Writers Guild delays nominations for the 2025 WGA Awards again due to fires in LA

He Writers Guild (WGA; Writers Guild of America) nominations for the 2025 WGA Awards are postponed again following the fires in Los Angeles, CA.

Originally, the guild would announce all the nominees for best original and adapted screenplay in the film and television categories on Thursday, January 9, 2025, however, the announcement was delayed to Monday, January 13 due to the catastrophe that strikes to southern California. Now, The Writers Guild confirms that the nominations have been postponed again.

In a press release, the WGA reported:

“Due to the ongoing wildfires in the Los Angeles area, we will delay announcing the Writers Guild Award nominees until further notice.”

The 2025 Writers Guild Awards will be held in simultaneous ceremonies in New York and Los Angeles on February 15. It was previously announced that Bill Lawrence (Bad Monkey, Shrinking, Ted Lasso, Scrubs) would receive the Herb Sargent Award for Excellence in Comedy and that Scott Frank (Monsieur Spade, The Queen’s Gambit, Out of Sight, Get Shorty, Minority Report, The Wolverine, Logan) would receive the Ian McLellan Hunter Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Writers Guild's decision follows in the footsteps of the Producers Guild's decision to also delay for the second time its own announcement of the nominees for the 2025 PGA Awards to next week. Earlier in the morning, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed that they will be extending their voting window to January 19 and delaying the announcement of their nominees (for the second time) to Thursday, January 23. The date of the 2025 Oscars gala remains unchanged. The prizes will be awarded on Sunday, March 2.

Other rescheduling of events in the film and television industry include the Oscar nominees luncheon, scheduled for Tuesday, February 18, the Critics Choice Awards (moving from January 12 to January 26 ), the cancellations of the AFI Awards on Friday, January 10 and the BAFTA Tea Party on Saturday, January 11, multiple premieres including The Last Showgirl by Gia Coppola and Better Man by Michael Gracey, and the pause in filming of television series such as Grey’s Anatomy, Hacksy Suits LAamong others.

The Los Angeles fires, which started on Tuesday, January 7 in Pacific Palisades due to an unusual wind storm combined with very dry conditions, have left at least 24 people dead. Eight were attributed to the Palisades fire and 16 to the Eaton fire, according to information from the coroner's office. Reports of missing persons are increasing “hour by hour,” according to the county sheriff.

Strong winds have fueled the spread of the fires, but calmer winds in recent days have allowed firefighters to make progress in fighting the flames. As of Sunday morning, January 12, the fires had consumed approximately 62 square miles, an area larger than San Francisco.

The National Weather Service said strong Santa Ana winds are expected to return, once again turning the wildfires ravaging the country into infernos. Wind strength at night can reach up to 70 mph.

Firefighting crews had contained 11% of the Palisades Fire and 27% of the Eaton Fire as of Sunday morning. The Kenneth and Hurst fires were completely contained according to CalFire reports.