A top talent line-up is scheduled to present honors at the 2017 Writers Guild Awards West Coast ceremony to be hosted this Sunday, February 19, at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills.
In addition to this year’s host – Emmy-winning actor-writer-comedian Patton Oswalt (Talking for Clapping, Veep), who just won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album (Talking for Clapping) at Sunday night’s Grammys – the WGA L.A. awards ceremony presenters are slated to include: Emmy-nominated actress Kerry Washington (Scandal, Confirmation), who will present the WGAW’s Paul Selvin Award to Oscar and WGA-nominated screenwriter Susannah Grant (Erin Brockovich) for the HBO telefilm Confirmation; Emmy-nominated Better Call Saul star Bob Odenkirk; Emmy-nominated and SAG Award-winning Shameless star William H. Macy; Chelsea talk show host/comedian Chelsea Handler; Emmy-nominated and WGA-winning Portlandia / Documentary Now! co-creator/star Fred Armisen; The Goldbergs co-star Wendi McClendon-Covey (Bridesmaids); two-time Emmy-winning Veep co-star Tony Hale; Critics Choice TV Award-nominated Fresh Off the Boat co-star Randall Park; The Big Bang Theory and Speechless co-star John Ross Bowie; Silicon Valley co-star Kumail Nanjiani; actress Michaela Watkins (Transparent, Casual); Playing House co-creators & co-stars Lennon Parham (Veep, Lady Dynamite) & Jessica St. Clair (Veep, The McCarthys) and; iconic TV comedy writer-producer Norman Lear (One Day at a Time, All in the Family), actor David Koechner (The Goldbergs, Superior Donuts), and comedian/actor Bill Burr (Walk Your Way Out, Breaking Bad).
In addition, Oscar-nominated actor James Woods (Salvador, Nixon) will present the WGAW’s Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement to Academy Award and WGA-winning screenwriter-director Oliver Stone (Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, JFK); Emmy-winning The Newsroom star Jeff Daniels will present the WGAW’s Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television Writing Achievement to Oscar and WGA-winning The Social Network screenwriter and The West Wing / The Newsroom Creator Aaron Sorkin; actor Jeff Goldblum (Independence Day: Resurgence, Jurassic Park) will present the WGAW’s Valentine Davies Award to acclaimed screenwriter-director Richard Curtis (Love Actually, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones’s Diary) for his humanitarian service and charitable efforts around the globe; Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated actress Shohreh Aghdashloo (Star Trek Beyond, The Expanse) will present the Guild’s Jean Renoir Award for International Screenwriting Achievement to late Iranian filmmakerAbbas Kiarostami (Taste of Cherry, The Wind Will Carry Us, Certified Copy), and writer Howard Michael Gould (Instant Mom) will present the WGAW’s Morgan Cox Award to Emmy-nominated M*A*S*H writer and past WGAW Board of Directors member Dan Wilcox for his Guild service – with additional talent / presenters to be announced.
This year’s WGA L.A. show is once again executive produced by Hugh Fink, produced by Decoupage Production’s Tara Power and Joselyn Allen, co-produced by Kelly Brock, directed by Nick Murray, and written by Head Writer Joe O’Brien and writers Fink, Mike Drucker, Gerry Duggan, Danielle Koenig, Ed Lee, Matt Oswalt, and creative consultant Shelly Goldstein.
The WGAW’s Awards Committee includes Guild members Karen Harris (chair), Steve Chivers, Patrick Doody, Shelly Goldstein, and Scott Saltzburg.
The Writers Guild Awards honor outstanding writing in film, television, new media, videogames, news, radio, promotional, and graphic animation categories. The awards will be presented at concurrent ceremonies on Sunday, February 19, 2017, in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton and in New York City at the Edison Ballroom. For more information about the 2017 Writers Guild Awards, please visitwww.wga.org or www.wgaeast.org.
For media inquiries about the 2017 Writers Guild Awards Los Angeles show, please contact Gregg Mitchell in the WGAW Communications Department at: (323) 782-4651 or email: gmitchell@wga.org.
For media inquiries about the 2017 Writers Guild Awards New York City show, please contact Jason Gordon in the WGAE Communications Department at (212) 767-7809 or email: jgordon@wgaeast.org.
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.
