TheWriters Guild of America (WGA) has unveiled its nominees for the 2025 WGA Awards, highlighting a mix of familiar Oscar frontrunners, unexpected entries, and the creative reshuffling prompted by ineligible contenders.
Sean Baker’s critically acclaimed “Anora” is leading the original screenplay list, which many consider the Oscar frontrunner in this category. Another strong contender is Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain,” a personal, semi-autobiographical drama that has been a critical favorite this season.
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The inclusion of Justin Kuritzkes’ “Challengers” — a romantic sports drama starring Zendaya — is significant. After its high-profile shutout at the BAFTA Awards, this nomination could rejuvenate its awards season momentum. Adding variety to the category is Alex Garland’s bold post-apocalyptic thriller, “Civil War,” and Megan Park’s sweet yet irreverent comedy, “My Old Ass.” Park, who won praise for her directorial debut “The Fallout,” is also a DGA nominee for first-time director.
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The adapted screenplay race showcases a robust lineup of contenders, headlined by James Mangold and Jay Cocks’ Bob Dylan biopic, “A Complete Unknown.” Denis Villeneuve and Jon Spaihts’ “Dune: Part Two” also made the cut, solidifying its status as a powerhouse across multiple categories this season.
Other notable nominees include RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes’ adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “Nickel Boys,” and Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox’s blockbuster musical smash screenplay for “Wicked.” These nominees capitalized on a wave of ineligible titles, including “Conclave,” “Emilia Pérez,” “Sing Sing,” and “I’m Still Here,” which opened the door for other contenders to shine.
The WGA’s strict eligibility rules have led to some high-profile exclusions as in previous years. Original screenplays like “All We Imagine as Light” (Janus Films/Sideshow), “The Brutalist” (A24), and “Hard Truths” (Bleecker Street) were deemed ineligible, alongside anticipated adapted screenplays such as Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” and Sony Pictures Classics’ “The Outrun”.
The impact of these ineligibilities is most glaring in the absence of key contenders like Robert Eggers’ gothic horror “Nosferatu,” Malcolm Washington and Virgil Williams’ adaptation of August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson,” and Marielle Heller’s dark comedy “Nightbitch.”
Even more surprising was the exclusion of Sony Pictures’ “Saturday Night,” a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of NBC’s Saturday Night Live, as well as Halina Reijn’s provocative erotic drama “Babygirl” and Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ horror thriller “Heretic.”
On the television side, the WGA stuck to fan-favorite choices for the drama series category, with FX’s epic adaptation of James Clavell’s “Shōgun,” Netflix’s political thriller “The Diplomat,” and three Prime Video heavyweights — “The Boys,” “Fallout,” and “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.”
Comedy nominees delivered few surprises but plenty of crowd-pleasers. ABC’s “Abbott Elementary,” FX’s culinary dramedy “The Bear,” and HBO/Max’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Hacks” all earned nods, alongside the vampire comedy “What We Do in the Shadows.”
The limited series category served up its first prominent mentions for potential Emmy contenders, including HBO/Max’s “The Penguin,” Apple TV+’s courtroom drama “Presumed Innocent,” and Hulu’s political thriller “Say Nothing.” Meanwhile, Netflix’s “Ripley” and HBO/Max’s “True Detective: Night Country” nabbed their final mentions for this TV run.
