'Joan,' 'Bernie Mac,' 'Dirty Pretty Things' win Humanitas Prizes

Published: 2004-07-09

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- The movie "Dirty Pretty Things" and episodes of the television series "Joan of Arcadia" and "The Bernie Mac Show" were among the winners July 8 at the Humanitas Prize awards presentation in Los Angeles. The writers of these and other winning scripts split $115,000 in prize money. In his opening remarks Paulist Father Frank Desiderio, president of the Humanitas Prize, announced the beginning of a fund-raising campaign to increase the money for the writers of children's shows and to endow an annual workshop for them and for TV executives. He added that the Ford Foundation has kicked off the campaign with a grant. The fund-raiser marks the 30th anniversary of the prizes. "Over the years numerous studies have reported that children imitate behavior they witness on television. At its best, this can mean sharing and caring; at its worst it can mean hitting and kicking. We want to help improve the quality of children's entertainment," Father Desiderio said at a luncheon during which the winners were announced.

Copyright (c) 2004 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .