WGA Exclusions

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Re: WGA Exclusions

Post by Greg »

Sabin wrote:My breakfast was adapted from a recipe in a book. It should be up for "Best Adapted Breakfast."
I had cereal for breakfast. Because it was a store brand, instead of being considered directly adapted it would be considered "inspired by an idea from" W. K. Kellogg.
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Re: WGA Exclusions

Post by The Original BJ »

FilmFan720 wrote:BJ, out of curiosity, what other notable movies are missing screeners this season?
I'll just list what WGA DID get, and let you decide what counts as notable:

Arrival, Captain Fantastic, The Comedian, The Edge of Seventeen, Fences, The Girl on the Train, Hail, Caesar!, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, Jackie, La La Land, Love & Friendship, Loving, Maggie's Plan, Manchester by the Sea, The Meddler, A Monster Calls, Moonlight, Nocturnal Animals, Sully, 20th Century Women.
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Re: WGA Exclusions

Post by FilmFan720 »

BJ, out of curiosity, what other notable movies are missing screeners this season?
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Re: WGA Exclusions

Post by Sabin »

My breakfast was adapted from a recipe in a book. It should be up for "Best Adapted Breakfast."

Predix:

Best Original Screenplay
Captain Fantastic
Hell or High Water
La La Land
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight

-- Torn between Captain Fantastic and Loving. Loving is so under-dramatized. Part of me thinks the fact that Jeff Nichols wrote and directed it could push it over the top, but honestly the fact that Matt Ross has been on three seasons of Silicon Valley probably means he has more fans within the WGA.


Best Adapted Screenplay
Arrival
Deadpool
Hidden Figures
Love & Friendship
Nocturnal Animals

-- Usually predicting this one is easy. This year, it's a bit tougher. Arrival and Hidden Figures are probably safe. We all might be a little bullish on Deadpool but it's probably more famous as a screenplay than any other film this year so I think it makes it in. And then it's between Hacksaw Ridge, Love & Friendship, Nocturnal Animals, Silence, and Sully. Normally, I'd go with Hacksaw Ridge and then flip a coin between the Eastwood and the Scorsese, but instead I'm predicting the two more "book-ish" choices. Fences is the least "adapted" screenplay since Hamlet. I think that's going to work against it.
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Re: WGA Exclusions

Post by The Original BJ »

Sabin wrote:Is Hacksaw Ridge adapted? On IMDB, I don't see source material.
It's "based on" a documentary called The Conscientious Objector. So, it's Adapted the way Loving is Adapted for the Oscars. Although Loving is considered Original for WGA. Maybe the folks behind Jackie should have found a documentary about Jackie Kennedy to pretend it was adapted from?
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Re: WGA Exclusions

Post by Sabin »

Is Hacksaw Ridge adapted? On IMDB, I don't see source material.
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Re: WGA Exclusions

Post by The Original BJ »

Last minute predix:

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Hell or High Water
Jackie
La La Land
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight

The reason I'm hanging on to Jackie (aside from wishful thinking) is that anecdotally, I get the impression a lot more writers have made sure to watch that, as opposed to Captain Fantastic, 20th Century Women, and Loving, the other options I could see sneaking into the fifth spot.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Arrival
Deadpool
Fences
Hidden Figures
Sully

Neither Silence nor Hacksaw Ridge sent out screeners. (Neither did Deadpool, but I'm assuming a blockbuster from February isn't going to have the same kind of visibility issues, and I think it will appeal pretty strongly to the commercial writers who propelled Guardians of the Galaxy to a nomination.) I settled on Sully for a spot simply because it seemed the most likely middle-of-the-road option in a pretty thin field, though I'm hoping for Love & Friendship, and fear Nocturnal Animals.
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Re: WGA Exclusions

Post by anonymous1980 »

My predictions!

Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

Captain Fantastic
written by Matt Ross

Hell or High Water
written by Taylor Sheridan

La La Land
written by Damien Chazelle

Manchester by the Sea
written by Kenneth Lonergan

Moonlight
story by Tarell Alvin McCraney
screenplay by Barry Jenkins

Best Screenplay based on Material Previously Produced or Published

Arrival
screenplay by Eric Heisserer
based on the short story The Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang

Deadpool
screenplay by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick
based on the Marvel comic book series created by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefield

Fences
screenplay by August Wilson
based on his play

Hidden Figures
screenplay by Theodore Melfi and Alison Schroeder
based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly

Silence
screenplay by Martin Scorsese and Jay Cocks
based on the novel by Shushaku Endo
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Re: WGA Exclusions

Post by The Original BJ »

My ballot:

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Hell or High Water
Written by Taylor Sheridan

Jackie
Written by Noah Oppenheim

La La Land
Written by Damien Chazelle

Manchester by the Sea
Written by Kenneth Lonergan

Moonlight
Screenplay by Barry Jenkins; Story by Tarell McCraney

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Arrival
Screenplay by Eric Heisserer; Based on the Story "Story of Your Life" by Ted Chiang

Elle
Screenplay by David Birke; Based on the Novel "Oh…" by Philippe Djian

Hidden Figures
Screenplay by Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi; Based on the Book by Margot Lee Shetterly

Indignation
Screenplay by James Schamus; Based on the Novel by Philip Roth

Love & Friendship
Screenplay by Whit Stillman; Based on the Novella "Lady Susan" by Jane Austen
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Re: WGA Exclusions

Post by Mister Tee »

I said a while back that Moonlight as adapted could be justified because Whiplash, and I'm not surprised the decision was made, given the massive difference in competition-level between the two categories. Unhappily, this makes adapted no race at all (Moonlight in a landslide) and original very likely to go to Manchester. Good outcomes, but not much fun.

The criteria for true-life stories in original appears to be "whatever we damn well feel like". How Loving/The Loving Story differs from Milk/The Times of Harvey Milk is known only to the bureaucrat who decided that was the case.
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Re: WGA Exclusions

Post by Big Magilla »

Sabin wrote: How does a Story By credit work on an adapted screenplay anyway? That's source material! Either Jenkins and McCraney adapted it together from McCraney's play, or Barry Jenkins adapted it himself. For a Story By credit, it needs to be original. This is shenanigans.

As for Loving....well, I don't understand that at all. Yes, it is based on pre-existing material. History.
This is why I've never liked the original vs. adaptation distinctions. The rules are too arbitrary.

In the case of Moonlight, McCraney's play was never performed or published, which used to be the criteria for an adaptation.

With Loving they're in essence saying the screenplay was based on the screenplay for the documentary.
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Re: WGA Exclusions

Post by Sabin »

According to Deadline:

"In the case of Moonlight, it is based on a stage piece, In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue, that never was officially produced. That show’s writer, Tarell Alvin McCraney, has a Story By credit on the film’s script that was written, and extensively reworked, by Barry Jenkins, who also directed the film. Jenkins split the original into three distinct chapters, differing in many ways from the specific play McCraney had written. In the case of Loving, the story of the interracial marriage that defied Virginia law and went all the way to a landmark 1967 decision by the Supreme Court, it is an original screenplay by Jeff Nichols but was originally developed as a 2011 HBO documentary, The Loving Story, by writer-director Nancy Buirski, She has a producer credit on the new film that stars Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga, both nominated for Golden Globes this week. The Academy has determined that both sufficiently are based on pre-existing material to be classified as adaptations rather than originals."

So, this is bullshit. How does a Story By credit work on an adapted screenplay anyway? That's source material! Either Jenkins and McCraney adapted it together from McCraney's play, or Barry Jenkins adapted it himself. For a Story By credit, it needs to be original. This is shenanigans.

As for Loving....well, I don't understand that at all. Yes, it is based on pre-existing material. History.
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Re: WGA Exclusions

Post by The Original BJ »

Not sure where to put this, but since we're talking about the screenplay races here...

AMPAS has just announced that Moonlight and Loving will both compete in the ADAPTED category at their awards. (They are both still considered Originals for WGA).

This has to mark a clear shake-up in both categories, simply because Moonlight now must be considered the odds-on favorite to win Adapted Screenplay. (And allows voters the chance to divvy up Director and both Screenplay prizes to leave each writer-director of the big three -- Chazelle, Lonergan, and Jenkins -- with an Oscar.)

This also gives Loving, which seemed like it would most likely be left out of the Original Screenplay lineup, a far better shot at nomination in the wide-open Adapted race.

And -- much to my enthusiasm -- this opens up the Original race considerably for something like Jackie to hopefully make the cut.
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Re: WGA Exclusions

Post by The Original BJ »

Mister Tee wrote:Since it may not have occurred to you: does Hunt for the Wilderpeople show up under adapted? I'm looking for offbeat possibilities on that side, and this is a movie I've heard multiple folk mention as a sleeper favorite.
It is NOT on the ballot.

I'm genuinely very interested to see what both WGA and Academy members come up with on the Adapted side. I assume Arrival is certain, but after that, will it be a default to the most heavily promoted candidates -- Sully, Fences, Silence, Hacksaw Ridge -- or is there room for a quirkier effort or two to sneak through? And, at least with WGA's history of going for really popular comedies in thinner fields, might Deadpool have a decent shot to make a surprise appearance at this Guild as well?
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Re: WGA Exclusions

Post by Mister Tee »

The Original BJ wrote:ORIGINAL
American Honey
Christine
Chronic
Everybody Wants Some!!
The Fits
Florence Foster Jenkins
Little Men
The Lobster
Midnight Special
Miss Sloane
Morris From America
Paterson
Sing Street
Swiss Army Man
The Witch

ADAPTED
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Lion

Not as many Oscar-likely exclusions as in some years. Obviously, many of the titles here aren't likely Oscar nominees, but I tried to list anything I could think of that would even be vaguely in the conversation. (And I'm just eye-balling, so it's possible I missed something.)

The only two I'd peg as really being seriously Oscar-possible are The Lobster and Lion. (Though I'm bummed I can't express my enthusiasm for American Honey on my ballot!)

As usual, animated and foreign language screenplays are (for the most part) ineligible, so no Zootopia, Moana, Toni Erdmann, The Handmaiden, or Julieta either, among titles still trying to make an Oscar play.

However, I do want to point out that Elle IS on the eligibility list. I wonder if this has something to do with the fact that it was written in English first, and initially planned as an American film, before it became a French one.

Also, it's worth mentioning here that the studios have been extremely down on their screener game this year; barely anything has been sent to WGA members, and that's honestly how most people voting see the year-end titles. I'll be interested to see if that has any effect on what gets nominated.
Since it may not have occurred to you: does Hunt for the Wilderpeople show up under adapted? I'm looking for offbeat possibilities on that side, and this is a movie I've heard multiple folk mention as a sleeper favorite.
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