Drama series

- “Boardwalk Empire”
- “Breaking Bad”
- “Game of Thrones”
- “The Good Wife”
- “Homeland”

Comedy Series

- “30 Rock”
- “Curb Your Enthusiasm”
- “Louie”
- “Modern Family”
- “Parks & Recreation”

New Series

- “Episodes”
- “Game of Thrones”
- “Homeland”
- “The Killing”
- “New Girl”

Comedy/Variety - (Including Talk) Series

- “Conan”
- “Jon Benjamin Has a Van”
- “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”
- “Real Time with Bill Maher”
- “Saturday Night Live”
- “The Colbert Report”
- “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”

By TIM MARTENS Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com tim@hollywoodchicago.com