Humanitas has revealed the nominees for this year’s Humanitas Prizes, which recognize “television and film writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced way.” The award is given out in nine categories, including comedy, drama and limited series.
This year’s nominees include Chicago-filmed projects Chicago P.D. and Somebody Somewhere. For the Best Drama Teleplay category, NBC’s Chicago P.D.’s Burnside (season 9, episode 5) written by Ike Smith received a nod. HBO series Somebody Somewhere‘s BFD (season 1, episode 1) written by Hannah Los & Paul Thureen, was nominated in the Comedy Teleplay category. Filming for for Chicago P.D. usually takes place around the city’s Pilsen neighborhood and at Cinespace, while Somebody Somewhere shoots in Lockport, Lemont, and Naperville.
“The Humanitas Prizes were created to recognize writers whose work explores the beauty and complexity of the human experience and the 2022 nominees do just that,” said Michelle Franke, Humanitas Executive Director. “Ranging in scope, style, and perspective, these stories underscore our bonds, our history and responsibility to each other in the present as well as possibilities for the future. Especially during challenging times, writers dedicate themselves to the stories that connect and entertain us.”
Following a two year hiatus due to the pandemic, Humanitas is looking toward celebrating the nominees’ work, as well as the emerging writers selected to participate in the professional development programs. Those programs include the New Voices Fellowship and College Screenwriting Awards, from early 2020 to present.
Winners will be announced at an in-person awards luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on September 9, 2022.
Additional honorees, host, and Web Series nominee announcements are forthcoming.
A full rundown of the Humanitas Prizes nominees are listed below.
Children’s Teleplay:
- El Deafo: Written by Cece Bell and Will McRobb
- Karma’s World: “Hair Comes Trouble” – Written by Kellie R. Griffin and Halcyon Person
- Snoopy Presents: To Mom (and Dad), with Love: Written by Alex Galatis
- The Babysitters Club: “Claudia and the Sad Goodbye” – Written by Sascha Rothchild
Comedy Feature Film:
- Don’t Look Up: Written by Adam McKay
- Everything Everywhere All At Once: Written by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
- Queen Bees: Written by Donald Martin
- tick, tick…BOOM!: Written by Steven Levenson
Comedy Teleplay:
- Abbott Elementary: “Pilot” – Written by Quinta Brunson
- black-ish: “If A Black Man Cries in the Woods…” – Written by Robb Chavis
- Somebody Somewhere: “BFD” – Written by Hannah Bos & Paul Thureen
- The Conners: “Triggered” – Written by Lecy Goranson
Documentary:
- End of the Line: The Women of Standing Rock: Shannon Kring
- Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches: Julia Marchesi
- In the Same Breath: Nanfu Wang
- Through Our Eyes: “Shelter” – Smriti Mundhra
Drama Feature Film:
- A Hero: Written by Asghar Farhadi
- CODA: Written by Siân Heder
- Nine Days: Written by Edson Oda
- The Starling: Written by Matt Harris
Drama Teleplay:
- Chicago P.D.: “Burnside” – Written by Ike Smith
- Pachinko: “Chapter One” – Written by Soo Hugh
- Queen Sugar: “May 27, 2020” – Written by Anthony Sparks
- Swagger: “Radicals” – Written by Reggie Rock Bythewood & George Dohrmann
- This is Us: “The Challenger” – Written by Dan Fogelman
Family Feature Film:
- 8-Bit Christmas: Written by Kevin Jakubowski
- Cinderella: Written by Kay Cannon
- Encanto: Written by Charise Castro Smith & Jared Bush
- Spin: Written by Carley Steiner and Josh A. Cagan
Limited Series, TV Movie, or Special:
- Love Life: “Mia Hines” – Written by Rachelle Williams-BenAry & Sam Boyd
- Maid: “Snaps” – Written by Molly Smith Metzler
- Three Months: Written by Jared Frieder
- Women of the Movement: “Mother and Son” – Written by Marissa Jo Cerar
Short Film:
- Far from the Tree: Written by Natalie Nourigat
- Girls Are Strong Here: Written by Scott Burkhardt
- Leap: Written by Margaret Nagle
- Nona: Written by Louis Gonzales
