The finalist writers for film adaptation are, in alphabetical order by film title:
- Mike Makowsky for “Bad Education” based on the New York magazine article “The Bad Superintendent” by Robert Kolker
- Jon Raymond and Kelly Reichardt for “First Cow” based on the novel “The Half-Life” by Jon Raymond
- Screenwriter Ruben Santiago-Hudson and playwright August Wilson for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
- Chloé Zhao for “Nomadland” based on the nonfiction book “Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century” by Jessica Bruder
- Screenwriter and playwright Kemp Powers for “One Night in Miami”
The finalist writers for episodic series are, in alphabetical order by series title:
- Mark Richard and Ethan Hawke, for the episode “Meet the Lord,” from “The Good Lord Bird,” based on the novel by James McBride
- Sally Rooney and Alice Birch for the fifth episode of “Normal People,” based on the novel by Sally Rooney
- Ed Burns and David Simon for the sixth episode of “The Plot Against America,” based on the novel by Philip Roth
- Scott Frank for the episode “Openings,” from “The Queen’s Gambit,” based on the novel by Walter Tevis
- Anna Winger for the first episode of “Unorthodox,” based on the autobiography “Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots” by Deborah Feldman