‘Walking Dead,’ ‘Aim High’ Win WGA New Media Awards

The 64th Annual Writers Guild of America Awards were handed out by Hollywood notables to very deserving WGA members in concurrent ceremonies on both coasts last weekend. Zooey Deschanel and Joel McHale tag teamed the Los Angeles-based kudosfest while Saturday Night Live alum Rachel Dratch hosted the East Coast version in New York City.

The emcees had help in distributing trophies reminiscent of whale tails (because a good writer knows how to spin one whale of a tale!) and entertaining the self-deprecating and boozed up crowd (at least that’s how you could describe the audience at the B.B. King House of Blues in Times Square) from household celebrities like Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Kristin Wiig, and Mandy Patinkin. Those individuals and more doled out and/or accepted honors on behalf of winners like Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris, Vince Gilligan for Breaking Bad, Henry Bromell for Homeland, and a few dozen other talented persons who are making it in the entertainment industry.

That list of a few dozen other talented persons also includes the winners of the WGA Awards’ recently added New Media categories. Heath Corson and Richie Keen won out in Outstanding Achievement in Writing Original New Media for AOL Cambio and McG’s Aim High, while John Esposito and Greg Nicotero beat the competition to take home Outstanding Achievement in Writing Derivative New Media for the AMC-produced and Machinima-distributed The Walking Dead web series.

A big congrats to this year’s winners, who join Anyone But Me and 30 Rock’s Frank vs. Lutz in the Writers Guild of America’s pantheon of New Media Honorees who possess one of the these.