February 14, 2007 (Press Release) --
The Writers Guild of America has given its honors out to the best of the year as the hours tick down to Oscar night. During the WGA awards on Sunday night, Michael Arndt won the Best Original Screenplay prize for Little Miss Sunshine, sharing top honors with William Monahan, who won Best Adapted Screenplay for The Departed.
Like the rest of the feature nominees, Arndt and Monahan were first time nominees. That’s a good omen for both of them; WGA winners have lined up with the Oscar nominees for seven of the last twelve years in the Original Screenplay category and eight of the last twelve years for the Adapted Screenplay slot. The script for Deliver us from Evil was honored for Best Documentary Feature writing, and it too is up for an Oscar. The Sopranos got its third award for Best Drama Series writing, and The Office took Best Comedy. ABC’s new hit Ugly Betty rules as Best New Series.
Meanwhile at London’s Royal Opera House, the Orange British Academy Film Awards were held over the weekend, and the British Academy lived up to its culture by bestowing its highest honor on The Queen. The Stephen Frears drama was named Best Picture, and, to no one’s surprise, Helen Mirren took the laurels as Best Actress, adding to her haul of awards leading up to an increasingly probable coronation on Academy Award night. Last King of Scotland earned Forest Whitaker the Best Actor crown at BAFTA as well as British Film of the Year, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Alan Arkin was honored as best supporting actor for Little Miss Sunshine, and Michael Arndt, who was in the US getting the WGA award for the same film, took the prize for Best Original Screenplay. Paul Greengrass took the Best Director honors for United 93, while Jennifer Hudson was named Best Supporting Actress for Dreamgirls.
One more important stop on the stations of Oscar procession took place in Beverly Hills over the weekend - the Annual Academy Sci-Tech Awards were held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, and Ray Feeny was the top honoree. The digital postproduction pioneer was given the only actual Oscar of the evening, the Gordon E. Sawyer Award. Richard Edland, a two time Oscar winner, was presented with the John A. Bonner Medal of Service to the Academy. Maggie Gyllenhaal hosted, and will recount the events of the evening at the main Academy Awards ceremony.
Source: http://www.msn.com
By Dennis Michael
Like the rest of the feature nominees, Arndt and Monahan were first time nominees. That’s a good omen for both of them; WGA winners have lined up with the Oscar nominees for seven of the last twelve years in the Original Screenplay category and eight of the last twelve years for the Adapted Screenplay slot. The script for Deliver us from Evil was honored for Best Documentary Feature writing, and it too is up for an Oscar. The Sopranos got its third award for Best Drama Series writing, and The Office took Best Comedy. ABC’s new hit Ugly Betty rules as Best New Series.
Meanwhile at London’s Royal Opera House, the Orange British Academy Film Awards were held over the weekend, and the British Academy lived up to its culture by bestowing its highest honor on The Queen. The Stephen Frears drama was named Best Picture, and, to no one’s surprise, Helen Mirren took the laurels as Best Actress, adding to her haul of awards leading up to an increasingly probable coronation on Academy Award night. Last King of Scotland earned Forest Whitaker the Best Actor crown at BAFTA as well as British Film of the Year, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Alan Arkin was honored as best supporting actor for Little Miss Sunshine, and Michael Arndt, who was in the US getting the WGA award for the same film, took the prize for Best Original Screenplay. Paul Greengrass took the Best Director honors for United 93, while Jennifer Hudson was named Best Supporting Actress for Dreamgirls.
One more important stop on the stations of Oscar procession took place in Beverly Hills over the weekend - the Annual Academy Sci-Tech Awards were held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, and Ray Feeny was the top honoree. The digital postproduction pioneer was given the only actual Oscar of the evening, the Gordon E. Sawyer Award. Richard Edland, a two time Oscar winner, was presented with the John A. Bonner Medal of Service to the Academy. Maggie Gyllenhaal hosted, and will recount the events of the evening at the main Academy Awards ceremony.
Source: http://www.msn.com
By Dennis Michael

The Writers Guild of America has honored Little Miss Sunshine and The Departed, while the British Academy crowned the King and the Queen.
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