The 2026 Writers Guild Awards nominations were announced this week, offering an early snapshot of how screenwriters across film and television are being recognized by their peers as awards season accelerates. Several high-profile films already positioned as Oscar contenders, including Sinners, One Battle After AnotherHamnet, and Marty Supreme, earned nominations from the guild, reinforcing their prominence in a year marked by strong original and adapted storytelling.
In film, the Writers Guild’s Adapted Screenplay category mirrored the Academy Awards nominations exactly, a convergence that does not always occur. By contrast, the Original Screenplay lineup diverged from the Oscars in noticeable ways, with several Academy-recognized films absent from the guild’s list. According to Deadline, those differences stem from the Writers Guild’s eligibility rules, which limit consideration to projects produced under guild contracts or otherwise meeting specific labor requirements. These rules tend to exclude certain international and independent productions, even when those films are widely celebrated elsewhere in the awards circuit.
This distinction highlights a core difference between the Writers Guild Awards and other major ceremonies. While the Oscars aim to reflect global achievement in film, the guild’s awards function as a peer recognition system rooted in union representation and collective bargaining. A screenplay’s absence from the WGA nominations is not necessarily a commentary on its artistic merit, but rather a reflection of contractual status and labor jurisdiction. For general audiences, this can make awards season appear inconsistent, though within the industry, these distinctions are well understood.
The Writers Guild Awards also carry particular weight because they are voted on by working writers, many of whom are directly engaged with the practical realities of developing scripts, navigating revisions, and sustaining long-running series. Past results illustrate how guild recognition can, but does not always, align with Oscar outcomes. Last year, Anora won the WGA Award for Original Screenplay before securing the Oscar and ultimately Best Picture, while Conclave went on to win the Academy Award for Adapted Screenplay despite being ineligible for guild consideration.
On the television side, Apple TV’s Pluribus emerged as the most-nominated series, earning recognition across drama, new series, and episodic writing categories. The broader television nominations reflect the continued dominance of streaming platforms, with projects from Apple TV, HBO Max, Disney+, Netflix, FX, and broadcast networks competing across drama, comedy, limited series, and variety writing. Returning contenders such as Hacks and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver appear alongside newer entries, underscoring how the guild balances legacy programs with emerging voices.
Beyond film and primetime television, the Writers Guild Awards encompass a wide range of writing disciplines, including animation, daytime drama, children’s programming, documentary filmmaking, news writing, audio storytelling, and promotional content. This expansive slate reflects the breadth of writing labor represented by the guild and emphasizes that storytelling in modern media extends far beyond traditional scripted series and feature films. Newer projects also gained recognition this year, including CBS’ Beyond the Gates, which received its first nomination in the Daytime Drama category after being too new for Emmy eligibility.
Final voting for the 2026 Writers Guild Awards begins Friday and runs through February 13, with winners set to be announced on March 8 during concurrent ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York. In addition to the competitive awards, the guild will also present several honorary recognitions celebrating career achievement and service within the writing community. The 2026 Writers Guild Awards span categories across film, scripted and unscripted television, documentary, news, audio storytelling, animation, daytime, and children’s programming, reflecting the breadth of writing work represented by the guild.
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