"Lincoln" screenwriter Tony Kushner and "Team of Rivals" author Doris Kearns Goodwin at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards

Credit: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

The USC Scripter Awards is celebrating its silver anniversary this year. And in this 25th year, the USC Libraries' set of nominees is reflective of a very competitive year as, for the first time ever, a tie resulted in six nominees as opposed to the usual five.

All of the nominees from this year's Best Adapted Screenplay category at the Oscars were represented, plus a WGA nominee that had a a big head of steam going into the nominations announcement last Thursday but ultimately come up short.

The USC Scripter prize is unique in that it recognizes both the screenwriters and the authors of the original source material. This year's nominees were selected from a field of 82 eligible adaptations by a committee co-chaired by screenwriter Naomi Foner and USC professor and vice president of the WGA, West, Howard Rodman.

The nominees are...

"Argo"
Joshua Bearman, author of "The Great Escape" (article) Antonio J. Mendez, author of "The Master of Disguise" (book) and Chris Terrio, screenwriter

"Beasts of the Southern Wild"
Lucy Alibar, writer of "Juicy and Delicious" (play) and screenwriter, and Benh Zeitlin, screenwriter

"Life of Pi"
Yann Martel, author of "Life of Pi" (novel) and David Magee, screenwriter

"Lincoln"
Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln" (book) and Tony Kushner, screenwriter

"The Perks of Being a Wallflower"
Stephen Chbosky, author of "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" (novel) and screenwriter

"Silver Linings Playbook"
Matthew Quick, author of "The Silver Linings Playbook" (novel) and David O. Russell, screenwriter

Those serving on the committee included film critics Leonard Maltin and Kennth Turan, authors (and former USC Scripter winners) Michael Chabon and Kaui Hart Hemmings and screenwriters Geoffrey Fletcher and Lawrence Ksdan, among others.

Winners will be announced at the 25th annual USC Scripter Awards at the historic Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library on the University Park campus of the University of Southern California (Fight On) on February 9, 2013. Previously announced, Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana will receive the Literary Achievement Award.

As always, keep track of all the ups and downs of the 2012-2013 film awards season via The Circuit.

Kristopher Tapley
Editor-at-Large

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Kristopher Tapley has covered the film awards landscape for over a decade. He founded In Contention in 2005. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Times of London and Variety. He begs you not to take any of this too seriously.