Writers Guild Awards: Host, Presenters and Jablow Award Honoree Announced for New York Ceremony
2020 Writers Guild Awards:
Host, Presenters and Jablow Award Honoree
Announced for New York Ceremony
NEW YORK, NY (January 7, 2020)—The Writers Guild of America, East today announced that John Fugelsang will host the 72nd Annual Writers Guild Awards at New York’s Edison Ballroom on Saturday, February 1, 2020.
Fugelsang is an actor, comedian, and TV and radio host. His credits range from CSI and AMERICA’S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS to COYOTE UGLY and the award-winning PBS road trip documentary DREAM ON. Fugelsang got George Harrison to give his last live performance and once got Mitt Romney’s advisor to call the 2012 Republican Presidential candidate an ‘Etch A Sketch’ on CNN. He’s debated David Duke on Bill Maher’s show, been picketed by the Westboro Baptist Church, and has performed for U.S. troops overseas, including during the humanitarian mission to Haiti. His other credits include PRICE CHECK, BECKER, PROVIDENCE, ONION NEWS NETWORK, GOTHAM COMEDY LIVE and THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN.
Presenters scheduled to appear at the 2020 Writers Guild Awards include Kevin Bacon (CITY ON A HILL), Samantha Bee (FULL FRONTAL WITH SAMANTHA BEE), Tony Gilroy (ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY), Sam Heughan (OUTLANDER), Sunny Hostin (THE VIEW), Dominique Jackson (POSE), Natasha Lyonne (RUSSIAN DOLL), Sienna Miller (THE LOUDEST VOICE), Tim Blake Nelson (WATCHMEN), Amy Poehler (WINE COUNTRY), Amber Ruffin (LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS), Ramy Youssef (RAMY), and more to be announced.
At the New York Ceremony, Lisa Takeuchi Cullen will be honored with the Richard B. Jablow Award, which was established in 1978 to recognize devoted service to the Guild. It was created in honor of Richard B. Jablow, who helped found the WGAE, authored its constitution, and served as its first counsel.
Cullen has served on the WGAE Council since 2016, co-chairs the WGAE Committee for Inclusion and Equity, founded the WGAE Women’s Salon and co-founded the Asian-American Salon. She is in an overall deal with Universal Studios, under which she is developing a series at Netflix and writing on Season 21 of LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT. Cullen has developed drama pilots for ABC, NBC, CBS, A&E and Warner Bros.; her pilot THE ORDAINED was produced by CBS. She is the author of two books and was formerly a staff writer and foreign correspondent for Time magazine.
The WGA East previously announced that Paula Pell will receive the Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence and Richard Price will receive the Ian McLellan Hunter Award for Career Achievement.
The New York ceremony is sponsored by Vision Media Management, Bananagrams, Final Draft, iMoxie Media, and Save the Cat!
The Writers Guild Awards honor outstanding writing in film, television, new media, news, radio, and promotional categories. The 2020 Writers Guild Awards (72nd Annual) will be presented at concurrent ceremonies on Saturday, February 1, 2020, in New York City at the Edison Ballroom and in Los Angeles at The Beverly Hilton. For more information about the 2020 Writers Guild Awards, please visit www.wgaeast.org or www.wga.org.
For media inquiries about the 2020 WGA New York City show, please contact Jason Gordon in the WGAE Communications Department at (212) 767-7809 or email: jgordon@wgaeast.org.
For media inquiries about the 2020 WGA Los Angeles show, please contact Gregg Mitchell in the WGAW Communications Department at: (323) 782-4651 or email: gmitchell@wga.org.
The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) are labor unions representing writers in motion pictures, television, cable, digital media, and broadcast news. The Guilds negotiate and administer contracts that protect the creative and economic rights of their members; conduct programs, seminars, and events on issues of interest to writers; and present writers’ views to various bodies of government. For more information on the Writers Guild of America, East, visit www.wgaeast.org. For more information on the Writers Guild of America West, visit www.wga.org.
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