Harry Potter Movie Screenwriter Steven

Harry Potter Movie Screenwriter Steven Kloves was inducted into the fraternity of Scripter Awardees according to the LA Times:

Two literary wunderkinds, Michael Chabon, author of “Wonder Boys,” and screenwriter Steve Kloves, who adapted the novel for the screen, were inducted into the prestigious fraternity of Scripter Awardees at the 13th annual dinner sponsored by the Friends of the USC Libraries on Saturday.

They join a roster of prior winners, including Jane Austen, Stephen King, Thomas Keneally, Anne Tyler and James Ellroy. The Scripter is academia’s only prize honoring both the book and the film.

In accepting the award–a crystal book–from screenwriter Curtis Hanson, a past awardee, Chabon paid a moving tribute to teachers. “This movie is really about the relationship between a student and a teacher. I was fortunate to have fine teachers all through school and I thank them most of all,” he said. Three-time Scripter winner Steven Zaillian presented the award to Kloves, whose most recent project is the adaptation of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”

Joan Jani-Mimms chaired the event, which was co-emceed by comedy writer Hal Kanter and actor Gavin MacLeod. The dinner, staged in USC’s Doheny Memorial Library in years past, was held in a tent erected on Trousdale Pavilion this year. The historic library has been closed for retrofitting since December 1999 and will reopen in May. Proceeds from the Scripter dinner will fund the library’s preservation project and new information technology, said Friends president Sue Femino.