The 38th annual USC Libraries Scripter Awards celebrated the achievements of screenwriters and authors on Saturday evening, highlighting notable works in film and television. Among the winners were Paul Thomas Anderson and author Thomas Pynchon, who received the award for their collaboration on the multifaceted crime drama One Battle After Another. This film is inspired by Pynchon’s 1990 novel and has garnered significant acclaim, including wins at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards, as well as 13 nominations for the Academy Awards.
Anderson and Pynchon’s winning script outperformed strong contenders from other films, including Frankenstein, Hamnet, Peter Hujar’s Day, and Train Dreams. The duo previously received a nomination from the USC Scripters in 2014 for their work on Inherent Vice, another adaptation of Pynchon’s literature.
In the episodic series category, the award was presented to screenwriter Mike Makowsky and author Candice Millard for their limited series Death By Lightning. This four-episode series, available on Netflix, is based on Millard’s nonfiction work, Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President. The series delves into the events surrounding the assassination of President James Garfield by Charles Guiteau, portrayed by actors Michael Shannon and Matthew Macfadyen, respectively.
The Scripter Awards ceremony, held at the Town and Gown ballroom at the University of Southern California, was a black-tie event hosted by Melissa Just, the dean of USC Libraries. The evening also featured the presentation of the USC Libraries Scripter Literary Achievement Award to renowned crime writer Michael Connelly. The award was presented by Titus Welliver, who portrayed Connelly’s famous detective character, Harry Bosch, in the series Bosch and its subsequent spinoffs.
This year’s awards underscore the importance of both original literary works and their adaptations in film and television, celebrating the collaborative efforts between authors and screenwriters in bringing stories to life.
