August 14, 2017

2018 WGA Documentary Screenplay Award Call for Submissions

Contact: Gregg Mitchell (323) 782-4651; Jason Gordon (212) 767-7809
The WGAW and WGAE have announced the submission period is now open for the 2018 WGA Documentary Screenplay Award, honoring outstanding achievement in documentary feature writing.

LOS ANGELES AND NEW YORK – The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) have announced the submission period is now open for the 2018 WGA Documentary Screenplay Award, honoring outstanding achievement in documentary feature writing. Submissions will be accepted from August 14 through November 17, 2017.

Qualifications for WGA Documentary Screenplay Award eligibility include:

  • Theatrical documentaries must have been written under the WGA’s Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) or under a bona fide collective bargaining agreement of the Writers Guild of Canada, Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, Writers’ Guild of Ireland, Writers’ Guild of South Africa, New Zealand Writers Guild, Film Writers’ Association (India), La Guilde Francaise des Scénaristes (France), Scriptwriters Guild of Israel, the Société des Auteurs de Radio, Télévision et Cinéma (Québec) or Verband Deutscher Drehbuchautoren (VDD/Germany) (collectively, “affiliate Guilds”).
  • Documentaries must contain an on-screen writing credit and have been exhibited theatrically in Los Angeles or New York for at least one week during 2017.
  • The deadline for submissions is 5:30 p.m. (PST) Friday, November 17, 2017.
  • Scripts must be feature length (more than 40 minutes).
  • Documentaries that received their first public exhibition via broadcast or cable television are not eligible for Writers Guild Awards consideration.
  • Foreign-language films are eligible, provided they feature English-language subtitles.

WGA Documentary Screenplay nominees, as well as Original and Adapted Screenplay nominees, will be announced on Thursday, January 4, 2018.

Further inquiries regarding the WGA Documentary Screenplay Award may be directed to Jennifer Burt in the WGAW Awards Office at (323) 782-4569, email: Jennifer Burt, or to Dana Weissman in the WGAE Awards Office at (212) 767-7835, email: Dana Weissman.

The Writers Guild Awards honor outstanding writing in film, television, new media, videogames, news, radio, promotional, and graphic animation categories. The 2018 Writers Guild Awards (70th Annual) will be presented at concurrent ceremonies on Sunday, February 11, 2018, in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton and in New York City at the Edison Ballroom. For more information about the 2018 Writers Guild Awards, please visit www.wga.org or www.wgaeast.org.

For media inquiries about the 2018 WGA Los Angeles show, please contact Gregg Mitchell in the WGAW Communications Department at: (323) 782-4651 or email: Gregg Mitchell.

For media inquiries about the 2018 WGA New York City show, please contact Jason Gordon in the WGAE Communications Department at (212) 767-7809 or email: Jason Gordon.

The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) are labor unions representing writers in motion pictures, television, cable, digital media, and broadcast news. The Guilds negotiate and administer contracts that protect the creative and economic rights of their members; conduct programs, seminars, and events on issues of interest to writers; and present writers’ views to various bodies of government. For more information on the Writers Guild of America West, visit www.wga.org. For more information on the Writers Guild of America, East, visit www.wgaeast.org.