The Writers Guild has taken notice. In 2017, Allison Schroeder, nominated in the Best Adapted Screenplay category for Hidden Figures, was the stand alone woman nominated for film writing. The 2018 Writers Guild Awards nominations, however, include a dramatic increase in female representation.
For Original Screenplay, writer Emily V. Gordon is nominated with her husband, co-writer Kumail Nanjiani for The Big Sick, the based-on-a-true-story of how Kumail (as himself) met and fell in love with Emily (Zoe Kazan) while performing stand-up in Chicago. After their breakup, he feels awkwardly obligated and honored to be by Emily’s side – along with her parents – as her health declines and she is induced into a coma. (Read FF2 Media review of the film HERE).
Greta Gerwig is also nominated for Lady Bird, a story of a teenage girl who wants nothing more than to get as far away as possible from her hometown. Her mother Marion (Laurie Metcalf) wants her to apply to California state colleges, but Lady Bird is more ambitious, hoping that she can earn a scholarship at “one of those East Coast schools.” (Read FF2 Media review of the film HERE). Vanessa Taylor is nominated with co-writer and director Guillermo del Toro for The Shape of Water, a science fiction romance in Cold War America that tells the story of mute Elisa Esposito (Sally Hawkins) working as a night janitor in a high-security government laboratory. When she discovers one of their hidden projects – an amphibious, fish-like creature – Elisa not only befriends “the asset,” but falls into a romantic relationship. (Read FF2 Media review of the film HERE).
For Adapted Screenplay, Dee Rees is nominated with co-writer Virgil Williams for Mudbound. When two well-decorated soldiers return home, after fighting in WWII, they are received very differently in their hometown. Set in Mississippi, Mudbound takes viewers through the struggle between race, class and two families as they learn to coexist. (Read FF2 Media review of the film HERE).
Read full list of nominees. The awards ceremony will be held on Sunday, February 11 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel with host Patton Oswalt.
© Brigid K. Presecky (1/4/18) FF2 Media
Courtesy of Netflix
