Humanitas Prizes
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The Humanitas Prize is an award for film and television writing, and is given to writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful way. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser—also the founder of
Paulist Productions Paulist Productions is a Catholic film production company founded in 1960 by the Paulist priest Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser. The Paulists describe the company as a "creator of films and television programs that uncover God’s presence in the c ...
—but is generally not seen as specifically directed toward religious cinema or TV. The prize is distinguished from similar honors for screenwriters in that a large cash award, between $10,000, accompanies each prize. Journalist
Barbara Walters Barbara Jill Walters (born September 25, 1929) is an American broadcast journalist and television personality. Known for her interviewing ability and popularity with viewers, Walters appeared as a host of numerous television programs, including ...
once said, "What the
Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
is to literature and the
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
is to journalism, the Humanitas Prize has become for American television."John L. Allen, Jr.
Three careers illustrate the fallacy of media-bashing
'' National Catholic Reporter'', March 13, 1998
The Humanitas Prizes are annually presented by the nonprofit organization Humanitas, which also operates a host of other programs, including the New Voices Fellowship, the Humanitas College Screenwriting Awards, and other public event programming.


History

Kieser founded the Human Family Educational and Cultural Institute (dba Humanitas) in 1974 to present the award. Beginning as primarily a television award, the first Humanitas Prize winners were announced on the '' Today Show''. Kieser,
Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...
, and
Robert Abernathy Robert Abernathy (1924–1990) was an American science fiction author during the 1940s and 1950s. He was known primarily for his short stories which were published in many of the pulp magazines that flourished during the Golden Age of Science ...
announced the first winners in 1975. At that time, the awards were divided into three categories, based on program length (30, 60, or 90 minutes and longer); these lengths tend to correspond to comedies, dramas, and telefilms or
miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...
, to the extent that some articles refer to the categories by those names. The Kieser Award, a lifetime achievement award, was established after Kieser's death in 2000, and Prizes in Drama, Comedy, and Family Feature Film are currently presented. When establishing the Humanitas Prize, Kieser determined that the writer was the source of the most humanizing values in any program and should therefore be the focus of the awards. Although lists of Humanitas Prize winners for television categories often tell only the name of the program, the award is made to the writers of specific episodes, and more than one episode of a given show may be among the finalists in any given year; similarly, reports on the film categories often give more prominence to the film's title, but the award goes to the writing staff. In 2005 Humanitas winners included ''
Hotel Rwanda ''Hotel Rwanda'' is a 2004 drama film directed by Terry George. It was adapted from a screenplay co-written by George and Keir Pearson, and stars Don Cheadle and Sophie Okonedo as hotelier Paul Rusesabagina and his wife Tatiana. Based on the Rw ...
'' (feature film) and '' The West Wing'' (television). In 2006, the documentary film '' An Inconvenient Truth'' about
global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
starring
Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...
was given a "Special Award" for "mak nga significant contribution to the human family by communicating values, forming consciences and motivating human behavior." The most wins—four—by any single program was for writers of the TV series ''
M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker. The ...
'': Larry Gelbart, 1976; Alan Alda (with James Jay Rubinfier), 1980; and the team of David Pollock and Elias Davis in 1982 and 1983. Several shows won three times including '' The West Wing'', '' The Wonder Years'', ''
Family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
'', ''
Scrubs Scrub(s) may refer to: * Scrub, low shrub and grass characteristic of scrubland * Scrubs (clothing), worn by medical staff * ''Scrubs'' (TV series), an American television program * Scrubs (occupation), also called "scrub tech," "scrub nurse," o ...
'', '' thirtysomething'', '' Hill Street Blues'', and ''
I'll Fly Away "I'll Fly Away" is a hymn written in 1929 by Albert E. Brumley and published in 1932 by the Hartford Music company in a collection titled ''Wonderful Message''.Richard Matteson, Jr.''The Bluegrass Picker's Tune Book'' Mel Bay Publications, 2006 ...
'', which once won in the 60- ''and'' 90-minute categories in the same year. '' Life with Louie'' was the only show to win three times in the children's animation category. Writers who have won three times include
Aaron Sorkin Aaron Benjamin Sorkin (born June 9, 1961) is an American playwright, screenwriter and film director. Born in New York City, he developed a passion for writing at an early age. Sorkin has earned an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, five Primetime E ...
(for ''The West Wing'' and '' Sports Night''), David E. Kelley ('' Picket Fences'', ''
The Practice ''The Practice'' is an American legal drama television series created by David E. Kelley centering on partners and associates at a Boston law firm. The show ran for eight seasons on ABC, from March 4, 1997, to May 16, 2004. It won an Emmy in 1 ...
''), David Milch ( Hill Street Blues,
NYPD Blue ''NYPD Blue'' is an American police procedural television series set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwines several plots involving an ensemble c ...
) and Marshall Herskovitz (''thirtysomething'', ''
Once and Again ''Once and Again'' is an American family drama television series that aired on ABC from September 21, 1999, to April 15, 2002. It depicts the family of a single mother and her romance with a single father. It was created by Marshall Herskovitz a ...
'', and the telefilm ''Special Bulletin''). While at least four writers have had back-to-back wins, it is not unusual for several years to pass between one writer's winning the prize again. To date the longest gap was the case of '' China Beach'' writer-producer
John Sacret Young John Sacret Young (May 24, 1946 – June 3, 2021) was an American author, producer, director, and screenwriter primarily in television, perhaps best known for his work on the show ''China Beach''. Young was nominated for seven Emmy Award, Emmys ...
, who won in 1978 for the telefilm ''Special Olympics'', then won his second Humanitas Prize 21 years later for the TV movie ''Thanks of a Grateful Nation''. (Young eventually went on to become a member of the Humanitas Board of Directors, where he served with at least four other repeat prizewinners.) While the Humanitas Prize is awarded to the writers of produced work only, Humanitas also supports un-produced screenwriters. Humanitas annually awards two college students with the Carol Mendelsohn College Drama Award and the David and Lynn Angell College Comedy Award. The Angell College Comedy Award was founded after
David Angell David Lawrence Angell (April 10, 1946 – September 11, 2001) was an American screenwriter and television producer. He won multiple Emmy Awards as the creator and executive producer of the ''Cheers'' spin-off shows ''Wings'' and ''Frasier'' wit ...
and his wife, Lynn Angell, were killed in the crash of Flight 11 in the
September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
. In 2010, Humanitas introduced a program called "New Voices." It is designed to help emerging screen and television writers by pairing them with award-winning writers for a one-on-one mentorship.


