2026 Writers Guild Awards: Winners Announced

New York and Los Angeles – Writers Guild of America East (WGAE) and Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) announced the winners of the 2026 Writers Guild Awards for outstanding achievement in writing for film, television, streaming, news, radio/audio, and promotional categories during the NYC ceremony.

 

SCREENPLAY WINNERS 

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Sinners, Written by Ryan Coogler; Warner Bros. Pictures

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

One Battle After Another, Screenplay by Paul Thomas Anderson, Screen Story by Paul Thomas Anderson, Inspired by the novel Vineland by Thomas Pynchon; Warner Bros. Pictures

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

2,000 Meters to Andriivka, Written by Mstyslav Chernov; Frontline Features

 

TELEVISION, STREAMING, AND NEWS WINNERS

DRAMA SERIES

The Pitt, Written by Cynthia Adarkwa, Simran Baidwan, Valerie Chu, R. Scott Gemmill, Elyssa Gershman, Joe Sachs, Noah Wyle; HBO | Max

COMEDY SERIES

The Studio, Written by Evan Goldberg, Alex Gregory, Peter Huyck, Frida Perez, Seth Rogen; Apple TV

NEW SERIES

The Pitt, Written by Cynthia Adarkwa, Simran Baidwan, Valerie Chu, R. Scott Gemmill, Elyssa Gershman, Joe Sachs, Noah Wyle; HBO | Max

LIMITED SERIES

Dying for Sex, Written by Sheila Callaghan, Harris Danow, Madeleine George, Elizabeth Meriwether, Amelia Roper, Kim Rosenstock, Sasha Stewart, Sabrina Wu, Keisha Zollar; FX/Hulu

TV & STREAMING MOTION PICTURES

Deep Cover, Written by Derek Connolly & Colin Trevorrow; Prime Video

ANIMATION

“Shira Can’t Cook” (Long Story Short) Written by Mehar Sethi; Netflix

EPISODIC DRAMA

“7:00 A.M.” (The Pitt), Written by R. Scott Gemmill; HBO | Max

EPISODIC COMEDY

“Prelude” (The Righteous Gemstones), Written by John Carcieri, Jeff Fradley, Danny R. McBride; HBO | Max

COMEDY/VARIETY SERIES – TALK OR SKETCH

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Senior Writers: Daniel O’Brien, Owen Parsons, Charlie Redd, Joanna Rothkopf, Seena Vali; Writers: Johnathan Appel, Ali Barthwell, Tim Carvell, Liz Hynes, Ryan Ken, Sofía Manfredi, John Oliver, Taylor Kay Phillips, Chrissy Shackelford; HBO | Max

COMEDY/VARIETY SPECIALS

Marc Maron: Panicked, Written by Marc Maron; HBO | Max

QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION

Celebrity Jeopardy!, Head Writer: Bobby Patton Writers: Kyle Beakley, Michael Davies, Terence Gray, Amy Ozols, Tim Siedell, David Levinson-Wilk; ABC

DAYTIME DRAMA

The Young and the Restless, Associate Head Writers: Jeff Beldner, Marla Kanelos, Dave Ryan; Writers: Susan Banks, Amanda L. Beall, Marin Gazzaniga, Rebecca McCarty, Madeleine Phillips; CBS/Paramount +

CHILDREN’S EPISODIC, LONG FORM AND SPECIALS

“When We Lose Someone” (Tab Time), Written by Sean Presant; YouTube

SHORT FORM STREAMING

The Rabbit Hole with Jimmy Kimmel, Writers: Jimmy Kimmel & Jesse Joyce; YouTube

DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – CURRENT EVENTS

“Trump’s Power & the Rule of Law” (Frontline), Written by Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser; PBS

DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS

“Forgotten Hero: Walter White and the NAACP” (American Experience), Written by Rob Rapley; PBS

NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT 

“Devastating Flooding in Texas” (World News Tonight with David Muir), Written by David Muir, Karen Mooney, and Dave Bloch; ABC News

NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY

“Remembering Palestinian Journalists Killed by Israeli Forces” (Ayman), Written by Lisa Salinas; MSNBC

DIGITAL NEWS

“An Isolated Boarding School Promised to Help Troubled Girls. Former Students Say They Were Abused.,” Written by Sebastian Murdock and Taiyler Mitchell; HuffPost

 

RADIO/AUDIO WINNERS

RADIO/AUDIO DOCUMENTARY

“Jerry Lewis’ Lost Holocaust Clown Movie” (Decoder Ring), Written by Max Freedman; Slate

RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT

“ABC News Radio Top of the Hour News”, Written by Robert Hawley; ABC News Radio

RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY

“The Life and Legacy of Jimmy Carter,” Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio

 

PROMOTIONAL WRITING WINNERS

ON AIR PROMOTION

“CBS Comedy,” Written by Dan Greenberger; CBS

 

****

The 2026 New York Ceremony was hosted by Roy Wood Jr. (Have I Got News For You). Attendees included Bowen Yang (Wicked: For Good), Bill Owens (60 Minutes), Jeff Hiller (Pluribus), Will Tracy (Bugonia), Tony Gilroy (Andor), Mary Bronstein (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You), Ronald Bronstein (Marty Supreme), Michael Urie (Shrinking), Li Jun Li (Sinners), Danny McBride (The Righteous Gemstones), Liz Merriwether (Dying For Sex), Seth Reiss (A Big Bold Beautiful Journey), David Koepp (Black Bag), Miles Caton (Sinners), Cassandra Kulukundis (One Battle After Another), Shayna McHayle (One Battle After Another), David Krumholtz (The Studio), Josh Segarra (Sirens), Desi Lydic (The Daily Show), Laëtitia Hollard (The Pitt), Arian Moayad (Nobody Wants This), Jim Downey (Saturday Night Live), Beau Willimon (Andor), Jordan Klepper (The Daily Show), Mo Amer (Mo), Matt Rogers (The Other Two), Lesley Stahl (CBS Sunday Morning), Adam Brooks (The Life List), WGAE president Tom Fontana (Oz), NYC Deputy Mayor Julie Su, NYC MOME Commissioner Rafael Espinal, NYS Senator Patricia Fahy, NJ Film & TV Commission Vice President Jon Crowley and more.

At the 2026 Writers Guild Awards New York Ceremony, the WGAE presented several honorary special achievement awards:

Stephen Colbert (The Late Show With Stephen Colbert) was presented with the Walter Bernstein Award for willingness to confront social injustice in the face of adversity by Robert Smigel (Triumph the Insult Comic Dog); Terry George (In The Name Of The Father) was presented the Ian McLellan Hunter Award for Career Achievement by Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda); and Diana Son (Law & Order) was presented with the Richard B. Jablow Award for Devoted Service to the Guild by 2025 recipient Kathy McGee (CBS News).

WGAW’s 2026 Writers Guild Awards ceremony was cancelled. The Los Angeles ceremony was to honor James Cameron as the recipient of the Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement, Don Reo as the recipient of the Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television Writing Achievement, and Mstyslav Chernov as the recipient of the Paul Selvin Award for 2,000 Meters to Andriivka.

 

PHOTO & VIDEO LINKS:

Photos: Getty Images

Videos: Writers Guild of America East YouTube

The Writers Guild Awards honor outstanding writing in film, television, streaming, news (broadcast and digital), radio/audio, and promotional categories. The 2026 Writers Guild Awards (78th Annual) were held on Sunday, March 8 at New York’s Edison Ballroom. For more information about the 2026 Writers Guild Awards, please visit awards.wga.org or wgaeast.org/awards.

Bonnie Datt and Shannon Walker were Executive Producers of the 2026 Writers Guild Awards in New York. The show was Produced by Caroline Waxler. Head writer: Ann Cohen; writers:

Tim Barnes, Timothy Michael Cooper, Dylan Guerra, Don P. Hooper, Joyelle Nicole Johnson, Nick Nadel, Bill Scheft, Caroline Waxler, Moujan Zolfaghari. Line Producer: ATD Audio Visual. Clip/Tribute Reel: Ben Garst, Shannon Walker.

WGAE Awards Committee members are Bonnie Datt (chair), Ann Cohen, Timothy Michael Cooper, Dylan Guerra, Don P. Hooper, Lily-Hayes Kaufman, Gail Lee, Nick Nadel, Courtney Simon, Shannon Walker, Caroline Waxler, and Moujan Zolfaghari.

WGAW Awards Committee members are Patric M. Verrone (chair), Steve Chivers, Adam Conover, Elias Davis, Patrick J. Doody, Shelly Goldstein, Marguerite MacIntyre, Matt Ross, and Scott Saltzburg.

Please direct New York-based media inquiries regarding the 2026 Writers Guild Awards to Tiana Timmerberg in the WGAE Communications Department at (347) 917-9981 or email: ttimmerberg@wgaeast.org.

Please direct Los Angeles-based media inquiries regarding the 2026 Writers Guild Awards to Sheva Diagne in the WGAW Communications Department at: (310) 890-7078 or email: sdiagne@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.

-30-