Below is the complete list of this year’s nominees:
Original Screenplay
- “A Real Pain” — Written by Jesse Eisenberg; Searchlight Pictures
- “Anora” — Written by Sean Baker; NEON
- “Challengers” — Written by Justin Kuritzkes; Amazon MGM Studios
- “Civil War” — Written by Alex Garland; A24
- “My Old Ass” — Written by Megan Park; Amazon MGM Studios
Adapted Screenplay
- “A Complete Unknown” — Screenplay by James Mangold and Jay Cocks, Based on the Book Dylan Goes Electric! by Elijah Wald; Searchlight Pictures
- “Dune: Part Two” — Screenplay by Denis Villeneuve and Jon Spaihts, Based on the Novel Dune by Frank Herbert; Warner Bros. Pictures
- “Hit Man” — Screenplay by Richard Linklater & Glen Powell, Based on the Texas Monthly Article by Skip Hollandsworth; Netflix
- “Nickel Boys” — Screenplay by RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes, Based on the Book The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead; Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios
- “Wicked” — Screenplay by Winnie Holzman and Winnie Holzman & Dana Fox, Based on the musical stage play with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman, From the Novel by Gregory Maguire; Universal Pictures
Documentary
- “Jim Henson: Idea Man” — Written by Mark Monroe; Imagine Documentaries
- “Kiss the Future” — Screenplay by Bill S. Carter, Story by Bill S. Carter and Nenad Cicin-Sain; Fifth Season
- “Martha” — Written by R.J. Cutler; Netflix
- “War Game” — Written by Tony Gerber & Jesse Moss; Submarine Deluxe
Drama Series
- “The Boys” — Written by Geoff Aull, Jessica Chou, Paul Grellong, Eric Kripke, Ellie Monahan, Judalina Neira, David Reed, Anslem Richardson; Prime Video
- “The Diplomat” — Written by Peter Ackerman, Eli Attie, Debora Cahn, Anna Hagen, Julianna Dudley Meagher, Peter Noah; Netflix
- “Fallout” — Written by Jake Bender, Karey Dornetto, Zach Dunn, Kieran Fitzgerald, Chaz Hawkins, Lisa Joy, Carson Mell, Jonathan Nolan, Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Gursimran Sandhu, Graham Wagner; Prime Video
- “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” — Written by Carla Ching, Adamma Ebo, Adanne Ebo, Donald Glover, Stephen Glover, Schuyler Pappas, Francesca Sloane, Yvonne Hana Yi; Prime Video
- “Shōgun” — Written by Shannon Goss, Maegan Houang, Rachel Kondo, Matt Lambert, Justin Marks, Caillin Puente, Nigel Williams, Emily Yoshida; FX/Hulu
Comedy Series
- “Abbott Elementary” — Written by Quinta Brunson, Ava Coleman, Riley Dufurrena, Justin Halpern, Joya McCrory, Chad Morton, Morgan Murphy, Brittani Nichols, Rebekka Pesqueira, Kate Peterman, Brian Rubenstein, Patrick Schumacker, Justin Tan, Jordan Temple, Garrett Werner; ABC
- “The Bear” — Written by Karen Joseph Adcock, Joanna Calo, Rene Gube, Will Guidara, Matty Matheson, Alex Russell, Catherine Schetina, Christopher Storer, Courtney Storer; FX/Hulu
- “Curb Your Enthusiasm” — Written by Larry David, Jon Hayman, Justin Hurwitz, Carol Leifer, Stephen Leff, Jeff Schaffer, Nathaniel Stein; HBO | Max
- “Hacks” — Written by Genevieve Aniello, Lucia Aniello, Guy Branum, Jessica Chaffin, Paul W. Downs, Jess Dweck, Ariel Karlin, Andrew Law, Carol Leifer, Carolyn Lipka, Joe Mande, Aisha Muharrar, Pat Regan, Samantha Riley, Jen Statsky; HBO | Max
- “What We Do in the Shadows” — Written by Jake Bender, Max Brockman, Zach Dunn, Shana Gohd, Amelia Haller, Sam Johnson, Jeremy Levick, Chris Marcil, William Meny, Sarah Naftalis, Marika Sawyer, Paul Simms, Rajat Suresh, Lauren Wells; FX/Hulu
New Series
- “English Teacher” — Written by Brian Jordan Alvarez, Wally Baram, Jake Bender, Emmy Blotnick, Zach Dunn, Dave King, Stephanie Koenig, Jonathan Krisel, Paul Simms, Samantha Shier; FX/Hulu
