I'm super bummed that this year I can't make it to the USC Scripter Awards (alas, I'll be in Santa Barbara for Michael Keaton's tribute, which I just can't miss). They are my favorite event of the year, typically, a swanky little gathering in the Doheny Library on the USC campus that always brings back grad school memories. Sigh. Wait, there's news to tell you here…

The Scripters recognize adapted screenplays and the source material that inspires them. It's always a fun little addition to the adapted screenplay race every year, and unique in the celebration of the authors whose works launch some of the awards season's most notable players.

This year's finalists are:

– Gillian Flynn (“Gone Girl,” based on the novel)

– Andrew Hodges and Graham Moore (“The Imitation Game,” based on the book “Alan Turing: The Enigma”)

– Thomas Pynchon and Paul Thomas Anderson (“Inherent Vice,” based on the novel)

– Jane Hawking and Anthony McCarten (“The Theory of Everything,” based on the book “Traveling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen”)

– Cheryl Strayed and Nick Hornby (“Wild,” based on the memoir “Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail)

Winners will be announced at the 27th annual Scripter Awards on Jan. 31.