Screenwriter John August has been named recipient of the 2016 Valentine Davies Award by the Writer’s Guild of America, West.
The prize is meant to honor a writer who works to foster a community of writers through civil service.
The Big Fish scribe’s personal screenwriting blog and podcast Scriptnotes helps budding writers understand the art of storytelling. He has also developed the Writer Emergency Pack, an educational tool for young writers that recently expanded to more than 2,000 classrooms.
Outside of the entertainment industry, August works closely with FOMO Malawi, a charity organization which cares for over 4,000 orphans in the country, providing food, clothing and education to the children of Mulanje.
“John is the writer we’d all want to be: wildly intelligent, deeply practical, effortlessly inventive and generous to a fault,” WGAW president Howard A. Rodman said Thursday in a statement. “Protip: When you find yourself in difficult straits, ask yourself ‘What would John August do?’ The times you’ll regret are the times you fail to act accordingly.”
Often a collaborator with director Tim Burton, August’s other credits include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride, Dark Shadows and Frankenweenie.
August will be honored during the WGAW’s 2016 Writers Guild Awards West Coast ceremony on Saturday, Feb. 13, at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles.
