Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement
Lifetime achievement award given by the Writers Guild of America
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The Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement (also known as the Screen Laurel Award) is a lifetime achievement award given by the Writers Guild of America. It is given "to that member of the Guild who, in the opinion of the current Board of Directors, has advanced the literature of the motion picture through the years, and who has made outstanding contributions to the profession of the screen writer."[1] With the exception of 2009, 2021, and 2022 in which no awards were given, it has been presented annually since the 6th Writers Guild of America Awards in 1953.[2][3] Billy Wilder is the only person to win the award multiple times, winning in 1957 and 1980 (both as part of a partnership).
| Writers Guild of America Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement | |
|---|---|
2025 recipient: David Lynch | |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Writers Guild of America |
| First award | 1953 |
| Most recent recipient(s) | James Cameron |
| Website | https://www.wga.org |
Recipients
1950s
| Year | Recipient(s) |
|---|---|
| 1953 | Sonya Levien |
| 1954 | Dudley Nichols |
| 1955 | Robert Riskin |
| 1956 | Julius Epstein & Philip Epstein and Albert Hackett & Frances Goodrich |
| 1957 | Charles Brackett & Billy Wilder |
| 1958 | John Lee Mahin |
| 1959 | Nunnally Johnson |
1960s
| Year | Recipient(s) |
|---|---|
| 1960 | Norman Krasna |
| 1961 | George Seaton |
| 1962 | Philip Dunne |
| 1963 | Joseph L. Mankiewicz |
| 1964 | John Huston |
| 1965 | Sidney Buchman |
| 1966 | Isobel Lennart |
| 1967 | Richard Brooks |
| 1968 | Casey Robinson |
| 1969 | Carl Foreman |
1970s
| Year | Recipient(s) |
|---|---|
| 1970 | Dalton Trumbo |
| 1971 | James Poe |
| 1972 | Ernest Lehman |
| 1973 | William Rose |
| 1974 | Paddy Chayefsky |
| 1975 | Preston Sturges |
| 1976 | Michael Wilson |
| 1977 | Samson Raphaelson |
| 1978 | Edward Anhalt |
| 1979 | Neil Simon |
1980s
| Year | Recipient(s) |
|---|---|
| 1980 | Billy Wilder & I. A. L. Diamond |
| 1981 | Ben Hecht |
| 1982 | Paul Osborn |
| 1983 | Lamar Trotti |
| 1984 | Melville Shavelson, Jack Rose, Norman Panama, and Melvin Frank |
| 1985 | William Goldman |
| 1986 | Waldo Salt |
| 1987 | Woody Allen |
| 1988 | Irving Ravetch & Harriet Frank Jr. |
| 1989 | Ring Lardner Jr. |
1990s
| Year | Recipient(s) |
|---|---|
| 1990 | Donald Ogden Stewart |
| 1991 | Alvin Sargent |
| 1992 | Frank Pierson |
| 1993 | Horton Foote |
| 1994 | Ruth Prawer Jhabvala |
| 1995 | Charles Bennett |
| 1996 | Daniel Taradash |
| 1997 | Robert Towne |
| 1998 | Bo Goldman |
| 1999 | Paul Schrader |
2000s
| Year | Recipient(s) |
|---|---|
| 2000 | Jean-Claude Carrière |
| 2001 | Betty Comden and Adolph Green |
| 2002 | Blake Edwards |
| 2003 | Mel Brooks |
| 2004 | John Michael Hayes |
| 2005 | David Mamet |
| 2006 | Lawrence Kasdan |
| 2007 | Robert Benton |
| 2008 | Budd Schulberg |
| 2009 | No award given |
2010s
| Year | Recipient(s) |
|---|---|
| 2010 | Barry Levinson |
| 2011 | Steven Zaillian |
| 2012 | Eric Roth |
| 2013 | Tom Stoppard |
| 2014 | Paul Mazursky |
| 2015 | Harold Ramis |
| 2016 | Elaine May |
| 2017 | Oliver Stone |
| 2018 | James L. Brooks |
| 2019 | Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel |
2020s
| Year | Recipient(s) |
|---|---|
| 2020 | Nancy Meyers |
| 2021 | No Award |
| 2022 | No Award |
| 2023 | Charlie Kaufman |
| 2024 | Walter Hill |
| 2025 | David Lynch |
| 2026 | James Cameron |