Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay
# Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay

The Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay is one of the annual awards given by the Film Independent, a non-profit organization dedicated to independent film and independent filmmakers. It was first presented in 1994 with David O. Russell being the first recipient of the award for Spanking the Monkey, a film he also directed.

## Winners and nominees

### 1990s

| Year | Recipient(s) | Film |
| - | - | - |
| 1994 | David O. Russell | Spanking the Monkey |
| 1994 | Paul Zehrer | Blessing |
| 1994 | Kevin Smith | Clerks |
| 1994 | James Bosley | Fun |
| 1994 | Tom Noonan | What Happened Was |
| 1995 | Paul Auster | Smoke |
| 1995 | Harmony Korine | Kids |
| 1995 | James Gray | Little Odessa |
| 1995 | Steve McLean | Postcards from America |
| 1995 | Kelly Reichardt | River of Grass |
| 1996 | Joseph Tropiano and Stanley Tucci | Big Night |
| 1996 | Suzan-Lori Parks | Girl 6 |
| 1996 | Lisa Krueger | Manny & Lo |
| 1996 | Michael Scott Myers | The Whole Wide World |
| 1996 | Steve Buscemi | Trees Lounge |
| 1997 | Neil LaBute | In the Company of Men |
| 1997 | Steven Schwartz | Critical Care |
| 1997 | Paul Thomas Anderson | Hard Eight |
| 1997 | Miguel Arteta | Star Maps |
| 1997 | Daniel Harris | The Bible and Gun Club |
| 1998 | Darren Aronofsky | Pi |
| 1998 | Lisa Cholodenko | High Art |
| 1998 | Matthew Weiss | Niagara, Niagara |
| 1998 | Tamara Jenkins | Slums of Beverly Hills |
| 1998 | Sherman Alexie | Smoke Signals |
| 1999 | Charlie Kaufman | Being John Malkovich |
| 1999 | Kimberly Peirce and Andy Bienen | Boys Don't Cry |
| 1999 | Anne Rapp | Cookie's Fortune |
| 1999 | Tod Williams | The Adventures of Sebastian Cole |
| 1999 | John Roach and Mary Sweeney | The Straight Story |

### 2000s

| Year | Recipient(s) | Film |
| - | - | - |
| 2000 | Gina Prince-Bythewood | Love & Basketball |
| 2000 | Ben Younger | Boiler Room |
| 2000 | David Gordon Green | George Washington |
| 2000 | Jordan Walker-Pearlman | The Visit |
| 2000 | Ross Klavan and Michael McGruther | Tigerland |
| 2001 | Daniel Clowes and Terry Zwigoff | Ghost World |
| 2001 | Richard Kelly | Donnie Darko |
| 2001 | John Cameron Mitchell | Hedwig and the Angry Inch |
| 2001 | Stephen M. Ryder, Michael Cuesta and Gerald Cuesta | L.I.E. |
| 2001 | Jennifer Jason Leigh and Alan Cumming | The Anniversary Party |
| 2002 | Erin Cressida Wilson | Secretary |
| 2002 | Laura Cahill | Hysterical Blindness |
| 2002 | Burr Steers | Igby Goes Down |
| 2002 | Neil Burger | Interview with the Assassin |
| 2002 | Heather Juergensen and Jennifer Westfeldt | Kissing Jessica Stein |
| 2003 | Tom McCarthy | The Station Agent |
| 2003 | Karen Moncrieff | Blue Car |
| 2003 | Patty Jenkins | Monster |
| 2003 | Peter Sollett and Eva Vives | Raising Victor Vargas |
| 2003 | Catherine Hardwicke and Nikki Reed | Thirteen |
| 2004 | Joshua Marston | Maria Full of Grace |
| 2004 | Rodney Evans | Brother to Brother |
| 2004 | Zach Braff | Garden State |
| 2004 | Shane Carruth | Primer |
| 2004 | Mario de la Vega | Robbing Peter |
| 2005 | Duncan Tucker | Transamerica |
| 2005 | Kenneth Hanes | Fixing Frank |
| 2005 | Angus MacLachlan | Junebug |
| 2005 | Miranda July | Me and You and Everyone We Know |
| 2005 | Sabina Murray | The Beautiful Country |
| 2006 | Michael Arndt | Little Miss Sunshine |
| 2006 | Dito Montiel | A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints |
| 2006 | Gabrielle Zevin | Conversations with Other Women |
| 2006 | Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden | Half Nelson |
| 2006 | Goran Dukić | Wristcutters: A Love Story |
| 2007 | Diablo Cody | Juno |
| 2007 | Jeffrey Blitz | Rocket Science |
| 2007 | Zoe Cassavetes | Broken English |
| 2007 | Kelly Masterson | Before the Devil Knows You're Dead |
| 2007 | John Orloff | A Mighty Heart |
| 2008 | Dustin Lance Black | Milk |
| 2008 | Lance Hammer | Ballast |
| 2008 | Courtney Hunt | Frozen River |
| 2008 | Jonathan Levine | The Wackness |
| 2008 | Jenny Lumet | Rachel Getting Married |
| 2009 | Geoffrey Fletcher | Precious |
| 2009 | Sophie Barthes | Cold Souls |
| 2009 | Scott Cooper | Crazy Heart |
| 2009 | Cherien Dabis | Amreeka |
| 2009 | Tom Ford and David Scearce | A Single Man |

