USC Libraries Scripter Honors “Leave No Trace” and “A Very English Scandal”

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The authors and screenwriters behind the film “Leave No Trace,” and the
television miniseries “A Very English Scandal” received the 31st-annual
USC Libraries Scripter Award at the Feb. 9 ceremony at USC’s Doheny
Memorial Library.

The Scripter Award recognizes the year’s best adaptation of the written
word for the screen, and includes feature film and television
adaptations.

In her welcoming remarks, USC Libraries Dean Catherine Quinlan said,
“This is our 31^st year celebrating the coming together of the
literary and cinematic arts and of honoring the USC Libraries’ essential
place in the intellectual, cultural and creative life of the Trojan
Family.”

In the television category, the selection committee chose “A Very
English Scandal,” written for the screen by Russell T Davies for the
streaming network Amazon Prime. It is based on John Preston’s 2016
nonfiction book of the same name, which details the 1970s scandal
involving British Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe and his wayward
attempts to silence a former lover.

Davies thanked Preston for “providing such a brilliant source book for
me to work from” as well as Thorpe and Norman Scott, for being “so mad,
so fascinating, and I hope so forgiven by all of us now by the passing
of time.”

Due to a tie in the nominating round, six television shows were eligible
this year. The other finalists were the writers behind episodes of “The
Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” (distributed by
FX), “The Handmaid’s Tale” (Hulu), “The Looming Tower” (Hulu), “Patrick
Melrose” (Showtime), and “Sharp Objects” (HBO).

In the film category, the winners were writer Peter Rock, author of the
novel “My Abandonment,” and screenwriters Debra Granik and Anne
Rosellini, who adapted for the screen Rock’s work, itself an adaptation
of a 2004 local news report about a Vietnam veteran and his young
daughter found living off the grid in the forest near Portland, Oregon.
“Leave No Trace” was released by Bleecker Street.

In accepting the award, Rock paid tribute to the screenwriters. “Debra
Granik, Anne Rosellini and I walked through Forest Park in Portland,
Oregon, and talked about possibilities, so I want to deeply thank them
for the heart and inspiration they brought into making a great film.”

The other finalist films were “Black Panther” (distributed by Disney),
“Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (Fox Searchlight), “The Death of Stalin” (IFC
Films), and “If Beale Street Could Talk” (Annapurna Pictures).

Earlier in the evening, Quinlan honored Dr. George Isaacs as the 2019 Ex
Libris Award winner for his extraordinary support of the USC Libraries,
which resulted in the creation of the George E. Isaacs Dean’s Suite in
Doheny Memorial Library. Accepting the award on his behalf was his son
Mark Isaacs, who said, “My father, George Isaacs, is a long-time and
enthusiastic supporter of the University of Southern California,
including the Libraries. Why the Libraries? Books deliver knowledge, joy
and understanding. Very few products in the world today can make that
claim.”

In-kind donors to the event included Mariner Books, Other Press, and
Urth Caffé.

Scripter began in 1988, co-founded by USC Libraries board members Glenn
Sonnenberg and Marjorie Lord. For more information about
Scripter—including additional images from the ceremony—visit scripter.usc.edu.

Contacts

Tyson Gaskill
Executive Director, Communications and Events
USC
Libraries
gaskill@usc.edu
(213)
740-2070