‘Milk,’ ‘Slumdog’ win WGA honors

Milk and Slumdog Millionaire won the top honors Saturday night at the 2009 Writers Guild Awards, presented in dual ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York.

Milk — written by Dustin Lance Black — won the prize for best original screenplay, while Simon Beaufoy won for best adapted screenplay for Slumdog Millionaire, based on the novel Q and A by Vikas Swarup.

Slumdog Millionaire has also garnered top prizes at other major award ceremonies leading up to the Feb. 22 presentation of the Academy Awards. It won the Producers Guild of America’s top feature film prize; its director, Danny Boyle, won the Directors Guild of America award for feature film directing; and its cast won the Screen Actors Guild prize for best ensemble in a motion picture.

Waltz with Bashir, written by Ari Folman, won the WGA honor for best documentary screenplay.

In television categories, Mad Men won for best drama series; 30 Rock won for best comedy series; Recount took the prize for original long form writing; and John Adams won for best adapted long form writing.

The Simpsons won for animation and Saturday Night Live was honored for best comedy/variety series writing.

The WGA Awards were presented at ceremonies in Los Angeles, with actor Neil Patrick Harris as host, and New York, with Daily Show regular John Oliver as host.