Finalists Announced For The 45th annual Humanitas Prize™

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Eighty-six film and television writers have been named finalists for the 2020 HUMANITAS Prize, it was announced today by HUMANITAS Executive Director Cathleen Young and President Ali LeRoi. Celebrating its 45th anniversary, the HUMANITAS Prize honors film and television writers whose work inspires compassion, hope, and understanding in the human family.

The finalists are nominated for their work in 10 categories including Comedy Teleplay, Drama Teleplay, Children's Teleplay, Independent Feature Film, Drama Feature Film, Comedy or Musical Feature Film, Family Feature Film, and Documentary. In addition, this year HUMANITAS has introduced two new categories, Limited Series, TV Movie or Special and Short Film, to reflect the increased significance of those forms in the digital media landscape.

Six college students have been named as finalists for The David and Lynn Angell College Comedy Fellowship and The Carol Mendelsohn College Drama Fellowship. The winning writers in each category will be awarded $20,000 in prize money.

Six HUMANITAS New Voices winners will be honored at the event. The winning writers received mentorship and will be awarded $7,500 in prize money.

All prize winners will be announced at the 45th Annual HUMANITAS Prize event on Friday, January 24, 2020, at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.

"As we celebrate four and a half decades of empowering, supporting, and honoring storytellers, HUMANITAS continues to evolve and grow to reflect the world around us," said LeRoi. "This year we have added two new categories to recognize work in forms that have seen dramatic increases in both popularity and artistic merit in the age of streaming and online viewing."

Added Young: "As our world faces enormous challenges to the goal of peace and love in the human family, which is at the core of HUMANITAS's mission, it is extremely inspiring to be able to honor the work of so many talented individuals. Intelligent, insightful and compassionate storytelling remains one of the most powerful weapons against hate and intolerance, and our finalists' work epitomizes those qualities."

The 45th Annual HUMANITAS Prize finalists are:

Drama Teleplay CategoryTHIS IS US "Our Little Island Girl" Written by Eboni FreemanPOSE "In My Heels" Written By Ryan Murphy & Brad Falchuck & Steven CanalsTHE TWILIGHT ZONE "Replay" Written by Selwyn Seyfu HindsTHE HANDMAID'S TALE "Useful" Written by Yahlin Chang; based on the novel by Margaret Atwood

Comedy Teleplay CategorySHRILL "Annie" Teleplay by Aidy Bryant & Alexandra Rushfield & Lindy West; based on the book Shrill: Notes From a Loud Woman by Lindy WestBLACK-ISH "Black Like Us" Written By Peter SajiATYPICAL "Road Rage Paige" Written By Robia Rashid VEEP "South Carolina" Written By Alex Gregory & Peter Huyck

Limited Series, TV Movie or Special Category WHEN THEY SEE US "Part 4" Teleplay by Ava DuVernay & Michael Starrbury; story by Ava DuVernayTRUE DETECTIVE "Now Am Found" Written by Nic PizzolattoCHERNOBYL "Vichnaya Pamyat" Written by Craig MazinLIVE IN FRONT OF A STUDIO AUDIENCE: NORMAL LEAR'S ALL IN THE FAMILY AND THE JEFFERSONS "All in the Family #406: 'Henry's Farewell'" Written by Don Nicholl; "The Jeffersons #101: 'A Friend in Need'" Teleplay by Don Nicholl, Michael Ross & Bernard West, Barry Harman & Harve Brosten; story by Barry Harman & Harve Brosten

Children's Teleplay CategoryTHE LOUD HOUSE "Racing Hearts" Written by Kevin SullivanA SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS "The Penultimate Peril, Part 1" Teleplay by Joe Tracz; based on the book by Lemony SnicketELENA OF AVALOR "Changing of the Guard" Written by Kate KondellNIKO AND THE SWORD OF LIGHT, SEASON 2: NIKO AND THE AMULET OF POWER "The Automatron" Written by Shaene Siders

Drama Feature Film CategoryA BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD Written by Micah Fitzerman-Blue & Noah Harpster; inspired by the article "Can You Say… Hero?" by Tom JunodA HIDDEN LIFE Written and directed by Terrence Malick; source material: letters between Franz and Fani Jagerstatter taken from Franz Jagerstatter: Letters and Writings from Prison edited by Erna PutzDARK WATERS Screenplay by Mario Correa and Matthew Michael Carnahan; based on the New York Times Magazine article "The Lawyer Who Became DuPont's Worst Nightmare" by Nathaniel RichBOMBSHELL Written by Charles Randolf

