The 38th USC Libraries Scripter Awards celebrated outstanding achievements in screenwriting on March 2, 2024, honoring the creators behind Paul Thomas Anderson‘s film One Battle After Another and the Netflix limited series Death By Lightning. The awards recognize both the original authors and the screenwriters who adapt their works, highlighting the collaborative nature of storytelling.
Winners of the Night
In the film category, Anderson and original author Thomas Pynchon received accolades for One Battle After Another, which draws inspiration from Pynchon’s 1990 novel. This recognition adds to the film’s growing list of accolades, including wins at the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards, alongside a total of 13 nominations at the Oscars.
The winning script triumphed over notable competitors such as Frankenstein, Hamnet, Peter Hujar’s Day, and Train Dreams. This marks a continued partnership for Anderson and Pynchon, who were previously nominated at the USC Scripters in 2014 for their work on Inherent Vice.
Recognition for Limited Series
In the episodic series category, screenwriter Mike Makowsky and author Candice Millard earned the award for Death By Lightning, a series adapted from Millard’s nonfiction book, Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President. The four-episode series delves into the events surrounding the assassination of President James Garfield by Charles Guiteau, portrayed by Michael Shannon and Matthew Macfadyen, respectively.
Makowsky and Millard’s work outperformed nominees from other acclaimed series, including Dark Winds, Dept. Q, Slow Horses, and Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light.
The 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. Among the highlights of the evening, crime writer Michael Connelly received the USC Libraries Scripter Literary Achievement Award, presented by actor Titus Welliver, known for his role as the iconic detective Harry Bosch in the series Bosch and its spin-offs.
The USC Libraries Scripter Awards continue to emphasize the importance of storytelling in film and television, celebrating the writers who bring complex narratives to life. As the industry evolves, these awards shine a light on the collaborative efforts that shape beloved stories in contemporary media.
