It’s billed as the fastest awards presentation of the season, rolling in at little more than an hour. But that doesn’t mean the 14th Annual Final Draft Awards didn’t give its full due to the talented television and film screenwriters who were honored during the ceremonies, ably hosted by comedians Randy and Jason Sklar at the Paramount Theater Tuesday night.
Naturally, they started off by making jokes about Kevin Hart and the lack of an announced host of the upcoming Academy Awards since his departure—along with the struggle writers often face as they choose between art and commerce.
But most of the night’s business was pretty serious, especially during Callie Khouri’s acceptance speech as she received the Hall of Fame honor. Khouri, who is best-known for her groundbreaking 1991 female empowerment film “Thelma and Louise” and the hit television series “Nashville,” teared up when she began talking about the apparent hate crime attack on actor Jussie Smollett.
“In times like these, it’s important work that we do to help each other and understand how connected we are,” she said. “It’s 2019, but the things that are happening feel like 1939–and that’s a failure of our society. We have to ask what we can do to make us better and to enable us to see through the eyes of others.”
Boots Riley
The other honorees included Boots Riley, who received the New Voice Award for Film from the co-stars of his “Sorry to Bother You,” Terry Crews and Armie Hammer. Riley wrote and directed the dark comedy set in the world of telemarketing after a long career as a musician, a first-time effort that was widely acclaimed. He attributed the success of the film to his decision to write about what he was personally passionate about rather than trying to please others.
“What I realized works is when I go deep into myself and get in touch with what I like and realize that if I really like it, if I’m passionate about it and it resonates with me then there’s probably other people that it resonates with. I mean on a basic human level and so if I can make something that does that, more than likely I’m going to make something that is going to touch other people,” he said.
On the television side, “Vida” showrunner Tanya Saracho received the New Voice Award for her work on the critically acclaimed Starz program, which is entering its second season. Her previous credits include “How to Get Away with Murder,” “Looking,” “Girls” and “Devious Maids” Saracho, a native of Sinaloa, Mexico began her career as a playwright.
Final Draft, which is the preeminent software program for screenwriting, also celebrated the winners of its Big Break screenwriting contest: Jeff Cassidy who won for his feature script “Daisy’s Story” and Myles Reid who won for his TV pilot “Scattershot.”
