Scripter Finalists Named by USC Libraries
Photo/Copyright © 2008 Paramount Vantage
This year’s finalists, in alphabetical order by film title, are screenwriter Eric Roth, who shares story credit with Robin Swicord, for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, based on the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald; screenwriters Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby and Art Marcum & Matt Holloway for Iron Man, based on the comic book series authored by Stan Lee and Don Heck; screenwriter David Hare and author Bernhard Schlink for The Reader; screenwriter Justin Haythe for Revolutionary Road, based on the novel by Richard Yates; and screenwriter Simon Beaufoy for Slumdog Millionaire, based on Q & A by author Vikas Swarup.
Three of the 2009 finalists are Scripter alums. Fergus and Ostby won in 2007 for their work on the writing team that adapted P.D. James’ Children of Men. Hare adapted Michael Cunningham’s The Hours for his 2003 Scripter win.
The Scripter selection committee, chaired for the second time by Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal, chose the five finalists from a field of 58 eligible films.
“This year’s screen adaptations are a rich field of work that entertains and moves,” Gyllenhaal said. “That enriches and enlightens. That sets the standard for what the best of literature and film can be.”
The selection committee includes writer and producer Lawrence Kasdan; dramatist and screenwriter Tony Kushner; chairman of Phoenix Pictures Mike Medavoy; Catherine Quinlan, dean of the USC Libraries; Fox Filmed Entertainment CEO Tom Rothman; Jennifer and Suzanne Todd, producers of Tim Burton’s upcoming adaptation of Alice in Wonderland; and Spider-Man producer Laura Ziskin.
The studios distributing the Scripter finalist films and the publishing houses currently publishing the books on which they are based are: Paramount Vantage for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, published by Penguin Classics in the anthology The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Other Jazz Age Stories; Paramount Pictures for Iron Man, published by Marvel Comics; the Weinstein Company for The Reader, published by Vintage International; Paramount Vantage for Revolutionary Road, published by Vintage Contemporaries; and Fox Searchlight for Slumdog Millionaire, based on the book Q & A, published by Scribner.
For the first time in the history of the award, Scripter winners will be announced on the evening of the black-tie gala. The event will take place Jan. 30 in the Doheny Memorial Library. Author and award-winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis will serve as emcee.
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The Chronicle of Higher Education mentioned USC’s $6 billion fundraising campaign. The story noted that USC had already raised $1 billion in a “quiet phase,” including the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College.
The Guardian (U.K.) highlighted two major gifts to USC in a list of the 10 biggest philanthropic benefactors in America. The list included the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College, and the $110 million gift from USC Trustee and USC Viterbi School alumnus John Mork and wife Julie to create the USC Mork Family Scholars Program.
The New York Times featured the USC U.S.-China Institute documentary “Assignment: China — The Week that Changed the World.” The documentary, part of a series, examines media coverage of the 1972 Nixon trip that reshaped U.S.-China relations after a quarter century of isolation and hostility. “People look back now and take it for granted that the outcome was preordained,” said the institute’s Mike Chinoy, who produced the documentary. Voice of America also featured the story.
Los Angeles Times featured the Oscar Senti-meter, a tool developed by the USC Annenberg School, Los Angeles Times and IBM that analyzes thousands of tweets about the Academy Awards nominees. The story noted that Mexican actor Demian Bechir received an enormous boost on Twitter the day of the nominations, with a total of 6,893 tweets mentioning him, a 47-fold increase from the day before. The story noted the tool uses language-recognition technology developed in collaboration with USC Viterbi School’s Signal Analysis and Interpretation Lab.
The Times of India (India) featured a three-day medical emergency training workshop organized in association with USC. At the workshop, held at GCS Medical College in India, 50 doctors and more than 100 paramedics learned how to improve emergency support systems. William Mallon of the Keck School of USC said that discussion topics included the use of portable ultrasonic devices to scan patients. “The ultrasound applications help physicians make accurate and timely decisions,” he noted. Daily News & Analysis (India) also featured the workshop.
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