2009 WRITERS GUILD AWARDS SCREEN NOMINEES ANNOUNCED

New York and Los Angeles – The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) have announced nominations for outstanding achievement in writing for the screen during the 2008 season. Winners will be honored at the 2009 Writers Guild Awards held on Saturday, February 7, 2009, at simultaneous ceremonies in New York and Los Angeles.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Burn After Reading, Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, Focus Features                       

Milk, Written by Dustin Lance Black, Focus Features        

Vicky Christina Barcelona, Written by Woody Allen, The Weinstein Company                 

The Visitor, Written by Tom McCarthy, Overture Films                 

The Wrestler, Written by Robert Siegel, Fox Searchlight Pictures

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Screenplay by Eric Roth; Screen Story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord; Based on the Short Story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures            

The Dark Knight, Screenplay by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan; Story by Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer; Based on Characters Appearing in Comic Books Published by DC Comics; Batman Created by Bob Kane, Warner Bros. Pictures

Doubt, Screenplay by John Patrick Shanley, Based on his Stage Play, Miramax Films

Frost/Nixon, Screenplay by Peter Morgan, Based on his Stage Play, Universal Pictures

Slumdog Millionaire, Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy, Based on the Novel Q and A by Vikas Swarup, Fox Searchlight Pictures

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story, Written by Stefan Forbes and Noland Walker, InterPositive Media

Chicago 10, Written by Brett Morgen, Roadside Attractions

Fuel, Written by Johnny O’Hara, Greenlight Theatrical / Intention Media

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, Screenplay by Alex Gibney, From the Words of Hunter S. Thompson, Magnolia Pictures

Waltz with Bashir, Written by Ari Folman, Sony Pictures Classics

Feature films eligible for a Writers Guild Award were released in the year 2008 and produced under the jurisdiction of Writers Guilds of America, East and West or affiliate guilds in Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, and New Zealand. There were 255 films eligible for nomination in the categories of Original Screenplay (155) and Adapted Screenplay (100).

Documentaries eligible for a Writers Guild Award featured an on-screen writing credit and were exhibited theatrically in Los Angeles or New York for one week in 2008. While the credited writers of these documentaries were required to join the WGAE Nonfiction Writers Caucus or WGAW’s Nonfiction Writers Caucus or in order to be considered, scripts need not have been written under WGA jurisdiction to be considered.

The 2009 Writers Guild Awards will be held on Saturday, February 7, 2009, at simultaneous ceremonies at the Hudson Theatre at the Millennium Broadway Hotel in New York City and the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.

For more information about the 2009 Writers Guild Awards, please visit www.wgaeast.org or www.wga.org.

For media inquiries about the 2009 Writers Guild Awards New York show, please contact Sherry Goldman in the WGAE Public Relations Dept. at (718) 224-4133 or email: .