Media references

In season 4, episode 19 of ''
Boston Legal ''Boston Legal'' is an American legal drama and comedy drama television series created by former lawyer and Boston native David E. Kelley, produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television for ABC. The series aired from October 3, 2004, t ...
'', Carl Sack, played by John Larroquette, stated, "Well, there goes my Humanitas Award," after a long rant against organized religion. By itself, it was a meta-reference to both Larroquette's short-lived eponymous sitcom winning the award in 1995, along with ''Boston Legal'' creator David Kelley winning it in 1996 and 2003. The short lived '' Clerks: The Animated Series'' parodied the award in its first episode; main character
Dante Hicks This is a list of major and recurring characters in Kevin Smith's fictional universe known as the View Askewniverse. ''Clerks'' (1994) Dante Hicks Dante Hicks, played by Brian O'Halloran, is 22 (33 in ''Clerks II, 49 in Clerks III''), works at ...
mentioned that it was "an award for shows that don't use words like ''retarded''", to which friend
Randal Graves This is a list of major and recurring characters in Kevin Smith's fictional universe known as the View Askewniverse. ''Clerks'' (1994) Dante Hicks Dante Hicks, played by Brian O'Halloran, is 22 (33 in ''Clerks II, 49 in Clerks III''), works at ...
replied, "That's retarded. And queer." In the 2007 ''
Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster, portraying his difficulties as he tries to balance ...
'' episode " Stage 5," Tony Soprano's nephew, Christopher Moltisanti, asks J.T. Dolan about his "Human-itis" award. J.T. corrects him, correctly pronouncing "Hu-ma-ni-tas", after which Christopher whacks him on the head with the award. J.T. was played by actor and producer Tim Daly, a previous Humanitas award recipient. ''The Sopranos'' creator
David Chase David Henry Chase (born August 22, 1945) is an American filmmaker. He wrote and produced the HBO drama ''The Sopranos'' which aired for six seasons between 1999 and 2007. Chase has also produced and written for such shows as ''The Rockford Files ...
is also a previous recipient of the Humanitas award.


Winners and nominees


See also

* List of American television awards


Notes

{{reflist


External links


The Humanitas Prize siteThe Humanitas Prize: Encouraging Hollywood's Best
profile by Jack Wintz for ''American Catholic'' American television awards American film awards Awards established in 1974 Screenwriting awards for film 1974 establishments in the United States