### 2010s

| Year | Recipient(s) | Film |
| - | - | - |
| 2010 | Lena Dunham | Tiny Furniture |
| 2010 | Robert Glaudini | Jack Goes Boating |
| 2010 | Nik Fackler | Lovely, Still |
| 2010 | Dana Adam Shapiro and Evan M. Wiener | Monogamy |
| 2010 | Diane Bell | Obselidia |
| 2011 | Will Reiser | 50/50 |
| 2011 | Mike Cahill and Brit Marling | Another Earth |
| 2011 | J. C. Chandor | Margin Call |
| 2011 | Patrick deWitt | Terri |
| 2011 | Phil Johnston | Cedar Rapids |
| 2012 | Derek Connolly | Safety Not Guaranteed |
| 2012 | Rama Burshtein | Fill the Void |
| 2012 | Christopher D. Ford | Robot & Frank |
| 2012 | Rashida Jones and Will McCormack | Celeste and Jesse Forever |
| 2012 | Jonathan Lisecki | Gayby |
| 2013 | Bob Nelson | Nebraska |
| 2013 | Lake Bell | In a World... |
| 2013 | Joseph Gordon-Levitt | Don Jon |
| 2013 | Jill Soloway | Afternoon Delight |
| 2013 | Michael Starrbury | The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete |
| 2014 | Justin Simien | Dear White People |
| 2014 | Desiree Akhavan | Appropriate Behavior |
| 2014 | Sara Colangelo | Little Accidents |
| 2014 | Justin Lader | The One I Love |
| 2014 | Anja Marquardt | She's Lost Control |
| 2015 | Emma Donoghue | Room |
| 2015 | Jesse Andrews | Me and Earl and the Dying Girl |
| 2015 | Jonas Carpignano | Mediterranea |
| 2015 | Marielle Heller | The Diary of a Teenage Girl |
| 2015 | John Magary; Russell Harbaugh and Myna Joseph (story by) | The Mend |
| 2016 | Robert Eggers | The Witch |
| 2016 | Chris Kelly | Other People |
| 2016 | Adam Mansbach | Barry |
| 2016 | Stella Meghie | Jean of the Joneses |
| 2016 | Craig Shilowich | Christine |
| 2017 | Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani | The Big Sick |
| 2017 | Kris Avedisian, Kyle Espeleta (story by), and Jesse Wakeman (story by) | Donald Cried |
| 2017 | Ingrid Jungermann | Women Who Kill |
| 2017 | Kogonada | Columbus |
| 2017 | David Branson Smith & Matt Spicer | Ingrid Goes West |
| 2018 | Bo Burnham | Eighth Grade |
| 2018 | Christina Choe | Nancy |
| 2018 | Cory Finley | Thoroughbreds |
| 2018 | Jennifer Fox | The Tale |
| 2018 | Laurie & Quinn Shephard | Blame |
| 2019 | Fredrica Bailey and Stefon Bristol | See You Yesterday |
| 2019 | Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen | Driveways |
| 2019 | Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy | Blow the Man Down |
| 2019 | Jocelyn Deboer and Dawn Luebbe | Greener Grass |
| 2019 | James Montague and Craig W. Sanger | The Vast of Night |

### 2020s

| Year | Recipient(s) | Film |
| - | - | - |
| 2020 | Andy Siara | Palm Springs |
| 2020 | Kitty Green | The Assistant |
| 2020 | Noah Hutton | Lapsis |
| 2020 | Channing Godfrey Peoples | Miss Juneteenth |
| 2020 | James Sweeney | Straight Up |
| 2021 | Michael Sarnoski and Vanessa Block | Pig |
| 2021 | Sheldon D. Brown and Matthew Fifer | Cicada |
| 2021 | Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr. | Wild Indian |
| 2021 | Shatara Michelle Ford | Test Pattern |
| 2021 | Fran Kranz | Mass |
| 2022 | John Patton Ford | Emily the Criminal |
| 2022 | Joel Kim Booster | Fire Island |
| 2022 | Jamie Dack and Audrey Findlay, story by Jamie Dack | Palm Trees and Power Lines |
| 2022 | K.D. Dávila | Emergency |
| 2022 | Sarah DeLappe, story by Kristen Roupenian | Bodies Bodies Bodies |
