Best Original Screenplay

Gender

There were 1,078 nominees in the Best Original Screenplay category between 1929 and 2026.* Of those, 10% were women and 90% were men. The first women were nominated in this category in 1930: Bess Meredyth (nominated twice) and Josephine Lovett. In Oscar’s® 98-year history, there were 37 years when no women were nominated for Best Original Screenplay. To date, gender parity has only been reached in one year. That year was 1933.

Of the 109 women nominated in this category, only 5 were from an underrepresented racial/ethnic group (Suzanne de Passe, Aída Bortnik, Callie Khouri, Iris Yamashita, Celine Song). A total of 16 women have won the Oscar® for Best Original Screenplay. All but one of the women who have won this award were white.

The majority of women–87%-- were nominated only once in this category, compared to 77% of men. No woman has been nominated more than 3 times in this category, and none of the women with 3 nominations received recognition in the 21st Century. The most-nominated men have more than 10 nominations (Woody Allen, 16 nominations; Billy Wilder, 11 nominations).

Race & Ethnicity

Of the 1,078 nominees in the Best Original Screenplay category between 1929 and 2026,* 4% or 43 were from an underrepresented racial/ethnic group. The first nomination for an underrepresented writer was in 1936 (Achmed Abdullah). A total of 10 underrepresented writers have won the award, which is 5% of all winners. The first underrepresented winner was named in 1992 (Callie Khouri). Only 2 underrepresented nominees have been nominated more than once; neither has won the Oscar® in this category.

4%

OF 1,078 NOMINEES WERE UNDERREPRESENTED

Ten underrepresented writers have won an OSCAR® for Best Original Screenplay.