- “Fallout” — Written by Jake Bender, Karey Dornetto, Zach Dunn, Kieran Fitzgerald, Chaz Hawkins, Lisa Joy, Carson Mell, Jonathan Nolan, Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Gursimran Sandhu, Graham Wagner; Prime Video
- “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” — Written by Carla Ching, Adamma Ebo, Adanne Ebo, Donald Glover, Stephen Glover, Schuyler Pappas, Francesca Sloane, Yvonne Hana Yi; Prime Video
- “Nobody Wants This” — Written by Barbie Adler, Jane Becker, Jack Burditt, Vali Chandrasekaran, Craig DiGregorio, Erin Foster, Lindsay Golder, Steven Levitan, Pat Regan, Niki Schwartz-Wright, Neel Shah, Noelle Valdivia, Ron Weiner, Ryann Werner; Netflix
- “Shōgun” — Written by Shannon Goss, Maegan Houang, Rachel Kondo, Matt Lambert, Justin Marks, Caillin Puente, Nigel Williams, Emily Yoshida; FX/Hulu
Limited Series
- “The Penguin” — Written by Vladimir Cvetko, Breannah Gibson, Erika L. Johnson, Lauren LeFranc, Corina Maritescu, Megan Martin, John McCutcheon, Shaye Ogbonna, Nick Towne, Noelle Valdivia, Kira Snyder; HBO | Max
- “Presumed Innocent” — Written by Miki Johnson, David E. Kelley, Sharr White; Apple TV+
- “Ripley” — Written by Steven Zaillian; Netflix
- “Say Nothing” — Written by Clare Barron, Joe Murtagh, Kirsten Sheridan, Joshua Zetumer; FX/Hulu
- “True Detective: Night Country” — Written by Katrina Albright, Alan Page Arriaga, Namsi Khan, Issa López, Chris Mundy, Wenonah Wilms; HBO | Max
TV & Streaming Motion Pictures
- “The Great Lillian Hall” — Written by Elisabeth Seldes Annacone; HBO | Max
- “Prom Dates” — Written by D.J. Mausner; Hulu
- “Rebel Ridge” — Written by Jeremy Saulnier; Netflix
- “Terry McMillan Presents Forever” — Written by Bart Baker; Lifetime
Animation
- “Bottle Episode” (“The Simpsons”) — Written by Rob LaZebnik & Johnny LaZebnik; Fox
- “Cremains of the Day” (“The Simpsons”) — Written by John Frink; Fox
- “Night of the Living Wage” (“The Simpsons”) — Written by Cesar Mazariegos; Fox
- “Saving Favorite Drive-In” (“Bob’s Burgers”) — Written by Katie Crown; Fox
- “The Tina Table: The Tables Have Tina-ed” (“Bob’s Burgers”) — Written by Greg Thompson; Fox
- “Winter Is Born” (“Blood of Zeus”) — Written by Charles Parlapanides & Vlas Parlapanides; Netflix
Episodic Drama
- “Anjin” (“Shōgun”) — Written for Television by Rachel Kondo & Justin Marks; FX/Hulu
- “The Beginning” (“Fallout”) — Written by Gursimran Sandhu; Prime Video
- “Fear of the End” (“Evil”) — Written by Rockne S. O’Bannon & Nialla LeBouef; Paramount+
- “First Date” (“Mr. & Mrs. Smith”) — Written by Francesca Sloane & Donald Glover; Prime Video
- “Olivia” (“Sugar”) — Written by Mark Protosevich; Apple TV+
- “Pilot” (“Elsbeth”) — Written by Robert King & Michelle King; CBS
Episodic Comedy
- “AGG” (“Somebody Somewhere”) — Written by Hannah Bos & Paul Thureen and Bridget Everett; HBO | Max
- “Bulletproof” (“Hacks”) — Written by Lucia Aniello & Paul W. Downs & Jen Statsky; HBO | Max
- “Linda” (“English Teacher”) — Written by Jake Bender & Zach Dunn; FX/Hulu
- “Napkins” (“The Bear”) — Written by Catherine Schetina; FX/Hulu
- “Once Upon a Time in the West” (“Only Murders in the Building”) — Written by John Hoffman & Joshua Allen Griffith; Hulu
- “Petiole” (“The Sticky”) — Written by Brian Donovan & Ed Herro; Prime Video
Comedy/Variety Series – Talk or Sketch
- “The Daily Show” — Head Writer Dan Amira, Senior Writers Lauren Sarver Means, Daniel Radosh, Writers David Angelo, Nicole Conlan, Devin Delliquanti, Zach DiLanzo, Jennifer Flanz, Jason Gilbert, Dina Hashem, Scott Hercman, Josh Johnson, David Kibuuka, Matt Koff, Joe Opio, Randall Otis, Zhubin Parang, Kat Radley, Lanee’ Sanders, Scott Sherman, Jon Stewart, Ashton Womack, Sophie Zucker; Comedy Central
