| USC Scripter Awards | |
| Awarded For: | Writing achievements in film adaptation |
| Presenter: | University of Southern California (USC) |
| Country: | United States |
The USC Scripter Award (Scripter) is the name given to an award presented annually by the University of Southern California (USC) to honor both authors and screenwriters. Starting in 1988, the USC Libraries Board of Councilors award the year's best film adaptation of a printed work, recognizing the original author and the screenwriter.
In 2016, a second Scripter award, for episodic series adaption, was added. The Literary Achievement Award honors significant contributions to storytelling across form, genre, and medium. The Ex Libris Award recognizes long-time supporters of the USC Libraries. The latter two awards are presented on an occasional basis. Per the Scripter Awards website, "Scripter celebrates writers and writing, collaboration, and the profound results of transforming one artistic medium into another. It stands as an emblem of libraries’ ability to inspire creative and scholarly achievement."[1]
| Year | Film | Nominees | Source Material |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 84 Charing Cross Road | Hugh Whitemore | The memoir by Helene Hanff |
| The Dead | Tony Huston | The short story by James Joyce | |
| Housekeeping | Bill Forsyth | The novel by Marilynne Robinson | |
| The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne | Peter Nelson | The novel Judith Hearne by Brian Moore | |
| The Princess Bride | William Goldman | The novel by Goldman | |
| 1989 | The Accidental Tourist | Frank Galati and Lawrence Kasdan | The novel by Anne Tyler |
| Eight Men Out | John Sayles | The book Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series by Eliot Asinof | |
| Everybody's All-American | Thomas Rickman | The book by Frank Deford | |
| Madame Sousatzka | Ruth Prawler Jhabvala and John Schlesinger | The book by Bernice Rubens |
| Year | Program | Nominees | Source Material |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Show Me a Hero | David Simon and William F. Zorzi | The book by Lisa Belkin |
| Game of Thrones ("Hardhome") | The series of novels A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin | ||
| The Leftovers ("Axis Mundi") | Damon Lindelof and Jacqueline Hoyt | The novel by Tom Perrotta | |
| The Man in the High Castle ("The New World") | The novel by Philip K. Dick | ||
| Masters of Sex ("Full Ten Count") | The biography Masters of Sex: The Life and Times of William Masters and Virginia Johnson, the Couple Who Taught America How to Love by Thomas Maier | ||
| 2016 | The Night Manager | David Farr | The novel by John le Carré |
| ("Manna from Heaven") | Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski | The book The Run of His Life: The People v. O. J. Simpson by Jeffrey Toobin | |
| Game of Thrones ("The Winds of Winter") | The series of novels A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin | ||
| The Man in the High Castle ("Fallout") | |||
| Orange Is the New Black ("Toast Can't Never Be Bread Again") | The memoir by Piper Kerman | ||
| 2017 | The Handmaid's Tale ("Offred") | Bruce Miller | The novel by Margaret Atwood |
| Big Little Lies ("You Get What You Need") | The novel by Liane Moriarty | ||
| Alias Grace | The novel by Margaret Atwood | ||
| Genius ("Einstein: Chapter One") | The book Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson | ||
| The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks | The book by Rebecca Skloot | ||
| Mindhunter ("Chapter 10") | The book by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker | ||
| 2018 | A Very English Scandal | Russell T Davies | The book by John Preston |
| ("The Man Who Would Be Vogue") | |||
| The Handmaid's Tale ("Holly") | Bruce Miller and Kira Snyder | The novel by Margaret Atwood | |
| The Looming Tower ("9/11") | Dan Futterman and Ali Selim | The novel by Lawrence Wright | |
| Patrick Melrose ("Bad News") | The novels by Edward St Aubyn | ||
| Sharp Objects ("Vanish") | The novel by Gillian Flynn | ||
| 2019 | Fleabag | Phoebe Waller-Bridge | The one-woman show by Waller-Bridge |
| Fosse/Verdon ("Nowadays") | The biography Fosse by Sam Wasson | ||
| Killing Eve ("Nice and Neat") | The novella series Codename Villanelle by Luke Jennings | ||
| Unbelievable ("Episode 1") | Susannah Grant, Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman | The news article "An Unbelievable Story of Rape" by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong | |
| Watchmen ("This Extraordinary Being") | The comic by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons |
| Year | Program | Nominees | Source Material |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | The Queen's Gambit ("Openings") | Scott Frank | The novel by Walter Tevis |
| The Good Lord Bird ("Meet the Lord") | The novel by James McBride | ||
| Normal People ("Episode 5") | The novel by Rooney | ||
| The Plot Against America ("Part 6") | The novel by Philip Roth | ||
| Unorthodox ("Part 1") | The autobiography by Deborah Feldman | ||
| 2021 | Dopesick (“The People vs. Purdue Pharma") | Danny Strong | The nonfiction book Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy |
| Maid ("Dollar Store") | Molly Smith Metzler | The memoir Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay and a Mother's Will to Survive by Stephanie Land by Stephanie Land | |
| Station Eleven ("Wheel of Fire") | The novel by Emily St. John Mandel | ||
| The Underground Railroad ("Indiana Winter") | The novel by Colson Whitehead | ||
| WandaVision ("Filmed Before a Live Studio Audience") | The Marvel Comics characters of the name same created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby | ||
| 2022 | Slow Horses ("Failure's Contagious") | Will Smith | The novel by Mick Herron |
| The Crown ("Couple 31") | The play The Audience by Peter Morgan | ||
| Fleishman Is in Trouble ("The Liver") | The novel by Taffy Brodesser-Akner | ||
| Tokyo Vice ("Yoshino") | The memoir Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan by Jake Adelstein | ||
| Under the Banner of Heaven ("When God Was Love") | The nonfiction book by Jon Krakauer | ||
| 2023 | Slow Horses ("Negotiating With Tigers") | Will Smith | The novel by Mick Herron |
| The Crown ("Sleep, Dearie Sleep") | The play The Audience by Peter Morgan | ||
| Daisy Jones & the Six ("Track 5: Fire") | The novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid | ||
| The Last of Us ("Long, Long Time") | The video game by Neil Druckmann and Naughty Dog | ||
| ("The New World") | Max Borenstein, Rodney Barnes, and Jim Hecht | The nonfiction work Showtime by Jeff Pearlman |