Actress-Comedian-Singer Ana Gasteyer to Host 2020 Writers Guild Awards West Coast Ceremony
Los Angeles – Acclaimed actress-comedian-singer Ana Gasteyer (Saturday Night Live) is set to host Writers Guild of America West’s 2020 Writers Guild Awards L.A. show on Saturday, February 1, at The Beverly Hilton.
“I’m so happy to be hosting this year’s Righter’s Guild Awards. It will be a real honor to be among a group of people who are so talented, yet unwilling to help performers write press releases, as I’ve just learned,” said Gasteyer.
2020 WGA L.A. show Executive Producer and Emmy-winning SNL writer Hugh Fink remarked:
“Among the highlights of my years at SNL was collaborating with the extraordinary Ana Gasteyer, who is a comedic force of nature. I personally contacted Ana to host The Writers Guilds Awards and the call was perfect.”
Gasteyer is perhaps best known for her incomparable work on Saturday Night Live. During her six-year stint, she created some of the most iconic SNL characters, including middle school music teacher Bobbie Moughan-Culp, NPR radio host Margaret Jo, and Lilith Fair poetess Cinder Calhoun, as well as spot-on impressions of Martha Stewart, Celine Dion, and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Gasteyer is also an accomplished singer and songwriter. Sugar and Booze, her recently released album of seasonal favorites and holiday originals, topped numerous “Best Holiday Album” lists. Called “an uproarious homage to Christmas albums of old” by Billboard and “the magical love child of Astrud Gilberto and Lucille Ball – an unexpectedly perfect combination” by BUST Magazine, the album was released to rave reviews. As the Los Angeles Times wrote, “’Saturday Night Live’ alumna Gasteyer puts her considerable vocal chops to work here to marvelous effect on this ebullient big-band jazz effort.”
Inspired by the music from Sugar and Booze, Gasteyer produced an eight-episode original series for Audible, which she co-wrote with Mona Mansur. The series was voiced by Gasteyer, Maya Rudolph, Patti LuPone, and Rachel Dratch, among others.
Gasteyer’s debut album, I’m Hip, received equally rapturous reviews. She has toured around the country with her “Happy Jazz” act since 2016 and had a two-week residency at the famed Cafe Carlyle, of which Stephen Holden of the New York Times raved about Gasteyer’s comedic stories and her “strong singing voice that can stir up a storm.”
On the big screen, Gasteyer was most recently seen in Amy Poehler’s directorial debut, the Netflix film Wine Country, opposite her SNL friends and colleagues. Next up is the Sony feature Happiest Season, in which she co-stars opposite Kristen Stewart, Aubrey Plaza, and Victor Garber.
On the small screen, Gasteyer currently recurs on the hit ABC series The Goldbergs, as well as the show’s spinoff Schooled. Additional notable credits include the acclaimed comedy hits Netflix’s Lady Dynamite, TBS’ People of Earth, HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, and ABC’s Suburgatory.
Gasteyer was able to marry her vocal talents with her acting skills in two of Fox’s live musicals, A Christmas Story and the iconic musical Grease, as well as Showtime’s Reefer Madness. Most recently, she dazzled on Fox’s hit vocal competition series, The Masked Singer, as fan favorite The Tree.
On stage, Gasteyer has starred on Broadway in Wicked as Elphaba, The Rocky Horror Show, and Tony-nominated shows The Royal Family and Three Penny Opera. She also starred in Funny Girl and Passion at The Chicago Shakespeare Theater, which earned her a Jefferson Award nomination, and played Miss Hannigan in the Tony- winning musical Annie at The Hollywood Bowl.
Prior to joining SNL, Gasteyer attended Northwestern University and honed her comedy skills at The Groundlings, the famed Los Angeles improv-sketch comedy group.
For a press photo of 2020 Writers Guild Awards L.A. show host Ana Gasteyer, click here.
Photo credit: Shervin Lainez
The Writers Guild Awards honor outstanding writing in film, television, new media, news, radio, and promotional categories. The 2020 Writers Guild Awards (72nd Annual) will be presented at concurrent ceremonies on Saturday, February 1, 2020, in Los Angeles at The Beverly Hilton and in New York City at the Edison Ballroom. For more information about the 2020 Writers Guild Awards, please visit www.wga.org or www.wgaeast.org.
For media inquiries about the 2020 WGA Los Angeles show, please contact Gregg Mitchell in the WGAW Communications Department at: (323) 782-4651 or email: Gregg Mitchell
For media inquiries about the 2020 WGA New York City show, please contact Jason Gordon in the WGAE Communications Department at (212) 767-7809 or email: Jason Gordon
The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) are labor unions representing writers in motion pictures, television, cable, digital media, and broadcast news. The Guilds negotiate and administer contracts that protect the creative and economic rights of their members; conduct programs, seminars, and events on issues of interest to writers; and present writers’ views to various bodies of government. For more information on the Writers Guild of America West, visit www.wga.org. For more information on the Writers Guild of America, East, visit www.wgaeast.org.