The 57th Writers Guild of America Awards, given on February 19, 2005, honored the film and television best writers of 2004.

Winners and nominees

Film

Adapted Screenplay

Sideways ''Sideways'' is a 2004 American comedy-drama road film directed by Alexander Payne and written by Jim Taylor and Payne. A film adaptation of Rex Pickett's 2004 novel of the same name, ''Sideways'' follows two men in their forties, Miles Raymo ...

'' - Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor *''

Before Sunset ''Before Sunset'' is a 2004 American romantic drama film directed by Richard Linklater, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, from a story by Linklater and Kim Krizan. The sequel to ''Before Sunrise'' (1995) and the seco ...

'' - Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy,

Ethan Hawke Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor and film director. He has been nominated for four Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award. Hawke has directed three feature films, three off-Broadway plays, and a doc ...

and Kim Krizan *''

Mean Girls ''Mean Girls'' is a 2004 American teen comedy film directed by Mark Waters and written by Tina Fey. The film stars Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried (in her film debut), Tim Meadows, Ana Gasteyer, Amy Poehler a ...

'' -

Tina Fey Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (; born May 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and playwright. She is best known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (1997–2006) and for creating the ...

*'' Million Dollar Baby'' -

Paul Haggis Paul Edward Haggis (born March 10, 1953) is a Canadian screenwriter, film producer, and director of film and television. He is best known as screenwriter and producer for consecutive Best Picture Oscar winners ''Million Dollar Baby'' (2004) and ...

*'' The Motorcycle Diaries (Diarios de motocicleta)'' - José Rivera

Original Screenplay

'' Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'' - Pierre Bismuth,

Michel Gondry Michel Gondry (; born 8 May 1963) is a French filmmaker noted for his inventive visual style and distinctive manipulation of mise en scène. Along with Charlie Kaufman, he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as one of the writers ...

and

Charlie Kaufman Charles Stuart Kaufman (; born November 19, 1958) is an American filmmaker and novelist. He wrote the films '' Being John Malkovich'' (1999), '' Adaptation'' (2002), and '' Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'' (2004). He made his directorial ...

*'' The Aviator'' - John Logan *'' Garden State'' -

Zach Braff Zachary Israel Braff'Scrubs' Star Zach Braff Wows ...

*''

Hotel Rwanda ''Hotel Rwanda'' is a 2004 drama film directed by Terry George. It was adapted from a screenplay co-written by George and Keir Pearson, and stars Don Cheadle and Sophie Okonedo as hotelier Paul Rusesabagina and his wife Tatiana. Based on the ...

'' -

Keir Pearson Keir Pearson (born December 15, 1966) is an American Academy Award-nominated screenwriter notable for the 2004 film ''Hotel Rwanda''. Career Pearson graduated from Harvard University in 1989. During the 1990s, he also participated in the 1992 Summ ...

and

Terry George Terence George (born 20 December 1952) is an Irish screenwriter and director. Much of his film work (e.g. ''The Boxer'', '' Some Mother's Son'', and ''In the Name of the Father'') involves "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland. He was nominated f ...

*'' Kinsey'' - Bill Condon

Documentary Screenplay

Super Size Me ''Super Size Me'' is a 2004 American documentary film directed by and starring Morgan Spurlock, an American independent filmmaker. Spurlock's film follows a 30-day period from February 1 to March 2, 2003, during which he ate only McDonald's f ...

'' -

Morgan Spurlock Morgan Valentine Spurlock (born November 7, 1970) is an American documentary filmmaker, humorist, television producer, screenwriter and playwright. Spurlock's films include '' Super Size Me'' (2004), '' Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?'' ( ...

*''

Bright Leaves ''Bright Leaves'' is a 2003 United States/United Kingdom documentary film by independent filmmaker Ross McElwee about the association his family had with the tobacco industry. ''Bright Leaves'' had its world premiere at the 2003 Cannes Film Festi ...

'' -

Ross McElwee Ross McElwee is an American documentary filmmaker known for his autobiographical films about his family and personal life, usually interwoven with an episodic journey that intersects with larger political or philosophical issues. His humorous an ...

*''

Control Room A control room or operations room is a central space where a large physical facility or physically dispersed service can be monitored and controlled. It is often part of a larger command center. Overview A control room's purpose is produc ...

'' - Julia Bacha and

Jehane Noujaim Jehane Noujaim ( ar, جيهان نجيم, ) (born May 17, 1974) is an Academy Award nominated American documentary film director best known for her films ''Control Room'', '' Startup.com'', '' Pangea Day'' and '' The Square.'' In 2019, she co-di ...

*'' Home of the Brave'' - Paola di Florio *'' The Hunting of the President'' -

Harry Thomason Harry Zell Thomason (born November 30, 1940) is an American film and television producer and director, best known for the television series ''Designing Women''. Thomason and his wife, Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, are close friends of President Bil ...

and

Nickolas Perry Nickolas Perry (born December 3, 1967) is an American film director, writer, editor, photographer, and film instructor who began his career working as a camera assistant and assistant director on independent films in San Francisco before becomi ...

*'' In the Realms of the Unreal'' -

Jessica Yu Jessica Lingmin Yu (born February 14, 1966) is an American film director, writer, producer, and editor. She has directed documentary films, dramatic films, and television shows. Yu won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject in ...

Television

Best Episodic Drama

The Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successf ...

" - ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White Hous ...

'' - Debora Cahn *" Falling Into Place" - '' Six Feet Under'' - Craig Wright *"

Long Term Parking "Long Term Parking" is the 64th episode of the HBO original series ''The Sopranos'' and the 12th of the show's fifth season. Written by Terence Winter and directed by Tim Van Patten, it originally aired on May 23, 2004. Starring * James Gandolf ...

" - ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster, portraying his difficulties as he tries to balance ...

'' - Terence Winter *"

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

" - ''

'' - John Sacret Young and Josh Singer

Best Episodic Comedy

" Pier Pressure" - ''

Arrested Development The term "arrested development" has had multiple meanings for over 200 years. In the field of medicine, the term "arrested development" was first used, ''circa'' 1835–1836, to mean a stoppage of physical development; the term continues to be use ...

'' - James Vallely and Mitch Hurwitz
" Ida's Boyfriend" - '' Malcolm in the Middle'' - Neil Thompson *"

Splat! SPLAT! (short for an RF Signal Propagation, Loss, And Terrain analysis tool) is a GNU GPL-licensed terrestrial radio propagation model application initially written for Linux but has since been ported for Windows and OS X. SPLAT! can use the Lon ...

" - ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the same name, the series premiered in the United Stat ...

'' - Jenny Bicks and Cindy Chupack *" The Ick Factor" - ''

'' - Julie Rottenberg and Elisa Zuritsky *"

Pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

" - ''

Wonderfalls ''Wonderfalls'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Todd Holland and Bryan Fuller that was broadcast on the Fox television network in 2004. The show centers on Jaye Tyler (Caroline Dhavernas), a recent Brown University gra ...

'' - Bryan Fuller and Todd Holland *Best Animation Screenplay: **''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...

'' - " Catch 'Em If You Can" *Best Daytime Serial: *''

The Guiding Light ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the third longest-running drama in television in American history. ''Guiding Light'' a ...

References

WGA - Previous award winners
{{DEFAULTSORT:Writers Guild Of America Awards 2004 2004 2004 film awards 2004 guild awards 2004 television awards

Writ In common law, a writ (Anglo-Saxon ''gewrit'', Latin ''breve'') is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, a ...

2004 in American cinema 2004 in American television February 2005 events in the United States