- “John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in L.A.” — Writers Anna Drezen, David Ferguson, Fran Gillespie, Langston Kerman, Jeremy Levick, John Mulaney, Alex Scordelis, Rajat Suresh; Netflix
- “The Kelly Clarkson Show” — Head Writer Jordan Watland, Writers Kevin Hurley, Nik Robinson; Syndicated
- “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, Mark Kramer, Sofia Manfredi, John Oliver, Taylor Kay Phillips, Chrissy Shackelford; HBO | Max
- “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” — Head Writers Ariel Dumas, Jay Katsir, Writers Delmonte Bent, Michael Brumm, Aaron Cohen, Stephen T. Colbert, Paul Dinello, Glenn Eichler, Gabe Gronli, Barry Julien, Michael Cruz Kayne, Eliana Kwartler, Matt Lappin, Caroline Lazar, Pratima Mani, Felipe Torres Medina, Opus Moreschi, Carley Moseley, Asher Perlman, Michael Pielocik, Tom Purcell, Kate Sidley, Brian Stack, John Thibodeaux, Steve Waltien; CBS
- “Saturday Night Live” — Head Writers Alison Gates, Streeter Seidell, Kent Sublette, Writers Rosebud Baker, Dan Bulla, Megan Callahan-Shah, Steven Castillo, Michael Che, Mike DiCenzo, Alex English, Jimmy Fowlie, Martin Herlihy, John Higgins, Steve Higgins, Vannessa Jackson, Colin Jost, Erik Kenward, Ben Marshall, Dennis McNicholas, Lorne Michaels, Jake Nordwind, Ceara O’Sullivan, Josh Patten, Gary Richardson, Pete Schultz, KC Shornima, Will Stephen, Bryan Tucker, Asha Ward, Auguste White, Celeste Yim; NBC
Comedy/Variety specials
- “The 77th Annual Tony Awards” — Written by Dave Boone; CBS
- “A Closer Look with Seth Meyers: Primetime Live Election Special” — Head Writer Alex Baze, Writing Supervised by Mike Scollins, Closer Look Writing Supervised by Sal Gentile, Written by Alex Baze, Bryan Donaldson, Sal Gentile, Matt Goldich, Allison Hord, Mike Scollins, Seth Meyers, Mike Shoemaker; NBC
- “Nikki Glaser: Someday You’ll Die” — Written by Nikki Glaser; HBO | Max
- “Ramy Youssef: More Feelings” — Written by Ramy Youssef; HBO | Max
Quiz and audience participation
- “Jeopardy!” — Writers Marcus Brown, Michael Davies, John Duarte, Mark Gaberman, Debbie Griffin, Michele Loud, Robert McClenaghan, Jim Rhine, Steve Tamerius, Billy Wisse; ABC
- “Pop Culture Jeopardy!” — Writers Marcus Brown, Buzzy Cohen, Michael Davies, Chip Dornell, John Duarte, Mark Gaberman, Debbie Griffin, Michele Loud, Traci Mack, Amy Ozols, Louis Virtel, Billy Wisse; Amazon Prime
Daytime drama
- “Days of Our Lives” — Head Writer Ron Carlivati, Writers Sonja Alarr, Kirk Doering, Christopher Dunn, Jamey Giddens, David Kreizman, Henry Newman, Ryan Quan, Dave Ryan, Katherine D. Schock; Peacock
- “General Hospital” — Head Writers Elizabeth Korte, Chris Van Etten, Writers Nigel Campbell, Ashley Cook, Emily Culliton, Suzanne Flynn, Charlotte Gibson, Lucky Gold, Kate Hall, Catherine LePard, Patrick Mulcahy, Dan O’Connor, Shannon Peace, Stacey Pulwer, Anne Schoettle, Scott Sickles, Micah Steinberg; ABC
- “The Young and the Restless” — Head Writer Amanda L. Beall, Writers Susan Banks, Jeff Beldner, Marin Gazzaniga, Lindsay Harrison, Marla Kanelos, Rebecca McCarty, Madeleine Phillips, Dave Ryan; CBS/Paramount+
Children’s episodic, long form, and specials
- “A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers” (“Percy Jackson and the Olympians”) — Written by Rick Riordan & Jonathan E. Steinberg; Disney+
- “I’m Pogey” (“Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock”) — Written by Charley Feldman; Apple TV+
- “Out of My Mind” — Written by Daniel Stiepleman; Disney+
- “The Sign Language ABCs” (“Sesame Street”) — Written by Jessica Carleton; HBO | Max
- “Welcome to Spiderwick” (“The Spiderwick Chronicles”) — Written by Aron Eli Coleite; Roku Channel
Short form streaming
