Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay
The 2025 recipient: Ryan Coogler
Presented by	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
First awarded	February 27, 1941; 85 years ago (1941-02-27) (for films released in 1940)
Currently held by	Ryan Coogler Sinners (2025)

The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is a special prize given out at the Academy Awards, also known as the Oscar. This award celebrates the best movie script that was completely new and not based on any existing book, play, or other story. The writers who create these amazing original stories and dialogues are honored with this award.

This award category started in 1940. It has always been given alongside the Best Adapted Screenplay award, which is for scripts based on existing works. For a while, there was also a "Best Story" award, which recognized the original idea behind a film. However, in 1956, the "Best Story" award joined with the "Best Original Screenplay" award.

How Scripts Qualify for Best Original Screenplay

To be considered for this award, a movie script must be completely new. This means it cannot be based on a book, play, or any other story that was already published.

The Academy's writers' group decides if a script is truly original or if it's an adaptation. They look at where the story ideas came from, interviews with the filmmakers, and even how the movie was advertised. Sometimes, their decision might be different from what other groups, like the Writers Guild of America, decide.

For example, the movie Gangs of New York was nominated as an original screenplay. Even though it used historical facts from a book, the writers created most of the characters and the main plot themselves. On the other hand, Moonlight was based on a play that hadn't been published yet. It was first considered original, but the Academy later placed it in the adapted screenplay category, where it won. Another interesting case was Whiplash. A short film was made from one of its scenes before the full movie. Because of this, it was considered an adapted screenplay, even though the main script was new.

Amazing Achievements in Original Screenwriting

This award category has seen many talented writers achieve incredible things!

Woody Allen received the most Oscar nominations in this category with 16. He won three times for Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters, and Midnight in Paris.

• Most Wins and Nominations: Woody Allen holds the record for the most nominations in this category with 16. He also won the award three times for his films Annie Hall (1977), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), and Midnight in Paris (2011). Paddy Chayefsky and Billy Wilder also won three screenwriting Oscars each, though some of theirs were for adapted screenplays.

• Youngest and Oldest Winners: Woody Allen is also the oldest winner in this category, receiving his award for Midnight in Paris when he was 76 years old. The youngest winner is Ben Affleck, who won at age 25 for Good Will Hunting, which he co-wrote with Matt Damon.

• International Recognition: Richard Schweizer was the first person to win this award for a film not in English, with the French movie Marie-Louise. Other winners for non-English scripts include Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin-won for the Korean film Parasite, and Justine Triet and Arthur Harari for the French film Anatomy of a Fall.

• Pioneering Women Writers: Frances Marion was the first woman to win an Oscar for her original script, though it was before this specific category existed. Muriel Box was the first woman to win in the Best Original Screenplay category itself, sharing the award with her husband, Sydney Box, for The Seventh Veil.

• Family Achievements:
  • Joel Coen and Ethan Coen are the only siblings to win this award, for their film Fargo in 1996.
  • Francis Ford Coppola and his daughter Sofia Coppola are the only father-daughter pair to both win this award. Francis won for Patton (1970), and Sofia won for Lost in Translation (2003).
  • Kenny and Keith Lucas are the only African-American siblings to be nominated in this category for Judas and the Black Messiah (2020/21).

• Multiple Nominations in One Year: Some writers have been nominated for two different films in the same year! For example, Preston Sturges was nominated for Hail the Conquering Hero and The Miracle of Morgan's Creek in 1944.

• First African-American and Asian Winners: Jordan Peele made history as the first African-American to win this award for his movie Get Out in 2017. Later, Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin-won became the first Asian writers to win a screenplay Oscar for Parasite in 2019.

Past Winners of the Original Screenplay Oscar

Many talented writers have won this prestigious award over the years. The list below highlights some of the most recent winners and nominees, showcasing the diverse and creative stories that have been recognized by the Academy.

