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First time feature ‘Eighth Grade’ scoops surprise WGA award win
LOS ANGELES, Feb 18, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – “Eighth Grade,” a first-time feature
about an introverted teen’s school experience, won surprise top honors at the
Writers Guild of America Awards Sunday, a week before Hollywood’s award
season climaxes with the Oscars.
Bo Burnham’s comedy-drama took the prize for Original Screenplay, beating
out “Green Book,” “Vice” and “Roma” — whose screenplays are all nominated
for Oscars — as well as “A Quiet Place.”
Burnham was also an upstart winner earlier this month at the Directors
Guild of America awards where “Eighth Grade” won for best first-time feature.
In another upset, the top prize for Adapted Screenplay went to “Can you
Ever Forgive Me?” written by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty about a
biographer who turns to a life of crime.
Melissa McCarthy plays Lee Israel, the writer whose memoir is the basis for
the film of the same name.
Holofcener and Whitty, who are nominated for an Oscar, beat out
“BlacKkKlansman” and “A Star is Born” — also contending for Hollywood’s
biggest prize in the adapted screenplay category next week — as well as
“Black Panther and “If Beale Street Could Talk.”
Best documentary screenplay went to “Bathtubs Over Broadway.” Ozzy Inguanzo
and Dava Whisenant won for their chronicle of “Late Show with David
Letterman” writer Steve Young’s fascination with corporate musicals produced
only for company employees.
In the television category, FX’s “The Americans” won for best drama, while
Prime Video’s “The Marvelous Mrs Maisel” took the comedy prize and HBO’s
“Barry” topped the New Series category.
The WGAs are one of Hollywood’s last major prize giving ceremonies ahead of
the Academy Awards.
They are not considered as reliable a predictor of Oscars glory as the
other guilds’ prizegiving nights, as members can only shortlist scripts
written under WGA guidelines or those of several international partners.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1537 hrs