The Writer's Guild of America (WGA) sent out ballots to its members in the summer of 2005, asking them to list up to ten of their favorite produced screenplays (accessible online). This is the result of the polling as voted upon by the organization's professional film and television writers - a list of the 101 Greatest (Film) Screenplays of All-Time, to celebrate the greatest achievements in film writing in cinematic history. A subset of the list, chosen 10 years later in 2015, was composed of the 101 Funniest Screenplays of All-Time. The new list spanned 86 years of great comedy screenwriting, from The Gold Rush (1925) to Bridesmaids (2011). Facts and Commentary About the 101 Greatest Film Screenplays: Any film, past or present, English-language or otherwise, was eligible.



The 101 notables in the list included the film title, film year, film director, scriptwriter(s), and one memorable line of dialogue (and the performer/film character who spoke the line). The list was also to be showcased in the May 2006 issue of Premiere Magazine .



C redit was finally being given to the scriptwriter: "Like a composer of a classic symphony or an author of a beloved novel, the most memorable and moving pictures would not exist without their principal architect: the screenwriter." The description of this definitive list stated: "101 Greatest Screenplays will finally set the record straight by celebrating the best in film writing and bringing recognition to the wizards behind the curtain: the men and women who wrote the greatest films of all time."



Writers with multiple films on the list included: Woody Allen (4), Francis Ford Coppola (4), Billy Wilder (4), William Goldman (3), John Huston (3), Charlie Kaufman (3), Ben Hecht (2), Michael Wilson (2), James L. Brooks (2), I.A.L. Diamond (2), Carl Foreman (2), Ernest Lehman (2), Frank Pierson (2), Mario Puzo (2), Paul Schrader (2), and Preston Sturges (2).



There are 4 films from the 1930s, 14 from the 1940s, 12 from the 1950s, 14 from the 1960s, 18 from the 1970s, 18 from the 1980s, 17 from the 1990s, and 4 from the 2000s.



45 were original scripts while 56 were adaptations.



In terms of genres , there were 60 dramas, 26 comedies, and 15 comedy/dramas.



75 of the 101 films on the list received either an Academy Award for Best Screenplay (39) or an Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay (36). See this site's writeup about the Best Screenplay and Writing Academy Awards. Note: The films that are marked with a yellow star are the films

that "The Greatest Films" site has selected as the "100 Greatest Films".