Danny McBride will receive the Flannery O'Connor Award for Storytelling at the 23rd Rome International Film Festival this November, according to Deadline (Deadline).

The Georgia native — known for creating and starring in the HBO series Eastbound & Down, Vice Principals, and The Righteous Gemstones — will be honoured during the festival's 23rd edition, scheduled for November 5–8, 2026, in Rome, Georgia (RIFF).

The Flannery O'Connor Award for Storytelling was inaugurated at RIFF in 2021, taking its name from the celebrated Southern Gothic writer who spent much of her life in Milledgeville, Georgia. Billy Bob Thornton received the inaugural award at that year's festival (RIFF, 2021). The prize recognises storytellers whose work carries a distinct voice rooted in the American South.

McBride fits that description. Though widely known as a comic performer, his creative range extends to writing and producing through his production company, Rough House Pictures — the outfit behind Halloween (2018) and its sequels, which he co-wrote with director David Gordon Green. His television work has consistently shot in the American South, bringing production jobs and visibility to the region.

The Rome International Film Festival is a community-rooted event in northwest Georgia, not to be confused with the larger Festa del Cinema di Roma held in Rome, Italy. RIFF has been programming year-round screenings alongside its annual festival — a recent double feature paired Pixar's WALL-E with Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove at the Historic DeSoto Theatre in April 2026, and a Dirty Dancing screening followed in July as part of a family film series (RIFF). The festival's film submissions for the 2026 edition closed on April 30.

For a festival its size, landing a name like McBride gives RIFF a marquee draw for its November run. The award itself is still young — only five years old — but it has already built a short list that connects Thornton's soulful Southern storytelling to McBride's broader creative output. The thread running through both is place: Georgia, and the stories that come from it.