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, Foote also received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the film. The category includes both original and adapted screenplays. Despite the creation of the Best First Screenplay category in 1994, first screenplays are also elegible to compete for this award.