Comedy or Musical Feature Film CategoryYESTERDAY Story by Richard Curtis, Jack Barth; Written by Richard CurtisTHE FAREWELL Written by Lulu WangJOJO RABBIT Screenplay by Taika Waititi; Based on the book Caging Skies by Christina LeunensTHE LAUNDROMAT Written by Scott Z. Burns; based on the book Secrecy World by Jake Bernstein

Family Feature Film CategoryTHE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON Written by Tyler Nelson & Michael SchwartzFROZEN 2 Story by Jennifer Lee, Chris Buck, Marc E. Smith, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez; Screenplay by Jennifer LeeTOY STORY 4 Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Josh Cooley, Valerie LaPointe, Rashida Jones & Will McCormack, Martin Hynes and Stephany Folsom; Written by Andrew Stanton and Stephany FolsomKLAUS Story by Sergio Pablos; screenplay by Sergio Pablos, Jim Mahoney, Zach Lewis

Independent Feature Film CategoryEND OF SENTENCE by Michael ArmbrusterHOTEL MUMBAI by John Collee & Anthony MarasBRITTANY RUNS A MARATHON Written and directed by Paul Downs Colaizzo THE BANKER Story by David Lewis Smith & Stan Younger and Brad Caleb Kane; screenplay by Niceole Levy & George Nolfi and David Lewis Smith & Stan Younger

Short Film CategoryVARIABLES Written by Sabina VajracaPURL Written by Kristen LesterTHE CHARGE FOR THE SUN Story by Terence Nance; screenplay by Eugene RamosKITBULL Written by Rosana Sullivan

Documentary CategoryTORN APART: SEPARATED AT THE BORDER Directed by Ellen Goosenberg KentERNIE & JOE: CRISIS COPS Directed by Jenifer McShane, SEA OF SHADOWS Directed by Richard Ladkani; THIS IS FOOTBALL "Redemption" Directed by James Erskine, Written by John Carlin

The David and Lynn Angell College Comedy FellowshipEliana Pipes (Boston University) FAUXRICUA       Nick Madson (Boston University) DOWN AND OUT Sheridan Watson (USC) LADY LAZARUS  

The Carol Mendelsohn College Drama FellowshipJames Bentley (UCLA) THE PIRATES OF FELLOWSHIP, MAINE  King Lu (Columbia) FROM JUNE TO JULY Jennifer Frazin (USC) CHOSEN PEOPLE    

New Voices Winners Robert Axelrod, TUCKEDChristina Brosman, SACRIFICIALJeanine Daniels, CONVOLUTEDJohn Doble, THE AMEN SISTERHOODObiageli Odimegwu, THE SHOWRoniel Tessler, BLUE MOON

All winners, except for those in the Independent Feature Film, Short Film, College Fellowship, and New Voices categories, designate a nonprofit of their choice. Past recipients have included Young Storytellers, The Writers Guild Foundation, Rosie's Theater Kids, Film2Future, Hedgebrook, ARC, The Remix Project, P.S. Arts, IDA, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Sundance Institute, KidUnity, WriteGirl, InsideOUT Writers, WeForShe, Venice Arts, 826LA, Story Pirates, The Heidelberg Project, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, A Place Called Home, California Innocence Project, eQuinoxe Europe, The Trevor Project, Ghetto Film School, Alliance of Women Directors, Arrupe Neighborhood Partnership, and Planned Parenthood.

About the HUMANITAS Prize

Since its inception in 1974, the HUMANITAS Prize has awarded over $4 million to more than 360 deserving television and motion picture writers whose work examines what it means to be a fully realized human being in a world struggling with racism, terrorism, sexism, ageism, anti-Semitism, political polarization, religious fanaticism, extreme poverty, violence, and unemployment. By deeply exploring the cultures, lifestyles, sexual orientations, political views, and religious beliefs of people who are very different from ourselves, we can dissolve the walls of ignorance and fear that separate us from one another. For more information, please visit the HUMANITAS Prize at www.humanitasprize.org.

Media Contact:The HUMANITAS Prize Lena ParodiProgram Coordinator[email protected](310) 454-8769

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SOURCE The HUMANITAS Prize