USC Libraries name finalists for 30th annual Scripter Awards

The USC Libraries have named the finalists for the 30th annual USC Libraries Scripter Awards, which honor the authors of printed works alongside the writers who adapt their stories for film and television.

In this competitive year, voting resulted in ties for the film and television categories. Due to a three-way tie in the nomination round, the writers of seven films and the works on which the films are based will compete for the honors this year:

• Author André Aciman and screenwriter James Ivory for Call Me By Your Name.
• Screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber for The Disaster Artist and authors Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell for their nonfiction book The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside ‘The Room,’ the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made.
• Screenwriters Scott Frank, Michael Green and James Mangold and authors Roy Thomas, Len Wein and John Romita Sr. for Logan.
• Screenwriter James Gray and author David Grann for The Lost City of Z.
• Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin and author Molly Bloom for Molly’s Game.
• Screenwriters Dee Rees and Virgil Williams and author Hillary Jordan for Mudbound.
• Screenwriter Allan Heinberg, story by Zack Snyder and Jason Fuchs, and author William Moulton Marston for Wonder Woman.

Writers of six television shows and their printed source material will vie for the Scripter Award this year. The finalist writers — including for the first time a single author with nominations for two series in a single year — for television are:

• Screenwriter Sarah Polley and author Margaret Atwood for Alias Grace.
• David E. Kelley for the episode “You Get What You Need” from Big Little Lies and author Liane Moriarty.
• Noah Pink and Ken Biller for the episode “Einstein: Chapter One” from Genius and author Walter Isaacson for his book Einstein: His Life and Word.
• Bruce Miller for the episode “Offred” from The Handmaid’s Tale and author Margaret Atwood.
• Peter Landesman, George C. Wolfe and Alexander Woo for the television film The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and author Rebecca Skloot.
• Joe Penhall and Jennifer Haley for Episode 10 of Mindhunter and authors John Douglas and Mark Olshaker for their nonfiction book Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit.

Chaired by Howard Rodman, a USC professor and past president of the Writers Guild of America, West, the 2018 Scripter selection committee selected the finalists from a field of 91 film and 28 television adaptations.

Industry experts

Among those serving on the selection committee are film critics Leonard Maltin, Anne Thompson and Kenneth Turan; authors Lisa Belkin, Michael Chabon and Michael Ondaatje; screenwriters Geoffrey Fletcher and Erin Cressida Wilson; producers Suzanne Todd and Mike Medavoy; Dean Elizabeth Daley of the USC School of Cinematic Arts; and Catherine Quinlan, dean of the USC Libraries.

The studios distributing the finalist films and current publishers of the printed works are:

• Call Me By Your Name: Sony Pictures Classics and Picador
• The Disaster Artist: A24 and Simon & Schuster
• Logan: 20th Century Fox and Marvel Comics
• The Lost City of Z: Amazon Studios and Simon & Schuster
• Molly’s Game: STX Entertainment and Dey Street Books
• Mudbound: Netflix and Algonquin Books
• Wonder Woman: Warner Bros. and DC Comics

The networks airing the finalist television series and current publishers of the original printed works are:

• Alias Grace: Netflix and Anchor.
• Big Little Lies: HBO and Berkley.
• Genius: National Geographic and Simon & Schuster.
• The Handmaid’s Tale: Hulu and Anchor.
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: HBO and Broadway Books.
• Mindhunter: Netflix and Gallery Books.

The USC Libraries will announce the winning authors and screenwriters at a black-tie ceremony Feb. 10 in the historic Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library on the USC University Park Campus. Since 1988, Scripter has honored the authors of printed works alongside the screenwriters who adapt their stories; in 2016, the USC Libraries inaugurated a new Scripter award, for television adaptation.

For more information about Scripter—including ticket availability, additional sponsorship opportunities and an up-to-date list of sponsors, email USC Libraries or visit the Scripter website.