It’s an incredibly rare occurrence when one person receives both an honorary award and the marquee prize from one of the entertainment industry’s major guilds, the Writers Guild of America.
But that was exactly what happened for RaMell Ross, who with Joslyn Barnes won the WGA’s Adapted Screnplay Award for Nickel Boys and the guild’s Paul Selvin Award, given to as screenplay that the guild says best embodies the spirit of the constitutional and civil rights and liberties which are indispensable to the survival of free writers everywhere–and to whose defense Paul Selvin embodied in his professional life.
Ross and Barnes adapted their script for Nickel Boys from the Pulitzer prize-winning novel by Colson Whitehead, “The Nickel Boys,” the story of two boys sentenced to a hellish reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida.
Last weekend, Ross was feted by Directors Guild of America with its trophy for outstanding directing for a first-time feature film.
To say he and Nickel Boys are on a roll would be a serious understatement. Immediately after he won the adapted screenplay prize and accepted the Paul Selvin award with a gracious and moving acceptance speech, Ross was brought into the press room where the assembled media was told he would have no time for questions as he had to immediately hop on a flight to London for the BAFTAs. It would be photos only.
At least this reporter got in one quick comment congratulating him on the awards and his speech before he was hustled out of the Beverly Hilton.
Anora’s writer/director Sean Baker had a similar itinerary, but his travel to London was from New York where the WGA held concurrent ceremonies – as is its tradition – at the Edison Ballroom in New York City.
Baker won the WGA’s Original Screenplay Award for Anora, which has gathered up an armload of trophies in just the last eight days, starting with its win for best picture at the Critics Choice Awards and the Producers Guild Awards. That same night, Baker had also taken home the DGA’s top directorial award.
The WGA awards also honor excellence in documentaries, a number of television categories and radio and on-air promotion.
The television winners have also become accustomed to hearing their names called at the spate of this seasons award shows as Hacks, The Penguin and Shōgun writers also proudly took home trophies.
Here are the winners at the 2025 Writers Guild Awards:
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Anora, Written by Sean Baker; Neon
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Nickel Boys, Screenplay by RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes, Based on the Book The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead; Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
Jim Henson: Idea Man, Written by Mark Monroe; Imagine Documentaries
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT
“Part One: Inferno to Paradise” (Dante), Written by Ric Burns and Riccardo Bruscagli; PBS
COMEDY SERIES
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
DRAMA SERIES
Shōgun, Written by Shannon Goss, Maegan Houang, Rachel Kondo, Matt Lambert, Justin Marks, Caillin Puente, Nigel Williams, Emily Yoshida; FX/Hulu
EPISODIC COMEDY
“Bulletproof” (Hacks), Written by Lucia Aniello & Paul W. Downs & Jen Statsky; HBO | Max
EPISODIC DRAMA
“Anjin” (Shōgun), Written for Television by Rachel Kondo & Justin Marks; FX/Hulu
NEW SERIES
Shōgun, Written by Shannon Goss, Maegan Houang, Rachel Kondo, Matt Lambert, Justin Marks, Caillin Puente, Nigel Williams, Emily Yoshida; FX/Hulu
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, Mark Kramer, Sofia Manfredi, John Oliver, Taylor Kay Phillips, Chrissy Shackelford; HBO | Max
COMEDY/VARIETY SPECIALS
Nikki Glaser: Someday You’ll Die, Written by Nikki Glaser; HBO | Max
TV & STREAMING MOTION PICTURES
The Great Lillian Hall, Written by Elisabeth Seldes Annacone; HBO | Max
DAYTIME DRAMA
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 +
ANIMATION
“Saving Favorite Drive-In” (Bob’s Burgers), Written by Katie Crown; Fox
CHILDREN’S EPISODIC, LONG FORM AND SPECIALS
“Welcome to Spiderwick” (The Spiderwick Chronicles), Written by Aron Eli Coleite; Roku Channel
NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“Willie Mays Tribute” (CBS Newspath), Written by Gerald Mazza; CBS News
NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“The Resistance” (60 Minutes), Written by Scott Pelley, Nicole Young, Kristin Steve; CBS News
QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
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
DIGITAL NEWS
“What Is Hamas Thinking Now?”, Written by Akbar Shahid Ahmed; HuffPost
SHORT FORM STREAMING
Die Hart 3: Hart to Kill, Written by Tripper Clancy; Roku Channel
RADIO/AUDIO DOCUMENTARY
“Art on Trial” (One Year: 1990), Written by Evan Chung; Slate
RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT – SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“Passages: Three Women Who Made A Difference”, Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio
RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“Charles Osgood Remembered”, Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio
ON-AIR PROMOTION
“LC Voting Ads”, Written by Desireena Almoradie, Angad Bhalla; YouTube
