Bo Burnham's Eighth Grade wins Outstanding Original Screenplay at WGA Awards

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Bo Burnham's 'Eighth Grade' won the Outstanding Original Screenplay prize at the Writers Guild of America Awards.

The coming of age drama - which has been written and directed by Burnham - was selected for the prestigious accolade at the ceremony, which was simultaneously held in both New York City and Los Angeles, and was hosted by Roy Wood Jr. and Chelsea Peretti, respectively, on Sunday (17.02.19).

The film - which follows thirteen-year-old Kayla Day trying to make her way through school whilst dealing with crippling social anxiety - was a surprise winner ahead of Alfonso Cuaron's 'Roma', Adam McKay's 'Vice', 'Green Book' from Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie and Peter Farrelly and John Krasinski's 'A Quiet Place'.

Accepting the gong in Los Angeles, Burnham paid tribute to his lead actress Elsie Fisher who played Kayla, saying: "This all belongs to Elsie Fisher who performed the script. No one would care about the script if she hadn't done it. I joined the guild when I was 18 and my mother did the paperwork, so thank you for that - and my father who did nothing."

The script for 'Can You Ever Forgive Me?' - penned by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty and based on the book by Lee Israel - took the gong for Adapted Screenplay, and Nicole credited celebrity biographer Lee in her speech.

The writer said: "I want to thank Lee. She'd probably be sitting in the room judging all of us. She though she was the smartest person in the room and she probably was."

In the television categories, 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' won the comedy series award for Kate Fodor, Noah Gardenswartz, Jen Kirkman, Sheila Lawrence, Daniel Palladino and Amy Sherman Palladino while the final season of 'The Americans' took home the gong for Drama series for Peter Ackerman, Hilary Bettis, Joshua Brand, Joel Fields, Sarah Nolen, Stephen Schiff, Justin Weinberger, Joe Weisberg and Tracey Scott Wilson.

Writers Guild of America Awards 2018, winners list:

Original Screenplay - 'Eighth Grade', Written by Bo Burnham

Adapted Screenplay - 'Can You Ever Forgive Me?', Screenplay by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty, Based on the book by Lee Israel.

Documentary Screenplay- 'Bathtubs Over Broadway', Written by Ozzy Inguanzo & Dava Whisenant

Drama Series - 'The Americans', Written by Peter Ackerman, Hilary Bettis, Joshua Brand, Joel Fields, Sarah Nolen, Stephen Schiff, Justin Weinberger, Joe Weisberg, Tracey Scott Wilson.

Comedy Series - 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel', Written by Kate Fodor, Noah Gardenswartz, Daniel Goldfarb, Jen Kirkman, Sheila Lawrence, Daniel Palladino, Amy Sherman Palladino.

New Series - 'Barry', Written by Alec Berg, Duffy Boudreau, Bill Hader, Emily Heller, Liz Sarnoff, Ben Smith, Sarah Solemani.

Long Form Original - 'Castle Rock', Writers: Marc Bernardin, Scott Brown, Lila Byock, Mark Lafferty, Sam Shaw, Dustin Thomason, Gina Welch, Vinnie Wilhelm.

Long Form Adapted - 'The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story', Writers: Maggie Cohn, Tom Rob Smith, Based on the book Vulgar Favors by Maureen Orth.