Box office blockbusters such as “Black Panther” and “Crazy Rich Asians” and small screen series including “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “One Day at a Time” and “This Is Us” are among the finalists for the 44th annual Humanitas Prize, Humanitas executive director Cathleen Young and president Ali LeRoi announced Tuesday.
“It’s always an honor and a privilege to lift up writers who are passionate about telling stories that entertain us, but also deeply explore what it means to be a human in a way that promotes peace and love,” Young said.
A total of 58 writers are nominated for their work in the 30-minute comedy, 60-minute drama, children’s teleplay, independent feature film, drama feature film, comedy feature film, family feature film and documentary categories. The prize was created to celebrate writers “whose work inspires compassion, hope, and understanding in the human family.”
“Humanitas enjoyed an embarrassment of riches this year,” LeRoi said. “There were so many incredible submissions from such gifted writers.”
Six college students have also 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 receive $20,000 in prize money.
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Humanitas will also honor “Friends” and “Grace and Frankie” co-creator Marta Kauffman with the Kieser Award, and “Black-ish” creator Kenya Barris with the Voice for Change Award.
Prize winners will be announced at the annual event on Friday, Feb. 8 at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.
All winners, except for those in the independent feature film and college fellowship categories, designate a nonprofit focused on nurturing the next generation of writers to receive their earnings. Past recipients have included Young Storytellers, Film2Future, P.S. Arts, and Inside Out Writers.
See the full list of the 44th Annual Humanitas Prize finalists below:
60-minute Drama Category
“God Friended Me,” “Pilot” – Written by Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt
“Orange Is The New Black,” “Be Free” – Written by Brian Chamberlayne
“The Good Doctor,” “More” – Written by David Shore and Lloyd Gilyard Jr.
“This Is Us,” “This Big, Amazing, Beautiful Life” – Written by Kay Oyegun
30-minute Comedy Category
“Dear White People,” “Volume 2: Chapter VIII” – Written by Jack Moore
“One Day at a Time,” “Hello, Penelope” – Written by Michelle Badillo and Caroline Levich
“The Good Place,” “Jeremy Bearimy” – Written by Megan Amram
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Mid-way to Mid-town” – Written and directed by Amy
Sherman-Palladino
Children’s Teleplay Category
“Alexa & Katie,” “Winter Formal, Part 2” – Written by Matthew Carlson
“My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, “Surf And/Or Turf” – Written by Brian Hohlfeld
“Muppet Babies, “You Say Potato, I Say Best Friend” – Written by Laura Sreebny
“Z-O-M-B-I-E-S” – Written by David Light and Joseph Raso, based on “Zombies & Cheerleaders”
Drama Feature Film Category
“Black Panther” – Written by Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole, based on The Marvel Comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
“Boy Erased” – Screenplay by Joel Edgerton, based on the memoir “Boy Erased” by Garrard Conley
“On the Basis of Sex” – Written by Daniel Stiepleman
“What They Had” – Written and directed by Elizabeth Chomko
Comedy Feature Film Category
“Boundaries” – Written and directed by Shana Feste
“Crazy Rich Asians” – Screenplay by Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim, based on the novel “Crazy Rich Asians” by Kevin Kwan
“Eighth Grade” – Written and directed by Bo Burnham
“Love, Simon” – Screenplay by Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker, based on the novel “Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda” by Becky Albertalli
Family Feature Film Category
“Christopher Robin” – Screenplay by Alex Ross Perry and Tom Mccarthy and Allison Schroeder, story by Greg Brooker and Mark Steven Johnson, based on the characters created by A.A. Milne and E.H. Shepard
“Incredibles 2” – Written and directed by Brad Bird
“Isle Of Dogs” – Screenplay by Wes Anderson, story by Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman, and Kunichi Nomura
“Mary Poppins Returns” – Screenplay by David Magee, screen story by David Magee, Rob Marshall, John Deluca, based upon the “Mary Poppins” stories by P.L. Travers
Independent Feature Film Category
“Brian Banks” – Written by Doug Atchison
“Laugh Or Die” – Screenplay by Heikki Kujanpää and Mikko Reitala
“Sorry To Bother You” – Written and directed by Boots Riley
“The Grizzlies” – Written by Moira Walley-Beckett and Graham Yost
“The Rider” – Written and directed by Chloé Zhao
Documentary Category
“Transmilitary” – Concept by Fiona Dawson, written by Jamie Coughlin and Gabriel Silverman, directed by Gabriel Silverman, co-directed by Fiona Dawson
“Stolen Daughters: Kidnapped By Boko Haram” – Written and produced by Karen Edwards, directed by Gemma Atwal
“The Fourth Estate,” “Part 3: American Carnage” – Directed by Liz Garbus and Jenny Carchman, produced by Liz Garbus, Jenny Carchman, Justin Wilkes
“The Price Of Free” – Story by Davis Guggenheim, Derek Doneen, Sarah Anthony, directed by Derek Doneen, produced by Davis Guggenheim and Sarah Anthony
The David And Lynn Angell College Comedy Fellowship
“Band Of Mothers” – Sabrina Brennan (USC)
“Fernando” – Adam Lujan (NYU)
“Head Case” – Ellie Goodman (Northwestern University)
The Carol Mendelsohn College Drama Fellowship
“Rue Pigalle” – Jessica Shields (Columbia University)
“The Bargeman” – Joe Hemphill (Boston University)
“Wilcox Park” – Omar Willis (USC)