USC Scripter Awards: ‘Passing’ Among Film Nominees; ‘Station Eleven’ a TV Finalist

Scott Feinberg
·2 min read
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Dune, The Lost Daughter, Passing, The Power of the Dog and The Tragedy of Macbeth are the film nominees, and episodes of Dopesick, Maid, Station Eleven, The Underground Railroad and WandaVision are the TV finalists for 2022’s USC Scripter Awards, the USC Libraries announced on Wednesday.

The “Scripters” are an annual black-tie fundraiser for the USC Libraries, which have honored the best adaptations of printed works into films since 1988, and into TV episodes since 2016. Nominees and winners are chosen by a selection committee comprised of film journalists, authors, screenwriters, producers and USC employees, among others. Recognition is bestowed upon both the author of the printed work and the writer(s) for the screen.

This year’s Scripters — chosen by a selection committee chaired by noted screenwriter and USC professor Howard Rodman — will take place in-person on Saturday, Feb. 26 at USC’s historic Edward L. Doheny, Jr. Memorial Library.

The film nominees are:

  • Dune (screenwriters Eric Roth, Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve), based on the novel of the same name (author Frank Herbert)

  • The Lost Daughter (screenwriter Maggie Gyllenhaal), based on the novel of the same name (author Elena Ferrante)

  • Passing (screenwriter Rebecca Hall), based on the novel of the same name (author Nella Larsen)

  • The Power of the Dog (screenwriter Jane Campion), based on the novel of the same name (author Thomas Savage)

  • The Tragedy of Macbeth (screenwriter Joel Coen), based on the play Macbeth (playwright William Shakespeare)

The TV finalists are:

  • Dopesick episode “The People vs. Purdue Pharma” (writer Danny Strong), based on the nonfiction book Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors and the Drug Company That Addicted America (author Beth Macy)

  • Maid episode “Dollar Store” (writer Molly Smith Metzler), based on the memoir Maid: Hard Work, Loy Pay and a Mother’s Will to Survive (author Stephanie Land)

  • Station Eleven episode “Wheel of Fire” (writer Patrick Somerville), based on the novel Station Eleven (author Emily St. John Mandel)

  • The Underground Railroad episode “Indiana Winter” (writer Barry Jenkins), based on the novel The Underground Railroad (author Colson Whitehead)

  • WandaVision episode “Filmed Before a Live Studio Audience” (writer Jac Schaeffer), based on Marvel Comics (characters created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby)

It was previously announced that the aforementioned Barry Jenkins, a past Scripter winner for Moonlight, past finalist for If Beale Street Could Talk and current nominee for The Underground Railroad, was previously announced as the inaugural recipient of the USC Libraries’ Literary Achievement Award for his contributions to cinematic storytelling.

The Scripter and the best adapted screenplay Oscar have gone to the same project on 14 occasions over the past 33 years (but none in the last four years): Schindler’s List (1993), Sense and Sensibility (1995), L.A. Confidential (1997), A Beautiful Mind (2001), No Country for Old Men (2007), Slumdog Millionaire (2008), The Social Network (2010), The Descendants (2011), Argo (2012), 12 Years a Slave (2013), The Imitation Game (2014), The Big Short (2015), Moonlight (2016) and Call Me by Your Name (2017).

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