Writers awards for Spotlight and The Big Short

A scene from the movie, Spotlight.

Oscar contenders Spotlight and The Big Short have won the top awards for screenwriting from the Writers Guild of America.

Spotlight, about the Boston Globe's effort to uncover a priest sex-abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, won for best original screenplay at the ceremony held in LA and New York. The writers are 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.

A scene from the movie, The Big Short.

In the television categories, the now-concluded AMC series Mad Men about the advertising business in the 1960s and 1970s, won for drama.

The HBO series Veep, about the exploits of politician Selina Meyer, won for comedy.

Other winners included Mr. Robot (new series), Saints & Strangers (original long form), Fargo (adapted from long series), Uno from the Better Call Saul (episodic drama) and Sand Hill Shuffle (episodic comedy).

- AP