The authors and screenwriters behind the film “American Fiction” and the series “Slow Horses” won the 36th-annual USC Libraries Scripter Awards last night (3/2). Selection committee chair Howard Rodman announced the winners at a black-tie ceremony at USC’s Doheny Memorial Library.
The Scripter Awards recognize the year’s most accomplished adaptations of the written word for the screen, including both feature-length films and episodic series.
In a Scripter first, novelist Mick Herron and screenwriter Will Smith repeated as winners in the episodic series category. They took home the award for their contributions to the episode “Negotiating with Tigers” from season three of “Slow Horses,” which Smith adapted from Herron’s book “Real Tigers.”
Smith could not attend due to work on the next season of “Slow Horses” but relayed his sentiments through Herron.
“This award is very important to me,” Smith said, “because it also celebrates the author, without whom the show would not exist.”
In the film category, author Percival Everett and screenwriter/director Cord Jefferson won for their contributions to “American Fiction,” based on Everett’s novel “Erasure.”
Jefferson told the audience that he read Everett’s book in December 2020.
“It felt like I was reading a book written specifically for me,” he said. “It felt like I understood what was going on in these characters with the story at a molecular level.”
Everett’s win marks another Scripter milestone, as he is the first USC professor honored with the prize.
Saturday also marked USC Libraries dean Melissa Just’s first turn as host of the annual ceremony since her appointment last November. In her opening remarks, Just hailed libraries as creators of community and belonging.
“I believe libraries are great connectors of people, like all of us here tonight, with information, ideas, and the preserved record of human knowledge and experience,” she said. “We enable people to gather, to learn together, and to find common ground with each other and with the past–and in doing so, create a brighter future.”
Earlier in the evening, Linda Cassady accepted the Ex Libris Award, which honors exceptional commitment to the USC Libraries, on behalf of her late husband, George Cassady. Cassady was a longtime USC Board of Councilors member and in 2000 donated the G. Edward, M.D. and Margaret Elizabeth, R.N. Lewis Carroll collection, one of the world’s most significant collections of works by and related to the “Alice in Wonderland” author.
Kevin Costner to receive MPSE Filmmaker Award; Greg Hedgepath named recipient of MPSE Career Achievement honor
Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) will present Oscar®-winning filmmaker and actor Kevin Costner with the 2025 MPSE Filmmaker Award, bestowed annually to a filmmaker of distinction. And supervising sound editor Greg Hedgepath will receive the Career Achievement Award for his prolific career in sound editing. Both awards will be presented during MPSE’s 72nd Annual Golden Reel Awards Gala on February 23, 2025 at the Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles.
The MPSE Filmmaker Award is bestowed upon an individual outside the sound community whose career has demonstrated a great appreciation and understanding of the impact of sound editing. The MPSE Career Achievement Award is presented to a person whose career has made a significant impact on the sound community through exemplary work, service or leadership.
“Kevin Costner has captivated audiences with his powerful storytelling throughout his illustrious career,” said MPSE president David Barber. “From epic Westerns to poignant dramas, his use of sound as an integral component of his cinematic storytelling has stirred our emotions and immersed viewers in the worlds he’s created for decades. This passion for sound is abundantly clear in his latest ambitious project, the Horizon saga. We are thrilled to honor him with the Filmmaker Award, recognizing his exceptional contributions to the art of storytelling through sound in film and television.”
Barber added, “Greg Hedgepath is a true titan in the world of sound. His contributions to cinema are immense, spanning decades and encompassing a remarkable range of genres. From the heart-pounding intensity of ‘Speed’ and ‘Twister’ to the nuanced drama of ‘Selma’ and ‘Straight Outta Compton’, Greg’s work has consistently elevated... Read More