The USC Libraries on Saturday celebrated the year’s best adaptations from literary materials.
Little Women and Fleabag on Saturday night took top honors at the 32nd annual USC Libraries Scripter Awards, which are bestowed upon the best printed-word-to-film adaptations. Both authors and screenwriters were celebrated, as is custom at the awards ceremony, which was held at the Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library in Los Angeles.
In the film category, Little Women (based on the novel of the same name by Louisa May Alcott) prevailed over fellow finalists Dark Waters (based on the New York Times Magazine article “The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare” by Nathaniel Rich); The Irishman (based on the nonfiction work I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt); JoJo Rabbit (based on the novel Caging Skies by Christine Leunens); and The Two Popes (based on Anthony McCarten’s play The Pope).
In the TV category, Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag (based on her one-woman play of the same name) beat out 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).
Started in 1988, the Scripter Awards are given by the USC Library Board of Councilors and are chosen by a committee of Writers Guild of America members; Academy Award-winning and -nominated screenwriters; industry executives; authors; faculty members; and some members of the Friends of the USC Libraries.
Last year, Leave No Trace earned the film prize and A Very English Scandal received the TV honor.
