USC Scripter Awards: Complete list of nominees

Nominations for the 2026 USC Scripter Awards have been officially announced. For the 38th annual edition, the USC Libraries have selected the finalists from 43 film adaptations and 64 television adaptations.

Winners of the 2026 USC Scripter Awards will be officially announced at a black tie ceremony in 2026 on the University of Southern California campus. The 2026 USC Scripter Awards will recognize a notable person in contemporary crime writing with a lifetime achievement award.

USC Scripter issued an official press release to announce the 2026 nominees. It read:

"The USC Libraries have named the finalists for the 38th-annual Scripter Awards, which honor the year's most accomplished adaptations of the written word for the screen. The awards recognize both the authors of the original works and the screenwriters who adapted them.

It continued,

"The USC Libraries will announce the winning authors and screenwriters at a black-tie ceremony on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in the Town & Gown ballroom at the University of Southern California."

It also added:

"Author Michael Connelly will accept the USC Libraries Literary Achievement Award at the Scripter ceremony for his contributions to the art of mystery storytelling, both on the page and on the screen. Connelly’s 41 novels have introduced the world to police detective Harry Bosch and defense attorney Mickey Haller and inspired numerous screen adaptations, including the Bosch, Bosch: Legacy, and Ballard series on Amazon Prime; the 2011 feature film The Lincoln Lawyer; the Netflix series of the same name; and the 2002 feature film Blood Work."

The official description of USC Scripter Awards on its website reads:

"Established in 1988, the USC Libraries Scripter Award is an honor bestowed annually by the Friends of the USC Libraries in recognition of the best adaptation of the printed word into film, and is given to both the author and screenwriter. By honoring the literary artistry and collaborative process of turning a book into a screenplay and ultimately into a film, this unique award acknowledges the full spectrum of the writers' creative process."

Below is a complete breakdown of the 2026 Scripter Awards nominees.

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Complete list of nominees at the 2026 USC Scripter Awards

Film adaptation

Guillermo del Toro: Frankenstein

Chloe Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell: Hamnet

Paul Thomas Anderson: One Battle After Another

Ira Sachs: Peter Hujar's Day

Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar: Train Dreams

Television adaptation

Max Hurwitz and Billy Luther: Dark Winds, "Ábidoo’niidę́ę́ (What He Had Been Told)"

Mike Makowsky: Death by Lightning, "Destiny of the Republic"

Chandni Lakhani and Scott Frank: Dept. Q, untitled first episode

Will Smith: Slow Horses, "Scars"

Peter Straughan: Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light

For further updates, fans can keep an eye on the official USC Scripter pages.

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Also Read: San Diego Film Critics Society (SDFCS) Awards: Complete list of winners and nominees explored

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