‘One Battle After Another’ Wins USC Scripter Award

The Scripters often predict the Oscar winner for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Continuing its awards roll, Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another,” loosely adapted from Thomas Pynchon’s novel “Vineland,” took home the USC Scripter Award at USC’s Town & Gown ballroom Saturday.

“I have a terrific excuse that I think everyone will understand is that I am working, I’m writing,” said Anderson in a video acceptance speech, “which is the the only thing that would keep me away.”

And on the TV series side, Mike Makowsky accepted the award for “Death by Lightning,” adapted from the book “Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President,” by Candice Millard. Makowski thanked the universe for inspiring him to pick up the book on a whim at Barnes and Noble three-for-one book sale, as well as Netflix for being willing to back the project, which was not sought after.

The awards, which go to one film and one television series, recognize both the authors of the original works and the screenwriters who adapted them.

Author Michael Connelly, who wrote the novels behind hit television series “Bosch” and “The Lincoln Lawyer,” accepted the USC Libraries Literary Achievement Award at the Scripter ceremony from “Bosch” star Titus Gulliver for his contributions to the art of mystery writing on the page and screen.

On the film side, the Scripter Award has been a serious bellwether for the Oscars, having predicted five out of six of the last few Best Adapted Screenplay award winners. Screenwriter Peter Straughan won the film award in 2025 for “Conclave” and also picked up the Oscar.

The 2026 Scripter selection committee selected the finalists from a field of 43 film and 64 television adaptations. USC professor Howard Rodman, a former president of the Writers Guild of America, West, announced that this would be his swansong as chair of the selection committee, which includes journalists (like me), authors, screenwriters, producers, and Elizabeth Daley, dean of the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

In his final remarks, Rodman said: “Libraries are where I spent my childhood, my youth, my young adulthood. I bet that’s true of just about every writer in this room. It’s within walls of books that we found a home, whether we want to turn the world upside down or simply reveal the beauty that’s already here, we learned to see far by looking near, indulging in the feel, the weight, the aroma of the book, the dense, syncopated architecture of rows of books, a place where we glean wisdom from facts, inspiration from fiction, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.”