- “Die Hart 3: Hart to Kill” — Written by Tripper Clancy; Roku Channel
- “Tiny Time Travel” — Written by Annabeth Bondor-Stone, Cynthia Furey, Tim McKeon, Nikki Palumbo, Connor White, Moujan Zolfaghari; PBS Kids
Documentary script
- “The American Vice President” (“American Experience”) — Written by Michelle Ferrari; PBS
- “The Cancer Detectives” (“American Experience”) — Written by Gene Tempest; PBS
- “Part One: Inferno to Paradise” (“Dante”) — Written by Ric Burns and Riccardo Bruscagli; PBS
- “Poisoned Ground: The Tragedy at Love Canal” (“American Experience”) — Written by Jamila Ephron; PBS
- “The Space Race” — Written by Mark Monroe; National Geographic Channel
News script – regularly scheduled, bulletin, or breaking report
- “Alabama IVF Ruling Sends Shockwaves Across America” (“CBS Evening News”) — Written by James Hutton, Rob Rivielle; CBS News
- “Assassination Attempt” (“CBS Evening News – Special Weekend Edition”) — Written by Craig Wilson, James Hutton, Claudine Cleophat, Joe Clines, Rob Rivielle; CBS News
- “Willie Mays Tribute” (“CBS Newspath”) — Written by Gerald Mazza; CBS News
News script – analysis, feature, or commentary
- “Finding Cillian Murphy” (“60 Minutes”) — Written by Scott Pelley, Nicole Young, Kristin Steve; CBS News
- “Fine Print: Carl Hiaasen” (“CBS Sunday Morning”) — Written by Richard Buddenhagen, Lesley Stahl; CBS News
- “History Repeats Itself in Northern Gaza One Year Later” (“Ayman”) — Written by Rajaa Elidrissi; MSNBC
- “The Resistance” (“60 Minutes”) — Written by Scott Pelley, Nicole Young, Kristin Steve; CBS News
- “Understanding Travel Advisories” (“ABC NewsOne”) — Written by Erik Pierorazio; ABC NewsOne
Digital news
- “The Food That Makes You Gay” — Written by Jaya Saxena; Eater
- “Mise-en-Seine: A Paris Olympics Diary” — Written by Henry Grabar; Slate
- “Sent by God” — Written by Molly Olmstead; Slate
- “The Unraveling of Nancy Mace” — Written by Jim Newell; Slate
- “What Is Hamas Thinking Now?” — Written by Akbar Shahid Ahmed; HuffPost
Radio/audio documentary
- “Art on Trial” (“One Year: 1990”) — Written by Evan Chung; Slate
- “Deadly Exes: Domestic Violence Awareness with Annie Elise” (“Serial Killers”) — Written by Maggie Admire; Spotify Studios
- “A Hotbed of Homosexuality” (“Slow Burn”) — Written by Christina Cauterucci; Slate
- “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie… Will He Want a Welfare Check?” (“Decoder Ring”) — Written by Cheyna Roth and Patrick Fort; Slate
Radio/audio news script – regularly scheduled, bulletin, or breaking report
- “6:40am News – Nov 6, 2023” — Written by Philip Pilato; 1010 WINS AM & FM
- “12-15-2023, World News This Week” — Written by Joan B. Harris; ABC News Radio
- “Inside a Gaza Hospital” (“What Next?”) — Written by Mary Harris and Rob Gunther; Slate
- “Passages: Three Women Who Made A Difference” — Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio
- “World News This Year 2023” — Written by Robert Hawley; ABC News Radio
Radio/audio news script – analysis, feature, or commentary
- “The Athleticism and Empathy of Horses” (“Press Play 2024”) — Written by Robert Hawley; ABC News Radio
- “The Bleeding Edge” (“Unexplainable”) — Written by Byrd Pinkerton; Vox
- “Charles Osgood Remembered” — Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio
Promotional writing nominees
- “Fortune Favors the Bold. Promotions for Tracker and King & Conqueror” — Written by Molly Neylan; CBS
- “LC Voting Ads” — Written by Desireena Almoradie, Angad Bhalla; YouTube
- “NCIS: Season 21 Legacy, Launch and Beyond Trailers” — Written by Erial Tompkins; CBS
- “NYSNA AMC Campaign” — Written by Adrianna Hernandez Stewart, Angad Bhalla; YouTube
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