• 2025: Ryan Coogler won for Sinners.
• 2024: Sean Baker won for Anora.
• 2023: Justine Triet and Arthur Harari won for Anatomy of a Fall.
• 2022: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert won for Everything Everywhere All at Once.
• 2021: Kenneth Branagh won for Belfast.
• 2020/21: Emerald Fennell won for Promising Young Woman.
• 2019: Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin-won won for Parasite.
• 2018: Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, and Peter Farrelly won for Green Book.
• 2017: Jordan Peele won for Get Out.
• 2016: Kenneth Lonergan won for Manchester by the Sea.
• 2015: Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy won for Spotlight.
• 2014: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr., and Armando Bo won for Birdman.
• 2013: Spike Jonze won for Her.
• 2012: Quentin Tarantino won for Django Unchained.
• 2011: Woody Allen won for Midnight in Paris.
• 2010: David Seidler won for The King's Speech.

Writers with Multiple Wins

Writers with Multiple Nominations

Age Records for Writers

Images for kids

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  Orson Welles co-won the award for Citizen Kane in 1942.

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  Herman J. Mankiewicz won for Citizen Kane (1941) alongside Orson Welles.

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  Billy Wilder won twice for Sunset Boulevard (1950) and The Apartment (1960).

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  Alan Jay Lerner won for An American in Paris (1951).

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  Budd Schulberg won for On the Waterfront (1954).

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  William Inge won for Splendor in the Grass (1961).

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  Claude Lelouch won for A Man and a Woman (1966).

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  Mel Brooks won for his comedy The Producers (1968).

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  William Goldman, winner in 1969 for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

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  Francis Ford Coppola won for Patton (1970).

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  Paddy Chayefsky won twice for The Hospital (1971) and Network (1976).

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  Robert Towne won for Chinatown (1975).

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  Woody Allen won thrice for Annie Hall (1977), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), and Midnight in Paris (2011). He has received sixteen nominations total, the most of any writer.

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  Steve Tesich won for Breaking Away (1979).

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  Bo Goldman won for Melvin and Howard (1980).

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  John Patrick Shanley won for Moonstruck (1987).

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  Callie Khouri won for Thelma & Louise (1991).

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  Neil Jordan won for The Crying Game in 1992.

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  Jane Campion won for The Piano in 1993.

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  Quentin Tarantino won twice for Pulp Fiction (1994), and Django Unchained (2012).

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  Christopher McQuarrie won for The Usual Suspects in 1995.

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  Writer-director pair the Coen brothers won for Fargo (1996).

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  Ben Affleck won for co-writing Good Will Hunting (1997).

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  Matt Damon won for co-writing Good Will Hunting (1997).

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  Tom Stoppard won for Shakespeare in Love (1998).

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  Alan Ball won for American Beauty (1999).

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  Cameron Crowe won for Almost Famous (2000).

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  Julian Fellowes won for Gosford Park (2001).

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  Pedro Almodóvar won for Talk to Her (2002).

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  Sofia Coppola won for 2003's Lost in Translation. Her father previously won for Patton.

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  Charlie Kaufman won for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004).

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  Paul Haggis won for Crash (2005).

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  Michael Arndt won for Little Miss Sunshine (2006).

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  Diablo Cody won for 2007's Juno.

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  Dustin Lance Black won for 2008's Milk.

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  Mark Boal won for 2009's The Hurt Locker.

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  Spike Jonze won for Her (2013).

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  Alejandro G. Iñárritu won for Birdman (2014).

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  Tom McCarthy won for Spotlight (2015).

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  Josh Singer won for co-writing Spotlight (2015).

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  Kenneth Lonergan won for Manchester by the Sea (2016).

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  Jordan Peele became the first African-American to win with Get Out (2017).

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  Bong Joon-ho won for Parasite (2019), co-written with Han Jin-won.

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  Emerald Fennell won for Promising Young Woman (2020).

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  Kenneth Branagh won for Belfast (2021).

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  Daniels won for Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022).

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  Justine Triet co-won for Anatomy of a Fall (2023).

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  Arthur Harari co-won for Anatomy of a Fall (2023).

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  Sean Baker won for Anora (2024).

See also

In Spanish: Anexo:Óscar al mejor guion original para niños

• Academy Award for Best Story
• Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay
• BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay
• Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay