38th Annual USC Scripter AwardS
Saturday, January 24, 2026
Town and Gown @ USC Campus, Los Angeles, California



ADAPTED SCREENPLAY SCRIPTER AWARD
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER •
Warner Bros. Pictures
Written by Paul Thomas Anderson
Based on “Vineland” by Thomas Pynchon– Penguin (publisher)
Paul Thomas Anderson | Director
Paul Thomas Anderson, Adam Somner, Sara Murphy | Producers
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“Frankenstein” (Netflix) – Guillermo del Toro | Based on the novel “Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus” by Mary Shelley; Penguin (publisher)
“Hamnet” (Focus Features) – Chloé Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell | Based on O’Farrell’s novel of the same name; Vintage Books (publisher)
“Peter Hujar’s Day” (Janus Films) – Ira Sachs | Based on the book of the same name by Linda Rosenkrantz; Magic Hour Press (publisher)
“Train Dreams” (Netflix) – Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar | Based on the novella of the same name by Denis Johnson; Picador (publisher)



ADAPTED EPISODIC SERIES SCRIPTER AWARD
DEATH BY LIGHTNING • Netflix
Episode: “Destiny of the Republic”
Written by Mike Makowsky
Based on the nonfiction book “Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President” by Candice Millard – Anchor (publisher)
Mike Makowsky | Creator
Matt Ross, Mike Makowsky, Bernadette Caulfield, David Benioff, D. B. Weiss | Executive Producers
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“Dark Winds” (AMC) – Episode: “Ábidoo’niidę́ę́ (What He Had Been Told)” by Max Hurwitz and Billy Luther | Based on the novels “Dancehall of the Dead” and “The Sinister Pig” by Tony Hillerman; Harper (publisher)
“Dept. Q” (Netflix) – Untitled first episode by Chandni Lakhani and Scott Frank | Based on the novel “The Keeper of Lost Causes” by Jussi Adler-Olsen; Penguin (publisher)
“Slow Horses” (Apple TV) – Episode: “Scars” by Will Smith | Based on the novel “London Rules” by Mick Herron; Soho Crime (publisher)
“Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light” (PBS) – Series by Peter Straughan | Based on the novel “The Mirror and the Light” by Hilary Mantel; Henry Holt (publisher)

