WGA Disses "Memento," "Bedroom"

According to Hollywood trade Daily Variety, the Writers Guild of America does not plan to include either of the critically acclaimed films among the nominees for its annual screenplay awards (which will be announced Thursday morning)--severely hurting their chances for a Best Screenplay Oscar.

The decision to nix both Memento and In the Bedroom boils down to a red-tape issue. Curiously, it has nothing to do with the fact that neither film's respective writer-director, Christopher Nolan and Todd Field, was a member of the guild at the time his movie was made (both joined the WGA later). Rather, a union rep says, it reflected the guild's stance that in order to get nominated, productions must be WGA signatories.

"Membership in the guild is immaterial, you can still be nominated [if you're not a member]. But they were not signatory and they did not have the protections of our contract," says WGA spokeswoman Cheryl Rhoden.

The move could derail the serious pre-Oscar momentum generated by both films.

Nolan's backward suspense thriller has already picked up screenplay accolades from the American Film Institute, as well as the Broadcast, Online, Los Angeles, Boston, Toronto and Las Vegas film critics associations. Field and cowriter Rob Festinger's script was honored by the National Board of Review and the Golden Satellite Awards.

Other unions, such as the Directors Guild of America, have loose restrictions similar to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which requires a film to play one week in New York or Los Angeles to be eligible (indeed, Nolan is among the DGA nominees for top director). The WGA, however, is quite particular about productions adhering to the union's long-established guidelines, even if the films are shot abroad.

"The rules are that a film must be produced under a jurisdiction by a company signatory to the guild's contract or one of our affiliated guilds, which are New Zealand, Australia, Great Britain, Canada and French Canada," Rhoden explains.

Despite the presence of some big name actors--including Guy Pearce and Carrie-Anne Moss for Memento and Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson for In the Bedroom--both flicks were indies made on the cheap, which was the main reason why producers decided to avoid costly union stipulations.

Despite getting the shaft, Memento executive producer Aaron Ryder says his team just wanted to keep their thriller within budget and get it made. Awards are more of an afterthought.

"Each of these guilds and organizations have their own rules, and we have to live by them," Ryder tells Variety. "It would've been great to get a Writers Guild nomination, or to win, but we're excited about the film's future, we're proud of our Golden Globe nomination and so we're not angry."

We won't know for sure whether Memento and In the Bedroom's Oscar chances are scuttled until next Tuesday, when the nominations are announced.

Historically, the WGA's nominees for the original screenplay and adapted screenplay closely resemble the Oscar contenders. However, the WGAs aren't exactly a perfect prognosticator when it comes to winners. Last year, for instance, it was a split decision. Stephen Gaghan's script for Traffic won adapted-screenplay props at both the WGA and Academy Awards. But Kenneth Lonergan's You Can Count On Me, which was the WGA winner for Best Original Screenplay, lost to Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous come Oscar time. (The last time the WGAs and Oscars matched up in both the adapted and original categories was in 1997.)

And even though two of last year's most highly regarded scripts have been slighted, don't look for the writers union to revamp its rules.

"There's always conversation when some very [popular] films are not eligible for awards," says the WGA's Rhoden, "but so far the members have not wanted to change them."