The USC Libraries named the finalists for the 32nd-annual USC Libraries Scripter Award, which honors the year’s most accomplished film and television adaptations, as well as the works on which they are based. The honor can be seen as a potential indicator for the nominee for Oscar’s best Adapted Screenplay. On the film side, “Jojo Rabbit,” “The Irishman,” “Little Women,” “The Pope,” “The Irishman” and, somewhat surprisingly, “Dark Waters” made the cut.
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Notably, last year’s winner was Debra Granik’s “Leave No Trace” which was not nominated for the Adapted Screenplay Oscar. Screenplays you could argue were overlooked this year include “A Beautiful Day in the Neighbhorhood,” “Hustlers,” “Joker” and “Toy Story 4.”
The television nominations included “Fleabag,” “Watchmen,” “Killing Eve,” “Fosse/Verdon” and “Unbelievable.” After winning in 2017 and earning a nomination in 2018, “The Handmaid’s Tale” did not earn a nod.
A number of film critics and authors such as Lisa Belkin, Steve Erickson and Michael Ondaatje; screenwriters Larry Karaszewski and Erin Cressida Wilson; producers Mike Medavoy and Suzanne Todd; and USC deans Elizabeth Daley of the School of Cinematic Arts and Catherine Quinlan of the USC Libraries were on the voting committee.
A list of this year’s finalists and the original works are as follows:
FILM
Matthew Carnahan and Mario Correa for “Dark Waters” based on the New York Times Magazine article “The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare” by Nathaniel Rich
Steven Zaillian for “The Irishman” based on the nonfiction work “I Heard You Paint Houses” by Charles Brandt
Taika Waititi for “JoJo Rabbit” based on the novel “Caging Skies” by Christine Leunens
Author Louisa May Alcott and screenwriter Greta Gerwig for “Little Women”
Anthony McCarten for “The Two Popes” based on his play “The Pope”
TELEVISION
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, for the first episode of “Fleabag” based on her one-woman play of the same name
Joel Fields and Steven Levenson for the episode “Nowadays,” from “Fosse/Verdon,” based on the biography “Fosse” by Sam Wasson
Emerald Fennell for the episode “Nice and Neat,” from “Killing Eve,” based on the novel “Codename Villanelle” by Luke Jennings
Susannah Grant, Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman for the first episode of “Unbelievable,” based on the article “An Unbelievable Story of Rape,” by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong
Damon Lindelof and Cord Jefferson for the episode “This Extraordinary Being,” from “Watchmen” based on the comic book series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
The 32nd Scripter Awards will be handed out on Jan. 25, 2020 in a ceremony in Los Angeles.
