Winners
for 2003
The
55th Annual Writers Guild Awards took place Saturday, March 8th, 2003.
WINNERS
ANNOUNCED FOR
55th
ANNUAL WRITERS GUILD AWARDS
“Bowling
for Columbine” Written by Michael Moore and
“The
Hours” Written by David Hare Take Top Screen Honors
LOS
ANGELES and NEW YORK (March 8, 2003) — The
Writers Guild of America, west and East announced the winners of the 55th
Annual Writers Guild Awards for outstanding achievement in writing for the
screen, television, and radio in gala ceremonies at the Beverly Hilton
Hotel in Beverly Hills and at the Pierre Hotel in New York on Saturday,
March 8, 2003.
Presenters
scheduled to attend in Beverly Hills included Yancey Arias, Michael Chiklis,
Kristin Davis, Calista Flockhart,
Jake Gyllenhaal, Cheryl Hines, Diane Lane,
Barry Levinson, Bill Maher, Paul Mazursky, Chi
McBride, Dylan McDermott, William H. Macy, Julianne Moore, Elizabeth Peña,
Carl Reiner, Nia Vardalos,
Christopher Walken, and Billy West. Guests
included Nicholas Cage, Chris Cooper, Kirsten Dunst,
Heather Graham, Spike Jonze, and Rob Reiner.
Also scheduled to appear were Mel Brooks and David E. Kelley, who received
honorary awards.
Presenters
scheduled to attend in New York included Richard Belzer,
Martha Byrne, Tom Cavanaugh, Jane Clayson, Jay
Cocks, Ken Dashow, Griffin Dunne, Marcia Gay
Harden, Harvey Keitel, Bebe
Neuwirth, Mike Nichols, Molly Price, Andy
Rooney, and Stephen Schiff.
Winners
of the 55th Annual Writers Guild Awards are as follows:
SCREEN
WINNERS
Original
Screenplay
Bowling
for Columbine,
Written by Michael Moore;
United
Artists/Alliance
Atlantis/Salter Street
Films/Dog Eat Dog Films
Adapted
Screenplay
The
Hours,
Screenplay by David Hare,
based on the novel by Michael Cunningham; Paramount Pictures/Miramax Films
Official
statements:
“The writers nominated for this year’s Writers Guild Awards are some
of our finest. David Hare took very difficult material and, as one of our
most skilled writers of English language, adapted it into a brilliant
screenplay. Our members’ appreciation of Michael Moore’s clever,
humorous, and personal storytelling is a tribute to his vision and the
power of his subject matter. It is an acknowledgment that all styles of
writing, whether fiction or nonfiction, documentary or drama, reality show
or sitcom, deserve our highest tributes.”
--Victoria
Riskin, WGAw
President
"In
such an outstanding year for writing it was especially difficult for our
members to choose just one. David Hare's adapted screenplay of The
Hours has been given this honor. In awarding Michael Moore our members
have recognized excellence in a highly innovative screenplay."
--Herb
Sargent, WGAE President
TELEVISION
WINNERS
Animation
GODFELLAS
(Futurama), Written by
Ken Keeler; 20th Century Fox Television; Fox
Original
Long Form
THE
GATHERING STORM,
Teleplay by Hugh Whitemore,
Story by Larry Ramin
and Hugh Whitemore;
A Scott Free Production in association with HBO Films; HBO
Adapted
Long Form
BASTOGNE
(Band
of Brothers), Written by Bruce C.
McKenna, based on the book by Stephen E. Ambrose; DreamWorks/Playtone/HBO;
HBO
Episodic
Drama
PILOT
(The Education of Max Bickford), Written by
Dawn Prestwich & Nicole Yorkin;
20th Century Fox Television; CBS
Episodic
Comedy
ROOMS
WITH A VIEW
(Frasier), Written by Dan O’Shannon
& Lori Kirkland &
Bob Daily; Grub Street Productions in association with Paramount
Pictures; NBC
Comedy/Variety
— Music, Awards, Tributes — Specials
THE
KENNEDY CENTER HONORS,
Written by Don Baer and
George Stevens Jr., Film Sequences Written by
Sara Lukinson; A George Stevens Jr.
Presentation – Kennedy
Center Television Productions, Inc.; CBS
Comedy/Variety
— (including talk) Series
LATE
NIGHT WITH CONAN O’BRIEN,
Written by Mike Sweeney, Chris
Albers,
Andy Blitz, Kevin Dorff, Jonathan Glaser,
Michael Gordon, Brian Kiley,
Michael Koman, Brian McCann, Guy Nicolucci,
Conan O’Brien,
Andrew Secunda, Allison Silverman, Robert Smigel,
Brian Stack,
Andrew Weinberg; Broadway Video; NBC
Daytime
Serials
THE
YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS,
Written by Kay Alden, Trent Jones,
John F. Smith, Jerry Birn,
Jim Houghton, Natalie Minardi, Janice Ferri,
Eric Freiwald,
Joshua McCaffrey, Michael Minnis, Rex M. Best;
Columbia TriStar; CBS
Children’s
Script
OUR
AMERICA,
Teleplay by Gordon Rayfield,
Based on the book Our America: Life
and Death on the South Side of Chicago by Lealan
Jones, Lloyd Newman, and David Isay; Joseph
Stern Productions; All Media, Inc.; Showtime
Documentary
— Current Events
9/11,
Written by Tom Forman &
Greg Kandra; Goldfish Pictures, Inc.; CBS
Documentary
— Other Than Current Events
MONKEY
TRIAL (American
Experience), Written by Christine Lesiak;
WGBH Educational Foundation; PBS
News
— Regularly Scheduled, Bulletin, or Breaking Report
ATTACK
ON
AMERICA
,
Written by Jerry Cipriano,
Paul Fischer, Thomas Harris, Hugh Heckman, Bruce Meyer; CBS Evening
News; CBS
RADIO
WINNERS
News
— Regularly Scheduled
WORLD
NEWS THIS WEEK,
Written by Stuart H. Chamberlain
Jr.; ABC Radio Network
News
— Analysis, Feature or Commentary
PEARL
HARBOR
DAY,
Written by Steve Gosset;
CBS Radio Network
Honorary
awards were previously announced and were presented to the recipients at
the
Los Angeles
ceremony.
These special honors include: John Gay—Edmund North Award for service to
the Guild and a body of work, David E. Kelley—Paddy Chayefsky
TV Laurel Award for a body of work, Mel Brooks—Screen Laurel Award for a
body of work, David W. Rintels—Morgan Cox
Award for service to the Guild, John Wierick
& Jacob Krueger—Paul Selvin Award for
best civil liberties portrayal, and Aaron Ruben—Valentine Davies Award
for service to the Guild and the community.
The
WGA East honorees include: Martin Scorsese—The Evelyn F. Burkey
Award “For One Whose Contributions Have Brought Honor and Dignity to
Writers Everywhere,” James Schamus—The
Richard B. Jablow Award “For Devoted Service
to the Guild,” and Nora Ephron—The Ian McLellan
Hunter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Writing.
The
West Coast program was produced and directed by Spike Jones, Jr., and
written by Tony DeSena; the talent executive
was Susan Abramson.
Founded
in 1933, the Writers Guild of America, East and west represent writers in
the motion picture, broadcast, cable, and new-media industries in both
entertainment and news. The union conducts numerous programs, seminars,
and events throughout the world on issues of interest to, and on behalf
of, writers.
