Among the big winners of the 74th annual Writers Guild Awards were Don’t Look Up, Coda, Hacks and Succession.
The ceremony took place virtually on Sunday and was hosted by Ashley Nicole Black. The US comedian, writer and actress joked that the event was virtual not so much because of Covid-19, but for sparing writers from “having to answer the question, ‘So what are you working on right now?’”
“The only thing worse than answering that question is having to answer it when you’re trying to bite into a free slider,” she said.
Black was nominated in the Best Comedy Series category for her work on the Apple TV+ show Ted Lasso, which won two awards last year. However, the series lost to Hacks, which was one of several double winners on the night.
The winners
Adam McKay’s doomsday satire Don’t Look Up was named winner of the Original Screenplay award. The film beat fellow Academy Award nominees King Richard and Licorice Pizza, as well as The French Dispatch and Being the Ricardos.
The award marked the third Writers Guild Awards win for McKay, who shared story credit for the film with journalist David Sirota. McKay had previously won in 2010 for his work on Saturday Night Live and again in 2016 for co-writing The Big Short.
In his pre-recorded acceptance speech, McKay said: “If this is airing, this is real, legitimate excitement.” He also made a point to thank Sirota, who “gave me the idea for this script”.
Sian Heder’s CODA was awarded the prize for Best Adapted Screenplay. The drama, centred around a hearing child in a deaf family, came ahead of Dune, Nightmare Alley, tick, tick…BOOM! and West Side Story.
“I had a really incredible education writing this script,” Heder said in her video acceptance speech. She thanked “the people from the deaf community who were my collaborators”, including deaf consultants and sign-language advisers.
An Apple Original, CODA is loosely based on the 2014 French comedy-drama La Famille Belier. The film is one of the top contenders in this year's Oscars and has been nominated in three categories, including best picture and best adapted screenplay. US actor Troy Kotsur, who became the first deaf person to win a Bafta recently, is also in the running for the best supporting actor award.
The comedy-drama series Hacks won awards in both the Comedy Series and New Series categories. Succession also nabbed two awards, winning Drama Series and Episodic Srama.
Exposing Muybridge, a feature documentary about 19th-century photographer Eadweard Muybridge, won the award for Documentary Screenplay.
The Kate Winslet-starring crime mini series Mare of Easttown won in the Original Long Form category, while Netflix drama Maid took home the Adapted Long Form award.
The sitcom Tuca and Bertie won in the Animation category. The Great, meanwhile, won in the Episodic Comedy category and 60 Minutes won in two out of three news categories. The concluding season of Conan O’Brien’s eponymous talk show also won for Comedy/Variety Talk series.
MEDIEVIL%20(1998)
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDeveloper%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20SCE%20Studio%20Cambridge%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sony%20Computer%20Entertainment%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EConsole%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20PlayStation%2C%20PlayStation%204%20and%205%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Race card:
6.30pm: Maiden; Dh165,000; 2,000m
7.05pm: Handicap; Dh165,000; 2,200m
7.40pm: Conditions; Dh240,000; 1,600m
8.15pm: Handicap; Dh190,000; 2,000m
8.50pm: The Garhoud Sprint Listed; Dh265,000; 1,200m
9.25pm: Handicap; Dh170,000; 1,600m
10pm: Handicap; Dh190,000; 1,400m
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Takestep%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20March%202018%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Mohamed%20Khashaba%2C%20Mohamed%20Abdallah%2C%20Mohamed%20Adel%20Wafiq%20and%20Ayman%20Taha%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Cairo%2C%20Egypt%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20health%20technology%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EEmployees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2011%20full%20time%20and%2022%20part%20time%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20pre-Series%20A%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Suggested picnic spots
Abu Dhabi
Umm Al Emarat Park
Yas Gateway Park
Delma Park
Al Bateen beach
Saadiyaat beach
The Corniche
Zayed Sports City
Dubai
Kite Beach
Zabeel Park
Al Nahda Pond Park
Mushrif Park
Safa Park
Al Mamzar Beach Park
Al Qudrah Lakes
Meydan racecard:
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 (PA) Group 1 | US$75,000 (Dirt) | 2,200 metres
7.05pm: UAE 1000 Guineas (TB) Listed | $250,000 (D) | 1,600m
7.40pm: Meydan Classic Trial (TB) Conditions | $100,000 (Turf) | 1,400m
8.15pm: Al Shindagha Sprint (TB) Group 3 | $200,000 (D) | 1,200m
8.50pm: Handicap (TB) | $175,000 (D) | 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) | $175,000 (T) | 2,000m
10pm: Handicap (TB) | $135,000 (T) | 1,600m
SQUADS
UAE
Mohammed Naveed (captain), Mohamed Usman (vice-captain), Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Imran Haider, Tahir Mughal, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed, Fahad Nawaz, Abdul Shakoor, Sultan Ahmed, CP Rizwan
Nepal
Paras Khadka (captain), Gyanendra Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Pradeep Airee, Binod Bhandari, Avinash Bohara, Sundeep Jora, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Rohit Paudel, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi, Basant Regmi, Pawan Sarraf, Bhim Sharki, Aarif Sheikh
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
If you go:
The flights: Etihad, Emirates, British Airways and Virgin all fly from the UAE to London from Dh2,700 return, including taxes
The tours: The Tour for Muggles usually runs several times a day, lasts about two-and-a-half hours and costs £14 (Dh67)
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is on now at the Palace Theatre. Tickets need booking significantly in advance
Entrance to the Harry Potter exhibition at the House of MinaLima is free
The hotel: The grand, 1909-built Strand Palace Hotel is in a handy location near the Theatre District and several of the key Harry Potter filming and inspiration sites. The family rooms are spacious, with sofa beds that can accommodate children, and wooden shutters that keep out the light at night. Rooms cost from £170 (Dh808).
Key Points
- Protests against President Omar Al Bashir enter their sixth day
- Reports of President Bashir's resignation and arrests of senior government officials
Veil (Object Lessons)
Rafia Zakaria
Bloomsbury Academic
THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
