Friday, January 5, 2024

Golden Globes, Critics Choice, and Emmy screenplay and writing nominees for National Screenwriters Day

Happy National Screenwriters Day! As I promised yesterday, I'm celebrating by blogging about the screenplay and writing nominees at the Golden Globes, Critics Choice, and Emmy Awards in that order. Without any further ado, here are the screenwriting nominees.

Best Screenplay
Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach – Barbie
Tony McNamara – Poor Things
Christopher Nolan – Oppenheimer
Eric Roth and Martin Scorsese – Killers of the Flower Moon
Celine Song – Past Lives
Justine Triet and Arthur Harari – Anatomy of a Fall
I already made my personal preference known by voting for Barbie for Best Film Screenwriting at the Saturn Awards. I also described the odds of the scripts winning this Golden Globe in 'Avatar: The Way of Water' leads Saturn Awards with 12 nominations: "The Gold Derby editors are tied, with five each picking Barbie and Poor Things with Oppenheimer placing no higher than second and most editors thinking it's in third." That's still the case with the eleventh editor choosing Celine Song for Past Lives. The Gold Derby experts manage to be more decisive while paradoxically being more dispersed in their choices with eight picking Barbie, three choosing Oppenheimer, two each selecting Poor Things and Past Lives, and one ranking Killers of the Flower Moon first. I'll stand by my choice of Barbie.

Gold Derby interviewed Celine Song ('Past Lives' writer-director) reveals ‘intense emotional work', one of the nominees.

Celine Song (‘Past Lives’ writer-director) reveals ‘intense emotional work,’ ‘extraordinary’ shots in Seoul and New York City. The first-time filmmaker shot the emotional movie about a reunion of childhood friends (Greta Lee, Teo Yoo) after two decades apart in both New York City and Seoul. Gold Derby's David Buchanan hosts this webchat.
Song has a nomination in the next category at the Critics Choice Awards as well.

Best Original Screenplay
Samy Burch – May December
Alex Convery – Air
Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer – Maestro
Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach – Barbie
David Hemingson – The Holdovers
Celine Song – Past Lives
I wrote last month that "Gold Derby's editors think Baumbach and Gerwig have the inside track to win Original Screenplay with six picking them to ascend the stage..." Since then, one more editor switched their vote to Barbie while two each ranked Past Lives and The Holdovers first. The experts are even more in favor of Barbie with nine of ten experts picking it to win while one chose The Holdovers, so I'm expecting Barbie to win.

Now that the Writers Branch of the Motion Picture Academy has ruled that Barbie is an adapted story, not an original one, I'm penciling in the latter two as the co-favorites to win the Original Screenplay Oscar. I've already embedded Celine Song, so it's time for Gold Derby's 'The Holdovers' writer David Hemingson thought friend pranked him, but it really was Alexander Payne.

'The Holdovers' writer David Hemingson on assuming it wasn't really Alexander Payne on the phone but his friend pranking him. He compares his hiring by the acclaimed director to Charlie finding the Golden Ticket in 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.' Gold Derby editor Ray Richmond hosts this webchat.
Like Past Lives, The Holdovers contains autobiographical elements. Unlike Past Lives, it's a comedy. So are the two other nominees for this award Gold Derby interviewed. The first alphabetically was 'Air' writer Alex Convery thought that 'no one would be crazy enough to make this movie'.

'Air' writer Alex Convery thought that 'no one would be crazy enough to make this movie.' For the Ben Affleck film, ultimately, 'one of the great joys of this was the joy of creation and the work itself.' Gold Derby editor Daniel Montgomery hosts this special 'Meet the Experts' panel with film writers.
Watching The Last Dance during the pandemic inspired this script. I didn't know that, but I shouldn't be surprised. Add this to My Garden of a Thousand Bees and Summer of Soul as projects conceived while staying safe at home.

The other nominee for Best Original Screenplay at the Critics Choice Awards that is also nominated for Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy, at the Golden Globes Gold Derby interviewed was 'May December' writer Samy Burch on using humor to break the tension of 'dark' story.

'May December' writer Samy Burch on using humor to break the tension of 'dark' story. About the Todd Haynes film starring Natalie Portman: 'Character is sort of the anchor for me when I'm telling a story,' she says. Gold Derby editor Daniel Montgomery hosts this special 'Meet the Experts' panel with film writers.
I grew up in Los Angeles, so I'm familiar with the Mary Kay Letourneau story that inspired this screenplay. It's definitely dark and has a tragic end, regardless of the comedic potential.

Best Adapted Screenplay
Kelly Fremon Craig – Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
Andrew Haigh – All of Us Strangers
Cord Jefferson – American Fiction
Tony McNamara – Poor Things
Christopher Nolan – Oppenheimer
Eric Roth and Martin Scorsese – Killers of the Flower Moon
Last month, I wrote that the Gold Derby editors "think Poor Things, which I expect will be nominated for Best Fantasy Film at next year's Saturn Awards, will beat Oppenheimer for Adapted Screenplay with six of eight editors also picking it." More editors have made their picks since, with a total of seven now choosing Poor Things, two ranking American Fiction first, and one each thinking Killers of the Flower Moon and Oppenheimer will win. I'm penciling in Poor Things as the winner.

