Writers Guild of America Award for Best Documentary Screenplay explained

Writers Guild of America Award for Documentary Screenplay
Awarded For:	Outstanding Writing for a Documentary Film
Presenter:	Writers Guild of America
Country:	United States
Year:	2005
Holder:	Brett Morgen for Moonage Daydream (2022)
Website:	http://www.wga.org/

The Writers Guild of America Award for Best Documentary Screenplay is one of three screenwriting Writers Guild of America Awards focused specifically for film. The award is presented to the best screenplay of the year for a documentary feature.^[1] It has been presented annually since the 57th Writers Guild of America Awards in 2005. Alex Gibney is the only person to win multiple awards, winning four. Gibney also holds the record for nominations with ten.

Winners and nominees

Notes

• The year indicates when the film was released. The awards are presented the following year.

2000s

Year	Film	Writer(s)
2004 ^[2]	Super Size Me	Morgan Spurlock
	Bright Leaves	Ross McElwee
	Control Room	Julia Bacha and Jehane Noujaim
	Home of the Brave	Paola di Florio
	The Hunting of the President	Harry Thomason and Nickolas Perry
	In the Realms of the Unreal	Jessica Yu
2005 ^[3]		Alex Gibney based on the book The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind
	Cowboy del Amor	Michèle Ohayon
	March of the Penguins	Luc Jacquet and Michel Fessler (narration written by Jordan Roberts); based on the story by Luc Jacquet
	Street Fight	Marshall Curry
	The Fall of Fujimori	Ellen Perry, Zack Anderson, and Kim Roberts
2006 ^[4] ^[5]	Deliver Us from Evil	Amy J. Berg
		Mark Monroe; story by Mark Monroe and John Dower
	The Heart of the Game	Ward Serrill
	Who Killed the Electric Car?	Chris Paine
	Why We Fight	Eugene Jarecki
2007 ^[6]	Taxi to the Dark Side	Alex Gibney
	Nanking	Bill Guttentag, Dan Sturman, and Elisabeth Bentley; story by Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman
	No End in Sight	Charles Ferguson
	The Camden 28	Anthony Giacchino
	The Rape of Europa	Richard Berge, Nicole Newnham, and Bonni Cohen
	Sicko	Michael Moore
2008 ^[7] ^[8]	Waltz with Bashir	Ari Folman
		Stefan Forbes and Noland Walker
	Chicago 10	Brett Morgen
	Fuel	Johnny O'Hara
		Alex Gibney from the words of Hunter S. Thompson
2009 ^[9]	The Cove	Mark Monroe
	Against the Tide	Richard Trank; based on original material written by Richard Trank and Rabbi Marvin Hier
		Michael Moore
	Earth Days	Robert Stone
	Good Hair	Chris Rock, Jeff Stilson, Lance Crouther, and Chuck Sklar
	Soundtrack for a Revolution	Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman

2010s

Year	Film	Writer(s)
2010 ^[10]	Inside Job	Charles Ferguson co-written by Chad Beck and Adam Bolt
	Enemies of the People	Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath
	Freedom Riders	Stanley Nelson Jr. based in part on the book Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice by Raymond Arsenault
	Gasland	Josh Fox
	The Two Escobars	Michael Zimbalist and Jeff Zimbalist
	Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him)?	John Scheinfeld
2011 ^[11]	Better This World	Katie Galloway and Kelly Duane de la Vega
		Marshall Curry and Matthew Hamachek
	Nostalgia for the Light	Patricio Guzmán
	Pina	Wim Wenders
	Position Among the Stars	Hetty Naaijkens-Retel Helmrich and Leonard Retel Helmrich
	Senna	Manish Pandey
2012 ^[12]	Searching for Sugar Man	Malik Bendjelloul
		Alex Gibney
	The Central Park Five	Sarah Burns, David McMahon, and Ken Burns
	The Invisible War	Kirby Dick
	We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists	Brian Knappenberger
	West of Memphis	Amy J. Berg and Billy McMillin
2013 ^[13]	Stories We Tell	Sarah Polley
	Dirty Wars	Jeremy Scahill and David Riker
	Herblock: The Black & The White	Sara Lukinson and Michael Stevens
	No Place on Earth	Janet Tobias and Paul Laikin
		Alex Gibney
2014 ^[14]	The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz	Brian Knappenberger
	Finding Vivian Maier	John Maloof and Charlie Siskel
	Last Days in Vietnam	Mark Bailey and Kevin McAlester
	Red Army	Gabe Polsky
2015 ^[15]	Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief	Alex Gibney
	Being Canadian	Robert Cohen
		Brett Morgen
	Prophet's Prey	Amy J. Berg
2016 ^[16]	Command and Control	Robert Kenner, Brian Pearle, Kim Roberts, and Eric Schlosser; based on the book Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety by Eric Schlosser
	Author: The JT LeRoy Story	Jeff Feuerzeig
	Zero Days	Alex Gibney
2017 ^[17]	Jane	Brett Morgen
	Betting on Zero	Ted Braun
	No Stone Unturned	Alex Gibney
	Oklahoma City	Barak Goodman
2018 ^[18]	Bathtubs Over Broadway	Ozzy Inguanzo & Dava Whisenant
	Fahrenheit 11/9	Michael Moore
	Generation Wealth	Lauren Greenfield
	In Search of Greatness	Gabe Polsky
2019 ^[19]		Alex Gibney
	Citizen K	Alex Gibney
	Foster	Mark Jonathan Harris
	Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People	Robert Seidman and Oren Rudavsky
	The Kingmaker	Lauren Greenfield

