'Promising Young Woman,' 'Borat 2' win big at WGA Awards
Oscar frontrunners Promising Young Woman and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm have won top spots at the 73rd Writers Guild Awards by winning in the Best Original and Adapted Screenplay categories respectively. American actor-writer and former White House staff member Kal Penn hosted the 2021 WGA ceremony virtually, where the pre-taped bits replaced the traditional live broadcast. Here are more details.
Cohen accepted the award with a funny quip
English actor-comedian Sacha Baron Cohen accepted the Best Adapted Screenplay Award for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. He was quick to joke that the film won because the majority of the people who worked on it were part of the Writers Guild. "A film like this is extremely hard to write, partly because it stars real people whose behavior is completely unpredictable (sic)," Cohen said.
Wish I could see everyone in person: Fennell
Writer-director Emerald Fennell accepted the Best Original Screenplay Award for Promising Young Woman. Known for portraying Camilla Parker-Bowles on Netflix's The Crown, she went on to praise the Writers Guild and the positive role it played in her career. "I wish I could be in the room and see everyone in person (sic)," Fennell said in her acceptance speech.
This was the first ever single, pre-taped WGA ceremony
For the first time in WGA's history, a single, pre-taped ceremony was held due to coronavirus pandemic restrictions. Traditionally, two separate ceremonies are hosted in Los Angeles and New York. The WGA East (New York) announces results before WGA West, causing much confusion. But none of that happened this year. The ceremony also ran for merely 90 minutes this time.
'The Crown,' and 'The Dissident' were also honored
Netflix's The Crown won the Drama Series Award beating shows like Ozark and Better Call Saul. The Dissident, which didn't make the Oscars cut, won the Documentary Screenplay Award for showcasing the story about the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Desus & Mero won the award for Comedy/Variety Talk Series. The New Series Award as well as Comedy Series Award went to Ted Lasso.
'The Queen's Gambit' and 'Ozark' also emerged victorious
The Queen's Gambit, which had premiered on Netflix in 2020, won the Adapted Long Form Award whereas Mrs. America took home the Original Long Form Award. The Episodic Drama Award went to Fire Pink (Ozark). Agents of Chaos, Part II won the Documentary Script - Current Events Award, and Juneteenth: A Celebration of Overcoming was declared as the winner in News Script - Analysis, Feature, Or Commentary category.