The one nominee for this award Gold Derby interviewed was 'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret' writer-director Kelly Fremon Craig: 'Adapting a sacred text'.

'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret' screenwriter-director Kelly Fremon Craig: 'It feels like adapting a sacred text.' 'There were so many things that struck me when I read it as a kid. It just felt like, oh my gosh, somebody gets me,' she says. Gold Derby editor Daniel Montgomery hosts this special 'Meet the Experts' panel with film writers.
Like Air, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. is connected to a documentary, Judy Blume Forever, which I examined in 'Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie' leads nominees for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special at the Emmy Awards. Between the documentary and this movie, Judy Blume is having quite the moment!

I'll return to the Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award nominees later. Right now, follow over the jump for the Primetime Emmy Awards nominees for comedy and drama.

Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series
Barry: "wow" – Bill Hader (HBO)
The Bear: "System" – Christopher Storer (FX)
Jury Duty: "Ineffective Assistance" – Mekki Leeper (Amazon Freevee)
Only Murders in the Building: "I Know Who Did It" – John Hoffman, Matteo Borghese, and Rob Turbovsky (Hulu)
The Other Two: "Cary & Brooke Go to an AIDS Play" – Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider (Max)
Ted Lasso: "So Long, Farewell" – Brendan Hunt, Joe Kelly, and Jason Sudeikis (Apple TV+)
The Gold Derby editors and experts are split on this category, with the editors picking Ted Lasso over The Bear seven to four, while the experts overwhelmingly chose The Bear ahead of Ted Lasso eight to one. Once again, it's "electorates matter" in miniature!

I'm going with the editors' pick for the interview, 'Ted Lasso' writer Brett Goldstein on the Season 2 discourse: 'Just trust us!'

'Ted Lasso' writer Brett Goldstein on the Season 2 discourse: 'Just trust us!' He wrote “The Signal,” which includes assistant coach Nate’s (Nick Mohammed) eventual turn to villainy and Ted’s (Jason Sudeikis) first real panic attack. Gold Derby editor Christopher Rosen hosts this webchat as part of a special 'Meet the Experts' panel for WGA nominees.
I wrote "I can see both why Goldstein won and why it took the Television Academy nearly a month to upload it. He's funny and a bit dirty" about Goldstein's 2021 Emmy acceptance speech. He's the same here.

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
Andor: "One Way Out" – Beau Willimon (Disney+)
Bad Sisters: "The Prick" – Sharon Horgan, Dave Finkel, and Brett Baer (Apple TV+)
Better Call Saul: "Point and Shoot" – Gordon Smith (AMC)
Better Call Saul: "Saul Gone" – Peter Gould (AMC)
The Last of Us: "Long, Long Time" – Craig Mazin (HBO)
Succession: "Connor's Wedding" – Jesse Armstrong (HBO)
The White Lotus: "Arrivederci" – Mike White (HBO)
No such divergence exists between editors and experts in this category; both think Succession will win, with seven members of each group picking it while one chose Andor.

I couldn't find a Gold Derby interview of any of the nominated writers for these shows, so on to the final category, which I covered previously in 'Weird' leads television movies with eight nominations at the Emmy Awards for World Television Day.

Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
Beef: "The Birds Don't Sing, They Screech in Pain" – Lee Sung Jin (Netflix)
Fire Island – Joel Kim Booster (Hulu)
Fleishman Is in Trouble: "Me-Time" – Taffy Brodesser-Akner (FX)
Prey – Patrick Aison and Dan Trachtenberg (Hulu)
Swarm: "Stung" – Janine Nabers and Donald Glover (Prime Video)
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story – Al Yankovic and Eric Appel (The Roku Channel)
...While one expert at Gold Derby picked "Weird" Al and Eric Appel to take home the Emmy for writing, that's only good for third place. Beef has six votes while Fleishman Is in Trouble has two.
That was in November. Since then, the consensus has moved even more in favor of Beef, as ten editors now have it to win with only one for Fleishman Is in Trouble while Beef has six experts' votes while Weird: The Al Yankovic Story still has only one. For that, I'm embedding Gold Derby's interview of the leading nominee, ‘Beef’ creator and Emmy nominee Lee Sung Jin: ‘To be recognized by our peers is the best thing’.

‘Beef’ creator and Emmy nominee Lee Sung Jin: ‘To be recognized by our peers is the best thing.’ The series is about a pair of strangers (Steven Yeun and Ali Wong), whose lives are forever altered after an ill-fated road-rage incident. Gold Derby editor Christopher Rosen hosts this webchat.
I'm looking forward to writing more about Beef when I cover limited series nominees for the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards, and Primetime Emmy Awards. Stay tuned.

Previous posts about the Golden Globes Previous posts about the 2023 Primetime and Creative Arts Emmy Awards
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