'Spotlight' & 'The Big Short' Take Top Prizes At WGA Awards

Spotlight The Big ShortIf there is one thing clear about the Oscars, it’s that this year, it won’t be dominated by any single picture. 2015 saw the love spread out with "Birdman" and "The Grand Budapest Hotel" leading the way with four wins each, and it’s looking like the same scenario will play out this year. The guild and precursor awards have seen the momentum shift between a handful of films, and last night at the WGA Awards, two underdogs emerged as the big victors of the night.

READ MORE: ‘Trainwreck,’ ‘Steve Jobs,’ ‘Spotlight,’ ‘Sicario,’ And More Land WGA Screenplay Nominations

"Spotlight" and "The Big Short" added to their awards season bonafides, taking prizes for Original Screenplay and Adapted Screenplay, respectively. The win for "Spotlight" certainly indicates they could have some sleeper wins in a couple of weeks. As for "The Revenant," while eligible for Adapted Screenplay, was not nominated here, nor at the Oscars, so if you’ve got a pool going, you might want to place your money on Adam McKay‘s film in that category.

Paramount is certainly proud of "The Big Short," unveiling a timely new TV spot that the studio’s President of Worldwide Marketing And Distribution Megan Colligan is very happy with. "Make a difference. This is the year. To go big." she told THR, referencing the ad. "I love this spot so much. I wish I had $30 million to run it everywhere."

Check out the full list of WGA winners and the new "The Big Short" spot below.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Spotlight
Written by Josh Singer & Tom McCarthy; Open Road Films

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Big Short
Screenplay by Charles Randolph and Adam McKay; Based on the Book by Michael Lewis; Paramount Pictures

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
Written by Alex Gibney; HBO Documentary Films

DRAMA SERIES
Mad Men, Written by Lisa Albert, Semi Chellas, Jonathan Igla, Janet Leahy, Erin Levy, Tom Smuts, Robert Towne, Matthew Weiner, Carly Wray; AMC

EPISODIC DRAMA
“Uno” (Better Call Saul)
Written by Vince Gilligan & Peter Gould; AMC

COMEDY SERIES
Veep
Written by Simon Blackwell, Jon Brown, Kevin Cecil, Roger Drew, Peter Fellows, Neil Gibbons, Rob Gibbons, Sean Gray, Callie Hersheway, Armando Iannucci, Sean Love, Ian Martin, Georgia Pritchett, David Quantick, Andy Riley, Tony Roche, Will Smith; HBO

EPISODIC COMEDY
“Sand Hill Shuffle” (Silicon Valley)
Written by Clay Tarver; HBO

COMEDY / VARIETY (INCLUDING TALK) – SERIES
Real Time with Bill Maher
Writers: Scott Carter, Adam Felber, Matt Gunn, Brian Jacobsmeyer, Jay Jaroch, Chris Kelly, Bill Maher, Billy Martin, Danny Vermont; HBO

COMEDY / VARIETY – MUSIC, AWARDS, TRIBUTES – SPECIALS
Jimmy Kimmel Live: 10th Annual After The Oscars Special
Written by Jack Allison, Tony Barbieri, Jonathan Bines, Joelle Boucai, Greg Dorris, Gary Greenberg, Josh Halloway, Sal Iacono, Eric Immerman, Jimmy Kimmel, Bess Kalb, Jeff Loveness, Molly McNearney, Danny Ricker, Joe Strazzullo, Bridger Winegar; ABC

COMEDY / VARIETY – SKETCH SERIES
Inside Amy Schumer
Head Writer: Jessi Klein Writers: Hallie Cantor, Kim Caramele, Kyle Dunnigan, Jon Glaser, Kurt Metzger, Christine Nangle, Dan Powell, Tami Sagher, Amy Schumer; Comedy Centraland Jimmy Kimmel Live: 10th Annual After The Oscars Special won for Comedy/Variety Special.

LONG FORM ORIGINAL
Saints & Strangers
Written by Seth Fisher, Walon Green, Chip Johannessen, Eric Overmyer; National Geographic Channel

CHILDREN’S EPISODIC
“Gortimer and the Surprise Signature” (Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street)
Written by Gretchen Enders & Aminta Goyel; Amazon Studios

CHILDREN’S LONG FORM
Descendants, Written by Josann McGibbon & Sara Parriott; Disney Channel

TV NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“Cuba” (60 Minutes)
Written by Scott Pelley, Nicole Young, Oriana Zill de Granados, Andy Court and Robert Anderson; CBS News

TV NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“The Storm After the Storm” (60 Minutes)
Written by Sharyn Alfonsi, Michael Rey and Oriana Zill de Granados; CBS News

DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – CURRENT EVENTS
“American Terrorist” (Frontline)
Written by Thomas Jennings; PBS

LONG FORM ADAPTED
Fargo
Written by Steve Blackman, Bob DeLaurentis, Noah Hawley, Ben Nedivi, Matt Wolpert, Based on the film Fargo; FX

DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS
“The Great Math Mystery” (Nova)
Written by Daniel McCabe; PBS

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
Written by Alex Gibney; HBO Documentary Films

DAYTIME DRAMA

General Hospital
Writers: Ron Carlivati, Anna Theresa Cascio, Andrea Archer Compton, Suzanne Flynn, Kate Hall, Elizabeth Korte, Daniel James O’Connor, Elizabeth Page, Jean Passanante, Katherine Schock, Scott Sickles, Chris Van Etten; ABC

RADIO NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“Passages”
Written by Gail Lee; CBS Radio News

EPISODIC COMEDY
“Sand Hill Shuffle” (Silicon Valley)
Written by Clay Tarver; HBO

RADIO DOCUMENTARY

“Marking the End of Vietnam: 40 Years Later”
Written by Andrew Evans; ABC News Radio

ANIMATION
“Housetrap” (Bob’s Burgers)
Written by Dan Fybel; Fox

SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA – ORIGINAL
“Back to Reality” (Weight)
Written by Daryn Strauss; weighttheseries.com

NEW SERIES
Mr. Robot
Written by Kyle Bradstreet, Kate Erickson, Sam Esmail, David Iserson, Randolph Leon, Adam Penn, Matt Pyken; USA

VIDEOGAME WRITING
Rise of the Tomb Raider, Lead Narrative Designer John Stafford; Narrative Designer Cameron Suey; Lead Writer Rhianna Pratchett; Additional Writer Philip Gelatt; Microsoft

QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
Hollywood Game Night
Head Writer: Grant Taylor; Writers: Michael Agbabian, Alex Chauvin, Ann Slichter, Dwight D. Smith; NBC

SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA – ADAPTED
“Chapter Two: Phoebe” (Heroes Reborn: Dark Matters)
Written by Zach Craley; nbc.com

ON-AIR PROMOTION (TELEVISION, NEW MEDIA OR RADIO)
“The McCarthys and Under the Dome Promos”
Written by Erial Tompkins; CBS