Mumbai: Screenwriter Robert Eisele and his story collaborator Jeffrey Porro are slated to receive the Writers Guild of America, West’s prestigious 2008 Paul Selvin Award, celebrating written work that embodies the spirit of constitutional rights and civil liberties for their thought-provoking screenplay for The Great Debaters.

Both writers, along with other Guild lifetime achievement and service honorees, will be feted at the WGA West’s 2008 Honorary Awards Luncheon on 23 April at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles.

"This screenplay is a profound story of the power of words and collective resolve, two things which writers are always willing to employ and embrace," commented WGAW president Patric M. Verrone.

Directed by Denzel Washington and released by The Weinstein Company and Metro Goldwyn Mayer during winter 2007, The Great Debaters recently won four NAACP Image Awards including Outstanding Motion Picture, Actor (Denzel Washington), and Actress (Jurnee Smollett), as well as garnering eight NAACP Image Award nominations, including Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture for Eisele.