LOS ANGELES - The Oscar contenders "Milk" and "Slumdog Millionaire" won top honors Saturday at the Writers Guild of America Awards.
Dustin Lance Black won the original screenplay prize for "Milk," a biography of murdered slain gay-rights leader Harvey Milk.
The adapted screenplay award for "Slumdog Millionaire" went to Simon Beaufoy, who based it on a novel by Vikas Swarup about an Indian street orphan's journey of survival and love.
"Slumdog Millionaire" has been an unlikely hit. The low-budget feature has 10 Oscar nominations, including best picture, and also has taken awards at the Golden Globes and from the Producers Guild of America, Directors Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild.
"Milk" has eight Academy Award nominations, including best picture and best actor for Sean Penn.
Ari Folman won the documentary screenplay award for "Waltz with Bashir." The film, which is nominated in the foreign-language category at the Academy Awards, is an animated study of an Israeli soldier struggling to recall suppressed memories of his involvement in the war with Lebanon.
In television categories, writers for NBC's "30 Rock" and AMC's "Mad Men" won in the comedy and drama categories, respectively. Both also won WGA awards last year: "30 Rock" for TV comedy and "Mad Men" for new series.
Some of the other awards were:
- New Series: "In Treatment."
- Episodic Drama: "Breaking Bad" (Pilot).
- Episodic Comedy: "30 Rock" (Succession).
- Animation: "The Simpsons" (Apocalypse Cow).
- Daytime Serials: "As the World Turns."
