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Jan 29, 2025

David Lynch to Posthumously Receive WGAW’S 2025 LAUREL AWARD FOR SCREENWRITING

Iconic screenwriter and director David Lynch – writer of Blue Velvet (1986), Wild at Heart (1990), Mulholland Drive (2001), and more – has been named the recipient of the Writers Guild of America West’s 2025 Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement.

The Guild’s lifetime achievement award is presented to members who have “advanced the literature of motion pictures and made outstanding contributions to the profession of the screenwriter.”

“Writer-director David Lynch’s uncompromising vision pushed the boundaries of filmmaking,” said WGAW President Meredith Stiehm. “We’re proud to honor him and his legacy.”

Lynch accepted the Laurel Award for Screenwriting in late 2024 prior to his passing on January 16, 2025.

Some of his most noteworthy projects included The Elephant Man,  for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay; the primetime television series Twin Peaks which ran two seasons and won three Golden Globes, two Primetime Emmys, and a Peabody Award;  Lost Highway in 1997, the first of three Lynch films set in Los Angeles; and Inland Empire, the final film he wrote and directed.

Past Screen Laurel Award recipients include Walter Hill, Charlie Kaufman, Nancy Meyers, James L. Brooks, Elaine May, Oliver Stone, Harold Ramis, David Mamet, Paul Mazursky, Lawrence Kasdan, Eric Roth, Steven Zaillian, Robert Towne, and Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel.

Photo by: Josh Telles, Courtesy of WGAW