2023 Award Recipient

Acclaimed playwright and screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz has been named recipient of Writers Guild of America West’s 2023 Paul Selvin Award in recognition of her adapted screenplay She Said, which tells the story of two New York Times reporters breaking news that would expose decades of silence around sexual assault in Hollywood. 

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Lenkiewicz will be honored at the 2023 Writers Guild Awards on Sunday, March 5 at the Fairmont Century Plaza. 

Based on the New York Times investigation by Jodi Kantor, Megan Twohey and Rebecca Corbett and the book She Said by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey; Lenkiewicz’ screenplay highlights the true story of Kantor and Twohey’s relentless search for the truth to stop an accused serial predator. Kantor and Twohey’s dedication to the victims and survivors who had their lives upended helped propel the #MeToo movement by shining a light on the system that enabled years of sexual assault by some of Hollywood’s most powerful individuals. 

In addition to the Selvin Award, She Said has won wide critical acclaim, receiving nominations for a Writers Guild Award for Adapted Screenplay, Critics Choice Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, a BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and Golden Globe nomination for Carey Mulligan’s portrayal of Megan Twohey. 

Rebecca Lenkiewicz was the first living female playwright to have an original play—the celebrated Her Naked Skin—performed on the National Theatre’s Olivier stage and has since written multiple plays and adaptations for the stage. With director Paweł Pawlikowski, Lenkiewicz co-wrote 2013’s Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe-nominated, and Independent Spirit Award-winning Ida. Lenkiewicz was nominated for her second Independent Spirit Award for the 2018 biographical drama Colette. Her television credits include the French-American musical drama The Eddy, the BBC miniseries The Woman in White, and the British drama The Secret Life of a Call Girl among others. 

Named for the late Paul Selvin, general counsel to WGAW for 25 years, the honorary award is given each year to the member or members whose script best embodies the spirit of the constitutional and civil rights and liberties that are indispensable to the survival of free writers everywhere. Previous recipients of the Paul Selvin award include Barry Jenkins, Will Berson & Shaka King and Kenny Lucas & Keith Lucas, Charles Randolph, Adam McKay, Dustin Lance Black, Alex Gibney, Susannah Grant, Eric Roth, Michael Mann, Gary Ross, Liz Hannah, Josh Singer, George Clooney and Tony Kushner.