The Writers Guild of America, West and East announced its nominations for outstanding achievement in writing for the screen on Jan. 22, 2004.

Visual effects and animation related nominees showed up in the Outstanding Adapted Screenplay category. AMERICAN SPLENDOR, based on the underground comic book by Harvey Pekar as well as the novel by Pekar and his wife Joyce Brabner, garnered a nomination for Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman. On the VFX front, epic adaptations were en vogue. Anthony Minghella received a nomination for COLD MOUNTAIN, which was based on Charles Frazier's novel. Gary Ross took home a nod for SEABISCUIT, which was based on the award-winning book by Laura Hillenbrand. Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson all were recognized for their screen version of J.R.R. Tolkien's novel, THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING.

The awards will be handed out on Feb. 21, 2004 at the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City, California. For a complete list of the screen nominees, visit http://www.wga.org/pr/Awards/index.html.