Films penned by two prominent playwrights were recipients of multiple 2000 Golden Globe Awards nominations. The trophies, which are chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press, will be announced on Jan. 21, 2001.

Kenneth Lonergan was recognized for his screenplay (if not his direction) of the independent film "You Can Count on Me." The movie, Lonergan's first effort as both screenwriter and director, has already won much praise and a few festival prizes. Its female star, Laura Linney, also received a nomination, for best actress in a motion picture—drama.

Lonergan's breakout play, This Is Our Youth, debuted at New York City's The New Group several seasons back (starring Mark Ruffalo, who is featured in "You Can Count on Me") and later returned as a commercial Off Broadway hit. Last season, his drama, The Waverly Gallery played a short, but praised run, at the Promenade Theatre. Lonergan has written screenplays before—including "Analyze This"—but has expressed displeasure with the resulting films.

Also nominated for best screenplay was Doug Wright, for "Quills." Wright adapted his own play, about the Marquis de Sade and the excesses of art, which was a critical and popular hit at New York Theatre Workshop. The movie also netted a nomination for the performance of Geoffrey Rush.

Other theatre-related nominees included Judi Dench, who received nods for her work in both the film "Chocolat" and the television movie "Last of the Blonde Bombshells." Brian Dennehy, meanwhile, was nominated for his turn as Willy Loman in the television version of the stage revival of Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman." —By Robert Simonson