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Located in Columbus, we provide services to freelancers, businesses that use freelance talent, and all creative writers in the dynamic mid-Ohio market.

An Academy Award for Writers

Over the past month, the Downtown Writers Network has been collecting your nominees and votes for the best movie biopics and dramas about writers, as well as the best actors and actresses portraying real and fictional writers.

Thanks to all for your suggestions, comments and votes. And now, the winners.

Best Biopic -- Nominees

Agatha
Il Postino
Julia
Mrs Parker and the Vicious Circle
Out of Africa
Quills
Reds
Shakespeare in Love

Winner: Out of Africa
"I can see this movie several times a year and still find something new in it every time," one local writer commented to us. This sweeping romance, loosely based on Izak Dinesen's memoir, was the overwhelming favorite among voters.

Best Drama -- Nominees

The Bad and the Beautiful
Barton Fink
Doctor Zhivago
Finding Forrester
The Shining
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
The Third Man
The World According to Garp

Winner: Doctor Zhivago
The life of a writer has never seemed more sexy or more tragic than in this 1966 epic of love and art set against the Russian Revolution. "I still get goosebumps remembering the scene where Zhivago writes his love poem to Laura in the snow covered mansion, while the wolves are howling outside in the dark," one voter remarked.

Best Actor Portraying a Writer-- Nominees

Warren Beatty - Reds
Ray Milland - The Lost Weekend
Jack Nicholson - The Shining
Philippe Noiret - Il Postino
Gregory Peck - The Snows of Kilimanjaro
Jason Robards - Julia
Geoffrey Rush - Quills
Omar Sharif - Doctor Zhivago
Robin Williams - The World According to Garp

Winner: Jack Nicholson - The Shining
It took Stephen King to create the character of the demented author Jack Torrance, but only Jack Nicholson could have made him one of the most memorable characters in film history. "Two words: Heeere's Johnny! "

Best Actress Portraying a Writer-- Nominees

Glen Close - The World According to Garp
Jane Fonda - Julia
Katharine Hepburn -Woman of the Year
Diane Keaton - Reds
Jennifer Jason Leigh - Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle
Vanessa Redgrave - Agatha
Rosalind Russell - His Girl Friday
Meryl Streep - Out of Africa

Winner: Jane Fonda - Julia
With strong supporting performances by Jason Robards (as Dashiell Hammet) and Vanessa Regrave, Jane Fonda's portrayal of young Lillian Hellman became one of her greatest roles. "It's a terrific story. Too bad that none of it actually happened, though," wrote one sceptic.