“Jules Feiffer is a name known to us all and whose work as a cartoonist and screenwriter has been distinguished, recognized, and awarded for decades. His work in animation has been equally distinguished but not as recognized, so the AWC decided to jump aboard his award bandwagon,” said WGAW President Patric M. Verrone.

Feiffer's film credits include his acclaimed screenplays for Little Murders (1970) and Carnal Knowledge (1971), for both of which he received WGA nominations, as well as 1980's feature film version of classic cartoon Popeye, directed by Robert Altman. In 2004, Feiffer received the Ian McLellan Hunter Memorial Award for lifetime achievement in writing from the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE).

Jules Feiffer remains one of American's most influential editorial cartoonists, as well as a playwright, novelist, screenwriter, and author of children's books. His Pulitzer Prize-winning signature cartoon style - widely imitated by younger generations of political
cartoonists - features sparely drawn, neurotic characters appearing against blank backgrounds, often emoting or agonizing over topical events or personal problems. His cartoon strip, Feiffer, appeared in the Village Voice from 1956 to 1997. In 1996, a retrospective exhibition of his work appeared at the Library of Congress. His cartoon collections include Feiffer on Nixon: The Cartoon Presidency (1974), Ronald Reagan in Movie America: A Jules Feiffer Production (1988), and Feiffer: The Collected Works, Volumes 1, 2, and 3 (1998, 1989, 1992).

Feiffer's work in other genres is characterized by his similar talent for social satire and commentary. His 1967 play, Little Murders, is a brutal black comedy that examines one New York City family's encounters with random and senseless violence. The play received a number of prestigious awards, including the London Theatre Critics, Outer Circle Critics, and Obie Awards. Feiffer's other plays include the Obie-winning White House Murder Case (1970), Knock Knock (1976), Elliot Loves (1989), and Anthony Rose (1990).

Born in the Bronx, N.Y., in 1929, at the age of five, Feiffer won a gold medal in an art contest, a reward gained so effortlessly that it immediately decided him upon a career. After high school, he enrolled at the Art Students League of New York and attended drawing classes at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. He sought employment with several comic strip artists, including Will Eisner, creator of The Spirit, who allowed Feiffer to write scripts for him until the aspiring cartoonist was drafted into the Army. From 1949 to 1951, Feiffer drew a Sunday cartoon-page feature called Clifford, which ran in six newspapers.

Feiffer then served a two-year stint in the Signal Corps, spending his off hours drawing anti-military cartoons, and during this time developed the character of Munro, the four-year-old boy drafted by mistake into the Army. After he got out of the Army, Feiffer drifted from one job to another, managing not to get fired until he worked the six months required to collect unemployment insurance. During his non-working period he turned out a book of cartoons called Sick, Sick, Sick. In 1958, Feiffer's Sick, Sick, Sick, subtitled A Guide to Non-confident Munro, was received an Oscar as the best short-subject cartoon.

Feiffer also likes to write occasional novels, publishing his first, Harry the Rat with Women, in 1963, and his second, Ackroyd, in 1967. The Man in the Ceiling was Jules Feiffer's first book for children. Since then Feiffer has released A Barrel of Laughs, A Vale of Tears (1995), his first all-color picture book, Meanwhile (1997), I Lost My Bear (1998), George (1999), I'm Not Bobby! (2001).

The only cartoonist to have a comic strip published by The New York Times, Feiffer's cartoons have also appeared in The New York Times Sunday Magazine and The New Yorker. In 1997, he became a Senior Fellow in the National Arts Journalism Program at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.

Founded in 1994, the WGAW's Animation Writers Caucus represents over 600 animation writers and works to advance economic and creative conditions in the field.  Through organizing efforts, educational events, and networking opportunities, the Caucus is a leading proponent for animation writers.

The 2007 Writers Guild Awards will take place Sunday, February 11, 2007, in Los Angeles at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel and simultaneously in New York at the Hudson Theater at the Millennium Broadway Hotel. For more information about the upcoming 2007 Writers Guild Awards, please visit www.wga.org or www.wgaeast.org.

The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) represents writers in the motion picture, broadcast, cable, and new media industries in both entertainment and news. The union conducts numerous programs, seminars, and events throughout the world on issues of interest to, and on behalf of, writers.