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Britons Emerald Fennell and Sacha Baron Cohen were among the winners of the Writers Guild Awards, which greatly boosted their Oscars hopes.
Fennell won the award for best original screenplay for her film Promising Young Woman – her directorial debut.
She won over Aaron Sorkin, who wrote The Trial of the Chicago 7, and Will Berson and Shaka King, who wrote Judas and the Black Messiah – all of whom are vying for the best photo gong at the Oscars next month.
Fennell (C) received an Oscar nomination for his film Promising Young Woman. Pic: Merie Weismiller Wallace / Focus Features via AP
She accepted the UK award, saying in a video message that the victory was “an incredible, incredible, wonderful and unexpected dream come true”.
In the meantime, Sacha Baron Cohen, along with his writing team, won the award for Best Adapted Screenplay for his Borat sequel, Subsequent Moviefilm.
In his acceptance speech, he joked, “I can’t help but think we won it because 60% of the Writers Guild worked on this stuff.”
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is also nominated for an Oscar in the same category.
Elsewhere at awards, The Crown took home Best Drama Series, while Ted Lasso, an Apple TV original, won gongs for Best Comedy Series and Best New Series.
The Writers Guild Awards show usually takes place live on the east and west coast of the United States, but due to the pandemic it ran as a pre-recorded event hosted by actor Kal Penn, themed of “unity”.
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Other winners include the Netflix chess drama The Queen’s Gambit and the crime series Ozark.
Best Documentary Screenplay went to Mark Monroe and Bryan Fogel for their work on The Dissident, which focused on the murder of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi.
Fennell hopes to replicate his Oscar success next month. Last year, Best Original Screenplay at the Writers Guild Awards went to Parasite – which rose to Oscar success later in the season.
The Oscars will take place on April 25, with a in person ceremony.
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