'Spotlight,' 'Big Short' win Writers Guild of America awards

FILE - This photo provided by courtesy of Open Road Films shows, Rachel McAdams, from left, as Sacha Pfeiffer, Mark Ruffalo as Michael Rezendes and Brian d'Arcy James as Matt Carroll, in a scene from the film, "Spotlight." Oscar contenders "Spotlight" and "The Big Short" won the top awards for screenwriting from the Writers Guild of America at a ceremony Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016, that was held in Los Angeles and New York.  (Kerry Hayes/Open Road Films via AP, File)
FILE - This photo provided by courtesy of Open Road Films shows, Rachel McAdams, from left, as Sacha Pfeiffer, Mark Ruffalo as Michael Rezendes and Brian d'Arcy James as Matt Carroll, in a scene from the film, "Spotlight." Oscar contenders "Spotlight" and "The Big Short" won the top awards for screenwriting from the Writers Guild of America at a ceremony Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016, that was held in Los Angeles and New York. (Kerry Hayes/Open Road Films via AP, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Oscar contenders "Spotlight" and "The Big Short" won the top awards for screenwriting from the Writers Guild of America at a ceremony Saturday that was held in Los Angeles and New York.

"Spotlight," about the Boston Globe's effort to uncover a priest sex-abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, won for best original screenplay. The writers were Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy.

"The Big Short," about the 2008 financial crisis, won for best adapted screenplay. Writers Charles Randolph and Adam McKay wrote a screenplay adapted from the book of the same title by Michael Lewis.

In the television categories, the now-concluded AMC series "Mad Men" about the advertising business in the 1960s and 1970s, won for drama. The writers honored are by Lisa Albert, Semi Chellas, Jonathan Igla, Janet Leahy, Erin Levy, Tom Smuts, Robert Towne, Matthew Weiner and Carly Wray.

The HBO series "Veep," about the exploits of politician Selina Meyer, won for comedy. The writers honored were Simon Blackwell, Jon Brown, Kevin Cecil, Roger Drew, Peter Fellows, Neil Gibbons, Rob Gibbons, Sean Gray, Callie Hersheway, Armando Iannucci, Sean Love, Ian Martin, Georgia Pritchett, David Quantick, Andy Riley, Tony Roche and Will Smith.

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