It was the one of the biggest nights for the most unsung heroes of television and film — the writers.
The Edison Ballroom in Manhattan was packed Saturday night with some of Hollywood’s and elsewhere’s brightest minds for the Writers Guild Awards last night, such Bong Joon Ho, who won best original screenplay for his Korean film, Parasite.
“It’s so surprising the script is written in a foreign language, but to know that you have loved the film and understood the structure of the story and the nuance of our dialogue,” he said with the help of a translator while accepting the award.
“It’s amazing,” the writer and director added.
Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit, a comedy about Hitler youth in World War II, took home the award for best adapted screenplay, while Alex Gibney’s documentary, The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley, a truthful tale about a blood testing company’s squeamish methods had also won big.
“I was delighted to get two nominations,” he said about The Inventor and his other documentary, Citizen K a story about a former Russian oligarch, Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
“It helps promote the films it makes me happy,” he continued.
Gibney, known greatly in the sports realm for his ESPN documentary Catching Hell about unlucky Chicago Cubs fan Steve Bartman spoke to amNewYork Metro about the differences between making sports and more news-based documentaries.
“Depends on the story,” Gibney said while noting how unconventional sports documentaries can be.
Gibney is also working on producing a series about historic golfer Tiger Woods that’s expected to debut later on in 2020, he explained on the red carpet
“I think people are going to like this one,” Gibney said.
He also told amNewYork Metro that a follow up to Catching Hell isn’t off the table either.
“Maybe, I sure into sports, so yes,” he said to considering some form of a sequel to the iconic sports doc.
Another highlight of the evening came when Amy Poehler presented Saturday Night Live writer Paula Pell with the Herb Sargent Award for comedy writing.
“We need quality storytelling and late night topical jokes more than ever,” the evening’s host, John Fugelsang told amNewYork Metro.
“We’ve never needed the work of artists more than ever to combat some of the ugliness that we see creeping up on our culture now,” the Coyote Ugly actor added about the American political climate.
The full list of Writers Guild Award winners:
Film
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Parasite, Screenplay by Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won, Story by Bong Joon Ho; Neon
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Jojo Rabbit, Screenplay by Taika Waititi, Based on the book Caging Skies by Christine Leunens; Fox Searchlight
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley, Written by Alex Gibney; HBO Documentary Films
TELEVISION AND NEW MEDIA WINNERS
DRAMA SERIES
Succession, Written by Jesse Armstrong, Alice Birch, Jon Brown, Jonathan Glatzer, Cord Jefferson, Mary Laws, Lucy Prebble, Georgia Pritchett, Tony Roche, Gary Shteyngart, Susan Soon He Stanton, Will Tracy; HBO
COMEDY SERIES
Barry, Written by Alec Berg, Duffy Boudreau, Bill Hader, Emily Heller, Jason Kim, Taofik Kolade, Elizabeth Sarnoff; HBO
NEW SERIES
Watchmen, Written by Lila Byock, Nick Cuse, Christal Henry, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Cord Jefferson, Jeff Jensen, Claire Kiechel, Damon Lindelof, Janine Nabers, Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Tom Spezialy, Carly Wray; HBO
ORIGINAL LONG FORM
Chernobyl, Written by Craig Mazin; HBO
ADAPTED LONG FORM
Fosse/Verdon, Written by Debora Cahn, Joel Fields, Ike Holter, Thomas Kail, Steven Levenson, Charlotte Stoudt, Tracey Scott Wilson, Based on the book Fosse by Sam Wasson; FX Networks
ORIGINAL SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA
Special, Written by Ryan O’Connell; Netflix
ANIMATION
“Thanksgiving of Horror” (The Simpsons), Written by Dan Vebber; Fox
EPISODIC DRAMA
“Tern Haven” (Succession), Written by Will Tracy; HBO
EPISODIC COMEDY
“Pilot” (Dead to Me), Written by Liz Feldman; Netflix
COMEDY/VARIETY TALK SERIES
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Senior Writers: Dan Gurewitch, Jeff Maurer, Jill Twiss, Juli Weiner Writers: Tim Carvell, Daniel O’Brien, John Oliver, Owen Parsons, Charlie Redd, Joanna Rothkopf, Ben Silva, Seena Vali; HBO
COMEDY/VARIETY SPECIALS
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee Presents: Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Part 2, Head Writer Melinda Taub, Writing Supervised by Joe Grossman, Nicole Silverberg, Writers Samantha Bee, Kristen Bartlett, Pat Cassels, Sean Crespo, Mike Drucker, Mathan Erhardt, Lewis Friedman, Miles Kahn, Sahar Rizvi, Special Material by Allison Silverman; TBS
COMEDY/VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, Writers: Jeremy Beiler, Zach Kanin, Tim Robinson, John Solomon; Netflix
QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?, Head Writer Bret Calvert, Writers Seth Harrington, Rosemarie DiSalvo; Nickelodeon
DAYTIME DRAMA
The Young and the Restless, Writers: Amanda L. Beall, Jeff Beldner, Sara Bibel, Matt Clifford, Annie Compton, Christopher Dunn, Sara Endsley, Janice Ferri Esser, Mellinda Hensley, Lynn Martin, Anne Schoettle, Natalie Minardi Slater, Teresa Zimmerman; CBS
CHILDREN’S EPISODIC, LONG FORM AND SPECIALS
“Remember Black Elvis?” (Family Reunion), Written by Howard Jordan, Jr.; Netflix
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – CURRENT EVENTS
“Trump’s Trade War” (Frontline), Written by Rick Young; PBS
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS
“Right To Fail” (Frontline), Written by Tom Jennings; PBS
NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“Terror in America: The Massacres in El Paso and Dayton” (Special Edition of the CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell), Written by Jerry Cipriano, Joe Clines, Bob Meyer; CBS News
NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“Fly Like An Eagle” (60 Minutes), Written by Katie Kerbstat Jacobson, Scott Pelley, Nicole Young; CBS News
DIGITAL NEWS
“Stories About My Brother,” Written by Prachi Gupta, Jezebel.com
RADIO/AUDIO WINNERS
RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT—REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“Hail and Farewell: Remembering Some Headline Makers,” Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio
RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“The Enduring Legacy of Jackie Kennedy Onassis,” Written by Dianne E. James, Gail Lee; CBS News Radio
PROMOTIONAL WINNER
ON-AIR PROMOTION
“Star Trek: Picard” and “All Rise Promos,” Written by Jessica Katzenstein; CBS