On the Scene
On the Scene is a gallery of photos exhibiting the interaction of Final Draft, Inc. staff members with the scriptwriting community.

The USC Scripter Awards were established with a very simple mission in mind: to honor and recognize the authors whose books inspire scripts and the screenwriters who so successfully convert those books into visual tales. Final Draft, Inc. had the distinct pleasure of being invited to attend the last two awards ceremonies. This year recent Final Draft Hall of Fame Award recipient Aaron Sorkin took home the award for Best Adapted Screenplay for his script for The Social Network. Sorkin shared the honor with his collaborator Ben Mezrich, author of The Accidental Billionaires, the book from which the film was adapted.

The Doheny Library at USC, where the awards are held, is iconic not just for the many talented filmmakers who emerged from study sessions there, but also for its familiar interior – the library from the opening scene of Ghostbusters. There are no more unruly spirits in the library halls but on a night like the Scripter Awards the walls are busting at the seams with talent, including this year’s Oscar nominees and their families.

Host and MC for the night was the legendary Nancy Sinatra. Final Draft, Inc. Director of Retail & Studio Relations Zack Gutin spent part of the afternoon tweeting with Sinatra about their mutual excitement over that upcoming evening's event and then again later, rehashing the great stories and jokes she had shared with the audience. She bantered risqué stories with the deans of the school, jokingly complained of her films having never won a Scripter (like The Ghost in The Invisible Bikini) and ran down the list of men named “Dean” she had had relations with in her lifetime. By the end of the night, she had gone from surprise choice for host to unforgettable MC.

Once all the awards had been handed out, Final Draft, Inc. shared in the excitement of the winners, including the great Dennis Lehane who had the Scripter Literary Achievement Award bestowed upon him and, of course, Sorkin, Mezrich and Network producer and Best Picture Oscar®-nominee Dana Brunetti. When we told them we look forward to great things on the horizon for Team Social Network as the Academy Awards® draw closer, they joked that they look forward to all the great things on the horizon as the release of the Final Draft iPad app also draws closer. We’ll continue to cheer for them, just as they continue to cheer for us.