The Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay is one of the annual awards given out by Film Independent, a non-profit organization dedicated to independent film and independent filmmakers. It was first presented in 1985 with Horton Foote being the first winner of the awards for The Trip to Bountiful .
The category includes both original and adapted screenplays. Despite the creation of the Best First Screenplay category in 1994, first screenplays are also eligible to compete for this award.
Alexander Payne is the most awarded writer in the category with three wins, followed by Neal Jimenez , Gus Van Sant and Jim Taylor with two wins each. Sofia Coppola was the first female writer to win the award.
Winners and nominees [ edit ]
Oliver Stone won for Platoon .
Gus Van Sant has won the award twice, for Drugstore Cowboy and My Own Private Idaho , the former with Daniel Yost.
Charles Burnett won for To Sleep with Anger .
Robert Altman won for Shortcuts with Frank Barhydt.
Christopher McQuarrie won for The Usual Suspects .
Kevin Smith won for Chasing Amy .
Alexander Payne has won this award thrice, for Election , Sideways and The Descendants , the former two with Jim Taylor and the latter with Nat Faxon and Jim Rash .
Kenneth Lonergan won for You Can Count on Me .
Christopher Nolan won for Memento .
Mike White won for The Good Girl .
Sofia Coppola won for Lost in Translation .
Jason Reitman won for Thank You for Smoking .
Tamara Jenkins won for The Savages .
John Ridley won for 12 Years a Slave .
Dan Gilroy won for Nightcrawler .
Barry Jenkins won for Moonlight .
Greta Gerwig won for Lady Bird .
Noah Baumbach won for Marriage Story .
Emerald Fennell won for Promising Young Woman .
^ Film Independent Spirit Awards - 34 Years of Nominees and Winners
^ Barry Jenkins expected to join tiny group of double directing champs at Spirit Awards - GoldDerby
^ Lyons, Charles (March 25, 2001). " 'Tiger' shows most Independent Spirit" . Variety . Retrieved March 25, 2001 .
^ Harris, Dana (March 23, 2002). " 'Memento' tops Indie Spirit Awards" . Variety . Retrieved March 23, 2002 .
^ Harris, Dana (March 22, 2003). " 'Heaven' tops Indie Spirit Awards" . Variety . Retrieved March 22, 2003 .
^ Hernandez, Eugene (February 28, 2004). " "Lost In Translation" Tops Independent Spirit Awards, "Station Agent" Another Big Winner" . IndieWire . Retrieved February 28, 2004 .
^ Hernandez, Eugene (February 28, 2005). "Sideways Wins Six at Independent Spirit Awards" . IndieWire . Retrieved February 28, 2005 .
^ Hernandez, Eugene (March 5, 2006). " "Brokeback," "Capote," "Crash," "Transamerica" Honored With Spirit Awards" . IndieWire . Retrieved March 5, 2006 .
^ Kilday, Gregg (February 25, 2007). " 'Sunshine' brightest star at Spirit Awards" . The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved February 25, 2007 .
^ Kilday, Gregg (February 24, 2008). "Indie Spirits: 'Juno' wins best feature" . The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved February 24, 2008 .
^ Kilday, Gregg (February 21, 2009). " 'Wrestler' tops Spirits" . The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved February 21, 2009 .
^ Kilday, Gregg (March 5, 2010). " 'Precious' tops Spirit Awards" . The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved March 5, 2010 .
^ Fernandez, Sofia M. (February 26, 2011). "2011 Independent Spirit Awards Winners List" . The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved February 26, 2011 .
^ Fernandez, Jay (February 25, 2012). "Indie Spirit Awards 2012: Complete Winners List" . The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved February 25, 2012 .
^ "Independent Spirit Awards 2013: Winners List" . The Hollywood Reporter . February 23, 2013. Retrieved February 23, 2013 .
^ Nordyke, Kimberly (March 1, 2014). "Independent Spirit Awards: '12 Years a Slave' Named Best Feature" . The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved March 1, 2014 .
^ "Spirit Awards 2015: The Complete Winners List" . The Hollywood Reporter . February 21, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2015 .
^ "Spirit Awards: The Complete Winners List" . The Hollywood Reporter . February 27, 2016. Retrieved February 27, 2016 .
^ Nordyke, Kimberly (February 25, 2017). "Spirit Awards: The Complete Winners List" . The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved February 25, 2017 .
^ Nordyke, Kimberly (March 3, 2018). "Spirit Awards: Complete Winners List" . The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved March 3, 2018 .
^ Nordyke, Kimberly (February 23, 2019). "Spirit Awards: 'If Beale Street Could Talk' Wins Best Feature; Complete Winners List" . The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved February 23, 2019 .
^ Galuppo, Mia; Nordyke, Kimberly; Howard, Annie (February 8, 2020). "Film Independent Spirit Awards: 'The Farewell' Takes Best Feature; Complete Winners List" . The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved February 8, 2020 .
^ Galuppo, Mia; Nordyke, Kimberly; Drury, Sharareh; Perez, Lexy (April 22, 2021). "Film Independent Spirit Awards: 'Nomadland' Wins Best Feature, Best Director for Chloe Zhao" . The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved April 22, 2021 .
^ Galuppo, Mia (March 6, 2022). "Spirit Awards: 'The Lost Daughter,' 'Reservation Dogs' Win Big as Ukraine Fuels Onstage Remarks" . The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved March 6, 2022 .
^ Davis, Clayton (November 22, 2022). "Independent Spirit Awards Nominations: 'Everything Everywhere' Leads With Eight Noms" . Variety . Retrieved November 22, 2022 .
^ Lang, Brent (2023-12-05). "Spirit Awards 2024 Nominations List: 'Past Lives,' 'May December,' 'American Fiction' Lead With 5 Noms Each" . Variety . Retrieved 2024-02-22 .
Current categories Retired categories Ceremonies
(years are of film release; ceremonies are the following year)
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