Writers behind films and television programs such as “The Irishman,” “JoJo Rabbit,” “Fleabag” and “Killing Eve” were among the finalists announced Wednesday for the 32nd annual USC Libraries Scripter Awards, which honor adapted screenplays and the works on which they are based.
Winners in the film and television categories will be announced Jan. 25 during a ceremony at USC’s Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library.
The Scripter Award for film has been presented annually since 1988, honoring screenwriters and the authors of the original work on which the films are based. The television category was added in 2016.
The film finalists are:
— 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”; and
— Anthony McCarten for “The Two Popes,” based on his play “The Pope.”
For television, the finalists are:
— 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; and
— 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 finalists were chosen from a field of 61 film and 58 television adaptations.
Finalists were chosen by a selection committee chaired by USC professor and past president of the Writers Guild of America West Howard Rodman. Members of the committee include film critics Leonard Maltin, Anne Thompson and Kenneth Turan; authors 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.