Academy Award-nominated actress Jessie Buckley presents the Writers Guild of America West’s 2023 Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement to acclaimed writer, director, producer, and author Charlie Kaufman.

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.”

Kaufman’s 1999 groundbreaking screenplay Being John Malkovich was nominated for a Writers Guild Award, an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award and won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay. In 2002 Kaufman wrote Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and the meta comedy Adaptation, which earned Kaufman his second Writers Guild Award and second Academy Award. 2004’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind won Kaufman both a Writers Guild Award and the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Kaufman was honored at the 2023 Writers Guild Awards west coast show, held on Sunday, March 5, 2023 at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles and hosted by writer and Abbott Elementary actress Janelle James.

The Writers Guild Awards honor outstanding writing in film, television, streaming, news (broadcast and digital), radio/audio, and promotional categories. For more information about the 2023 Writers Guild Awards and a list of the winners, visit https://awards.wga.org.