Bite Size Oscar History: Best Original Screenplay
The 98th Academy Awards is almost here and it’s time to celebrate. We’re shining a light on past winners for Best Cinematography, Best Animated Feature, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Original…
The 98th Academy Awards is almost here and it’s time to celebrate. We're shining a light on past winners for Best Cinematography, Best Animated Feature, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Original Score.
The category for Best Original Screenplay emerged in 1940 and has occasionally had surprising or controversial wins.
In 2019, Green Book writers Nick Vallelonga, Brian Hayes Currie, and Peter Farrelly won this coveted writing award at the 91st Academy Awards, but not everyone embraced this win. Based on a true story, the movie starred Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen in the roles of Dr. Donald Shirley and Tony Lip. The story was accused of having historical inaccuracies about race and of promoting a harmful “white savior” narrative. Even the NAACP came out against it. Despite its modest budget of $23 million, it was a box office hit, bringing in $321 million globally.
Join us here at Script as we celebrate the magic of the movies weekly until the Oscars airs on March 15, 2026.
Sonya Alexander started off her career training to be a talent agent. She eventually realized she was meant to be on the creative end and has been writing ever since. As a freelance writer she’s written screenplays, covered film, television, music and video games and done academic writing. She’s also been a script reader for over twenty years. She's a member of the African American Film Critics Association and currently resides in Los Angeles.
