The CG-animated PBS series Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks was honored Tuesday afternoon as more than 350 writers, directors, producers and entertainment execs gathered at the Hilton Universal Hotel to celebrate great writing at the 33rd Humanitas Prize. Produced by Entara and Mike Young Prods., Jakers! took the award in the Children’s Animation category for the work done by scribes Sindy McKay, Dennis Haley and Marcy Brown.
The Jakers! writing team was awarded the $25,000 prize for the episode ‘The Gift,’ which has Piggley learning a valuable lesson when he receives a homemade sled instead of the expensive model he wanted for his birthday. Also nominated for the prize were the ‘Give Me a Little Sign’ episode of Scholastic’s Maya & Miguel (PBS), penned by Evelina Fernandez, and ‘The Prince, the Princess and the Bee’ episode of Nelvana’s Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch Friends (Nick Jr.), written by Nadine van der Velde.
In all, twelve writers took home a share of $145,000 in prize money for films and television shows that ‘entertain, engage and enrich the viewing public.’ Frank Desiderio, C.S.P., president of the Humanitas Prize, began the luncheon by reminding the audience of the significant role that film and television can have in forming culture. ‘At Humanitas, we honor writers who try to tell the truth about the human condition,’ he said. ‘Audiences know when they’re getting the real thing.’
M*A*S*H Writer Larry Gelbart, whose more recent credits include the telepics And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself and Barbarians at the Gate, received the Kieser Award, named for producer and priest Fr. Ellwood ‘Bud’ Kieser, founder of the Humanitas Prize. Over the past 60 years, Gelbart has earned a reputation for creating classic, thought-provoking stories and being a passionate advocate for writers.
Other 2007 Humanitas Prize winners include Paramount’s Freedom Writers and Miramax Film’s Venus, which tied in the Feature Film category for the screenplays written by Richard LaGravenese and Hanif Kureishi, respectively. A full list of winners can be found at www.humanitasprize.org.
