Humanitas Prize Winners List 2026: ‘Shrinking,’ ‘Paradise,’ More

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The honorees, which also included the episode “The Flying Man and the Musician” from limited series “Washington Black,” were announced during the Humanitas Prize Awards Show & Toast, hosted by actor/writer/comedian Ashley Nicole Black at Avalon Hollywood.

Also at the event, “My So-Called Life” creator and “Wicked” writer Winnie Holzman received this year’s Kieser Award from “Thirtysomething” exec producers Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick — who hired Holzman to be a writer on their show and later were EPs on “My So-Called Life.”

The Humanitas Prize honors “film and television writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced, meaningful way. Prizes are presented at an annual event where winners receive a trophy and a cash prize.” Here are this year’s winners (in bold):

Drama Teleplay

“Chicago Med” (“The Book of Charles”): Allen MacDonald

“Grey’s Anatomy” (“Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child”): Jess Righthand


Comedy Teleplay

“Abbott Elementary” (“Goofgirl”): Justin Tan

“Long Story Short” (“Yoshi’s Bar Mitzvah”): Raphael Bob-Waksberg

“Resident Alien” (“The End is Here”): Chris Sheridan


Limited Series Teleplay

“Hal & Harper” (“Are You Watching?”): Cooper Raiff

WINNER: “Washington Black” (“The Flying Man & the Musician”): Selwyn Hinds


Children’s Teleplay

“E. B. White’s Charlotte’s Web” (“Part 3″): Levi Abrino

“My Brother the Minotaur” (“Lunacy and Lorcan”): Mark B. Hodkinson

WINNER: “Tab Time” (“When We Lose Someone”): Sean Presant


Drama Feature

WINNER: “All That’s Left of You”: Cherien Dabis

“Preparation for the Next Life”: Martyna Majok

“Song Sung Blue”: Craig Brewer

“Train Dreams”: Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar


Comedy Feature

“A Nice Indian Boy”: Eric Randall

WINNER: “Rental Family”: Hikari, Stephen Blahut

“The Invite”: Will McCormack, Rashida Jones

“The Baltimorons”: Jay Duplass, Michael Strassner


Family Feature

WINNER: “Grow”: Nick Güthe, Christos N. Gage, Ruth Fletcher Gage

“Hoppers”: Jesse Andrews, Daniel Chong

“KPop Demon Hunters”: Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans, Danya Jimenez, Hannah McMechan


Short Film

“Beyond Unstoppable”: Valerie Alexander

“Double Happiness”: Shari Albert, Laura LeeLun

“The Birthday Gift”: Stephanie Alison Walker, Paula Pizzi

WINNER: “Vital”: Amir Zargara, Gabe Berry


Documentary (Feature)

“Come See Me in the Good Light”: Ryan White, Jessica Hargrave, Tig Notaro, Stef Willen

WINNER: “The Tale of Silyan”: Tamara Kotevska

“Life After”: Reid Davenport, Colleen Cassingham

“Shuffle”: Benjamin Flaherty


Documentary (Docuseries, Single Episode)

“Billy Joel: And So It Goes” (“Part Two”): Susan Lacy, Jessica Levin

WINNER: “Katrina: Come Hell and High Water” (“Shelter of Last Resort”): Samantha Knowles

“Mel Brooks: The 99-Year-Old Man! (Part Two): Judd Apatow, Michael Bonfiglio, Joe Beshenkovsky

“Rise of the 49ers” (“We Built This City”): Ryan Kelly, Nick Mascolo


In the case of Holzman, the Kieser Award “honors those who have dedicated their substantial talent, work, and resources to creating transformative stories that celebrate our common humanity.” Past winners include Greg Berlanti, Marta Kauffman, John Sacret Young, John Ridley, Jason Katims, Fay Kanin and Bill Moyers.

And Humanitas’ College Screenwriting Awards winners were recognized: Omid Iranikhah (David and Lynn Angell College Comedy Award) and Lauryn Bedford (Carol Mendelsohn College Drama Award). Bedford and Iranikhah will each receive a $20,000 cash prize and a script notes session with a professional writer. Humanitas program alums Lauren Goodman (“Snowfall”) and Hayley Tibbenham (“Dutton Ranch”) presented the artist development awards.

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