Finalists Announced for 41st Annual HUMANITAS Prize Honoring Outstanding Television and Film Writing

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 7, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Thirty eight (38) writers were named finalists in ten (10) categories for the 41^st Annual HUMANITAS Prize, it was announced today by HUMANITAS President Ali LeRoi and Executive Director Cathleen Young. The writers will be competing for $225,000 in prize money to be handed out at an evening cocktail reception, which will be held on Thursday, February 11th, 2016 at Directors Guild of America.

HUMANITAS Prize presenters include Jane Anderson (OLIVE KITTERIDGE), Jenny Bicks (THE BIG C), Liz Brixius (NURSE JACKIE), Cindy Chupack (MODERN FAMILY), Misan Sagay (BELLE), Janine Sherman Barrois (CRIMINAL MINDS), and Pier Carlo Talenti (Center Theatre Group). The HUMANITAS Prize was created 41 years ago to honor television and film writers whose work explores the human experience in a way that both entertains and enlightens.

"If you speak to anyone who works in the industry, they will tell you everything comes back to great writing," said President Ali LeRoi. "Great writing gets big actors attached. Great writing gets executives to give the green light, and keeps the audience tuning in week after week. It's the writing that sparks the fire and builds the community. But the act of writing, the actual doing of the thing, is often lonely, isolated, and fraught with fears and doubts. It takes not only great talent, but great vision, drive, perseverance, and bravery to write truly groundbreaking stories. It is a privilege to shine a light on these artists, a light we hope helps lift them through the dark beginnings and allows them to see the value of their visions."

"I am proud to honor each and every 2016 HUMANITAS finalist," said Executive Director Cathleen Young. "Their stories begin with thoughts and words—linked, appended, trimmed—sometimes destroyed and recreated—before they are shared on stage or screen. Thanks to their skill and passion, these stories allow us to step out into new worlds or into someone else's shoes. I have to believe that makes the world a better place."

The 2015 HUMANITAS Prize Finalists are:

Feature Film Category 
STILL ALICE Written by: Wash Westmoreland & Richard Glatzer
TESTAMENT OF YOUTH Written by: Juliette Towhidi
THE GOOD LIE Written by: Margaret Nagle

Sundance Feature Film Category 
DOPE Written by: Rick Famuyiwa
EXPERIMENTER Written by: Michael Almereyda
ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL Written by: Jesse Andrews

Documentary Category 
CITIZEN FOUR Written by: Laura Poitras
LANDFILL HARMONIC Written by: Andrew Allgood
SOUTHERN RITES Written by: Josh Alexander

60 Minute Category 
MADAM SECRETARY "Face the Nation" Written by: Matt Ward (CBS)
ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK "Trust No Bitch" Written by: Jim Danger Gray & Jenji Kohan (Netflix) 
THE AFFAIR "Pilot" Written by: Sarah Treem & Hagai Levi (Showtime)

30 Minute Category 
BLACKISH "Please Don't Ask, Please Don't Tell" Written by: Peter Saji (ABC)
THE MIDDLE "The Graduate" Written by: DeAnn Heline & Eileen Heisler (ABC)
UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT "Kimmy Goes Outside!" Written by: Tina Fey & Robert Carlock

Children's Animation Category
ARTHUR "The Tardy Tumbler" Written by: Matt Hoverman

Children's Live Action Category
GORTIMER GIBBON'S LIFE ON NORMAL STREET "Gortimer and the Surprise Signature" Written by: Garrett Frawley & Brian Turner
GORTIMER GIBBON'S LIFE ON NORMAL STREET "Ranger and the Legend of Pendragon's Gavel" Written by: Gretchen Enders
LIV AND MADDIE "Rate-A-Rooney" Written by: Jennifer Keene, John D. Beck & Ron Hart

DAVID & LYNN ANGELL COMEDY FELLOWSHIP
Eugenie Carabatso, Carnegie Mellon
Andrew Hu, AFI
Jane Miller, UCLA

DRAMA FELLOWSHIP
Kimberly Guerrero, UC Riverside
Juliana Rabadjijia, Boston University
Adrienne Rush, Flordia State University

HUMANITAS NEW VOICES RECIPIENTS
Lauren Goodman
Jason Holtham
Chisa Hutchinson
Dario Konjicija
Damir Konjicija

Since its inception in 1974, The HUMANITAS Prize has awarded over $3 million to more than 320 deserving television and motion picture writers whose work affirms the dignity of the human person, probes the meaning of life, and enlightens the use of human freedom. HUMANITAS exists to encourage, stimulate and sustain the nation's screenwriters in their humanizing task, and to give them the recognition they deserve.

The HUMANITAS Prize is funded by an endowment established through the generosity of individuals, networks, studios and foundations. Winners of the HUMANITAS Prize have included: John Ridley (12 Years A Slave); Damien Chazelle (Whiplash); Larry Kramer (The Normal Heart); David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook); Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild); Denis Leary & Peter Tolan ("Rescue Me'); Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious); Steve Levitan ("Modern Family," "Frasier"); Ryan Murphy ("Glee"); Robert & Michelle King ("The Good Wife"); David E. Kelley ("The Practice," "Picket Fences"); Ben Affleck and Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting); Steven Zaillian (Schindler's List); David Shore ("House"); Aaron Sorkin ("The West Wing"); Tim Robbins (Dead Man Walking); Jason Katims ("Friday Night Lights"); Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter (WALL-E); Nancy Oliver (Lars and the Real Girl); Eric Roth & Michael Mann (The Insider); Paul Haggis (Crash); Steven Bochco ("Hill Street Blues," "NYPD Blue") and Keir Pearson & Terry George (Hotel Rwanda).

For more information, please visit The HUMANITAS Prize at www.humanitasprize.org.

Contact: 
The HUMANITAS Prize
Amy Hartman, Program Administrator
310-454-8769

SOURCE The HUMANITAS Prize

Related Links

http://www.humanitasprize.org