By Erik Hayden
SEPTEMBER 20, 2013
“Modern Family’s” Danny Zuker and Christopher Lloyd were also recipients of the prize. David O. Russell and Ryan Coogler were among the writers honored with the Humanitas Prize, it was announced on Friday.The filmmakers, who also will receive a $10,000 prize, were named recipients of the award at a luncheon hosted at the Montage Beverly Hills on Sept. The organization, which has awarded prizes since 1974, honors writers in TV and film whose stories are “entertaining and uplifting.” The prizes are funded by an endowment supported in part by studio and network contributions, the organization stated.
Russell was awarded the prize in the feature film category for 2012’s Silver Linings Playbook, which featured Bradley Cooper as a man struggling with bipolar disorder. The film won an Academy Award for Jennifer Lawrence’s performance.
Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained) and John Gatlin (Flight) were also nominated in the Humanitas prize category. In the Sundance category, Coogler, who wrote and directed Fruitvale Station, was awarded the prize from Humanitas. The film had been awarded the Audience Award and Grand Jury prize in January at Sundance.
Writers Jeff Nichols (Mud) and Michael Starrbury (The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete) were nominated for the Humanitas prize in the Sundance category.
In 2012, Humanitas awarded The Conspirator writers James Solomon and Gregory Bernstein in the feature film category and Beasts of the Southern Wild scribes Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin in the Sundance feature category.
Michael Starrbury is repped by attorney Rob Szymanski.