Ryan Coogler's Sinners won the original screenplay award, while Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another took adapted screenplay at the 78th annual Writers Guild Awards on March 8 in New York City. HBO's The Pitt swept drama categories, and Apple TV's The Studio claimed comedy series. The West Coast ceremony was canceled amid a staff strike.
The Writers Guild Awards ceremony took place on March 8, 2026, at the Edison Ballroom in Manhattan, hosted by comedian Roy Wood Jr. Warner Bros films dominated the film categories: Sinners, written by Ryan Coogler, received the original screenplay award and will compete for an Oscar on March 15 against Marty Supreme, Blue Moon, Sentimental Value, and It Was Just an Accident. One Battle After Another, with screenplay and screen story by Paul Thomas Anderson inspired by Thomas Pynchon's novel Vineland, won adapted screenplay and faces Bugonia, Frankenstein, Hamnet, and Train Dreams at the Oscars.
Mstyslav Chernov won documentary screenplay for 2,000 Meters to Andriivka, produced by Frontline Features, which follows a Ukrainian platoon liberating the town from Russian occupiers in 2023. Chernov also received the WGA West's 2026 Paul Selvin Award.
In television, HBO's The Pitt, an Emmy-winning hospital procedural starring Noah Wyle, won drama series, episodic drama for "7:00 A.M." written by R. Scott Gemmill, and new series. Apple TV's The Studio took comedy series. HBO's The Righteous Gemstones won episodic comedy for "Prelude" by John Carcieri, Jeff Fradley, and Danny R. McBride. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver won comedy/variety series – talk or sketch, and Marc Maron: Panicked took comedy/variety special. FX/Hulu's Dying for Sex won limited series, and CBS/Paramount+'s The Young and the Restless won daytime drama.
The WGA East ceremony proceeded despite the cancellation of the West Coast event due to a strike by unionized staffers against WGA West management, which began on February 17 seeking higher wages and protections. The full union is set to start contract talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on March 16.
Stephen Colbert received the Walter Bernstein Award for confronting social injustice. In his speech, he shared cut jokes from The Late Show, including one about Donald Trump: “Trump, famously and disturbingly, said, ‘Ivanka, if she wasn’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.’ I refused to tell the following joke: When Trump brought her to the 2017 G20 Summit, I guess it was ‘Take your daughter to climax’ day.” He also praised his writing team.
WGA East President Tom Fontana addressed upcoming AMPTP negotiations and the Paramount-WBD merger, stating, “Democracy is at stake.” Roy Wood Jr. opened with warnings quoting Marjorie Taylor Greene. Terry George received the Ian McLellan Hunter Award for career achievement.
