The 78th Writers Guild of America Awards took place in Manhattan on Sunday. Warner Bros. films Sinners and One Battle After Another walked away with the most coveted prizes. Both movies are now set to compete for Oscars in March.
Original and Adapted Screenplay Winners
Ryan Coogler earned the Original Screenplay award for Sinners. His win puts the film against strong rivals such as Marty Supreme, Blue Moon, Sentimental Value and It Was Just an Accident at the Academy Awards. Meanwhile, Paul Thomas Anderson captured the Adapted Screenplay award for One Battle After Another. The script adapts Thomas Pynchon’s novel Vineland and will face Bugonia, Frankenstein, Hamnet and Train Dreams for the Oscar.
Television Series Triumphs
HBO dominated the TV categories. The drama series The Pitt won Drama Series, New Series and the Episodic Drama award for the episode “7:00 A.M.”. The show also earned a win for its writers including Cynthia Adarkwa, Simran Baidwan and Noah Wyle. Apple TV earned the Comedy Series prize for The Studio. The series was written by Evan Goldberg, Alex Gregory, Peter Huyck, Frida Perez and Seth Rogen.
Other TV honors included the Limited Series award for Dying for Sex on FX/Hulu, the Episodic Comedy award for the Righteous Gemstones episode “Prelude”, and the Comedy/Variety Series – Talk or Sketch award for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. HBO also secured the Comedy/Variety Special award for Marc Maron’s special Panicked.
Documentary, Animation and Other Categories
Mstyslav Chernov won the Documentary Screenplay prize for 2,000 Meters to Andriivka. The film follows a Ukrainian platoon as it fights to free the town of Andriivka. Chernov also received the Paul Selvin Award from WGA West.
In animation, Netflix earned the award for “Shira Can’t Cook” (Long Story Short) written by Mehar Sethi. Prime Video was recognized for the TV and Streaming Motion Picture category with Deep Cover.
Industry Context
The West Coast ceremony was cancelled because of a staff strike at WGA West. The union plans to begin contract talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on March 16. Despite the disruption, the awards highlighted a strong year for writers across film and television.
Below is the full list of winners from the 2026 WGA Awards.
Original Screenplay: Sinners – Ryan Coogler
Adapted Screenplay: One Battle After Another – Paul Thomas Anderson
Documentary Screenplay: 2,000 Meters to Andriivka – Mstyslav Chernov
Drama Series: The Pitt – HBO
Comedy Series: The Studio – Apple TV
Limited Series: Dying for Sex – FX/Hulu
New Series: The Pitt – HBO
Episodic Drama: “7:00 A.M.” (The Pitt) – HBO
Episodic Comedy: “Prelude” (The Righteous Gemstones) – HBO
Comedy/Variety Series – Talk or Sketch: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver – HBO
Comedy/Variety Special: Marc Maron: Panicked – HBO
Source: Deadline