2020s

Year	Film	Writer(s)
2020 ^[20]	The Dissident	Mark Monroe & Bryan Fogel
		Jack Youngelson
	Herb Albert Is...	John Scheinfeld
	Red Penguins	Gabe Polsky
	Totally Under Control	Alex Gibney
2021 ^[21]	Exposing Muybridge	Marc Shaffer
	Becoming Cousteau	Mark Monroe & Pax Wasserman
	Like a Rolling Stone: The Life & Times of Ben Fong-Torres	Suzanne Joe Kai
2022 ^[22]	Moonage Daydream	Brett Morgen
	2nd Chance	Ramin Bahrani
		Mark Bailey and Keven McAlester
	Last Flight Home	Ondi Timoner
	¡Viva Maestro!	Theodore Braun
2023	The Pigeon Tunnel	Errol Morris
	Bella!	Jeff L. Lieberman
	It Ain't Over	Sean Mullin
	Stamped from the Beginning	David Teague; based on the book Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi
	What the Hell Happened to Blood, Sweat & Tears?	John Scheinfeld

Writers with multiple awards

4 awards

• Alex Gibney

2 awards

• Brett Morgen

Writers with multiple nominations

10 nominations

• Alex Gibney

4 Nominations

• Mark Monroe

3 nominations

• Amy J. Berg
• Michael Moore
• Brett Morgen

2 nominations

• Marshall Curry
• Charles Ferguson
• Lauren Greenfield
• Bill Guttentag
• Brian Knappenberger
• Mark Monroe
• Gabe Polsky
• Kim Roberts
• Dan Sturman

Notes and References

1. Web site: Documentary Film and Nonfiction Programming. Writers Guild of America West. 18 February 2019.
2. Web site: WGA serves up 1st doc kudo to 'Super'. McNary. Dave. 15 February 2005. Variety. 18 February 2019.
3. Web site: WGA docu nods to 'Enron'. McNary. Dave. 1 February 2006. Variety. 18 February 2019.
4. Web site: WGA unveils nominees for documentary screenplay award. Kay. Jeremy. 16 January 2007. Screen Daily. 20 February 2019.
5. Web site: 'Departed' shines at WGA kudos. McNary. Dave. 11 February 2007. Variety. 18 February 2019.
6. Web site: Cody, Coens bros. top WGA Awards. Thielman. Sam. McNary. Dave. 9 February 2008. Variety. 20 February 2019.
7. Web site: 2009 WGA Awards Screen Nominees. Finke. Nikki. 7 January 2009. Deadline. 20 February 2019.
8. Web site: 'Milk,' 'Slumdog' top WGA Awards. McNary. Dave. Littleton. Cynthia. 7 February 2009. Variety. 18 February 2019.
9. Web site: 2010 Writers Guild Award Winners. 21 February 2010. TV Source Magazine. 20 February 2019.
10. Web site: 'Inception,' 'Social Network' Win Top WGA Awards. Fernandez. Jay A.. Szalai. Georg. 5 February 2011. The Hollywood Reporter. 19 February 2019.
11. Web site: Writers Guild Awards: Complete Winners List. Fernandez. Jay A.. 19 February 2012. The Hollywood Reporter. 18 February 2019.
12. 2013 WGA Awards: The Complete List Of Winners. Kim. Wook. 18 February 2013. Time. 19 February 2019.
13. Web site: 'Captain Phillips,' 'Her' Win Top Screenplay Awards. McNary. Dave. 1 February 2014. Variety. 18 February 2019.
14. Web site: 'Grand Budapest Hotel,' 'True Detective' Top WGA Awards. McNary. Dave. 14 February 2015. Variety. 18 February 2019.
15. Web site: WGA Honors 'Big Short,' 'Spotlight,' 'Mad Men' at 68th Awards. McNary. Dave. 13 February 2016. Variety. 19 February 2019.
16. Web site: WGA Awards: 'Moonlight,' 'Arrival' Win For Best Screenplay, 'Atlanta' Wins Twice. Littleton. Cynthia. McNary. Dave. 19 February 2017. Variety. 19 February 2019.
17. Web site: WGA Awards: The Complete Winners List. 11 February 2018. Variety. 19 February 2019.
18. Web site: WGA Awards 2019 Winners: 'Can You Ever Forgive Me?,' 'Eighth Grade' Win Screenplay Awards. McNary. Dave. 17 February 2019. Variety. 20 February 2019.
19. Web site: Writers Guild Awards 2020: 'Parasite' and 'JoJo Rabbit' Win Screenplay Awards. Lindhal. Chris. 1 February 2020. IndieWire. 3 February 2020.
20. Web site: April 25, 2021. Emerald Fennell wins best original screenplay, nominated for best director Oscars in feature debut 'Promising Young Woman'. May 23, 2021. ABC7 Los Angeles.
21. Web site: Lewis . Hilary . March 20, 2022 . WGA Awards: 'CODA,' 'Don’t Look Up' Win Best Adapted, Original Screenplays . April 13, 2024 . The Hollywood Reporter.
22. Web site: Pedersen . Erik . Hipes . Patrick . March 5, 2023 . WGA Awards: 'Everything Everywhere All At Once' & 'Women Talking' Take Top Film Prizes – Full Winners List . April 13, 2024 . Deadline.