‘Count on Me,’ ‘Wit’ Take Humanitas Writing Honors

The Kenneth Lonergan film “You Can Count on Me” and an HBO adaptation of the play “Wit” were among the winners of 2001 Humanitas Prizes, the awards begun in 1974 by the late Father Ellwood E. Kieser to honor film and television writers for work that honestly explores the human condition.

The prizes were presented Thursday at a luncheon in Universal City. The winners received cash awards between $10,000 and $25,000.

Kieser, who died last year at 71, created the award as part of his mission to challenge TV and film writers to pursue projects with meaning and resonance. To this end, the Paulist priest, called Bud by most who came to know him, also founded Paulist Productions, an independent production company now being run by Father Frank Desiderio, a fellow Paulist priest and also president of the Humanitas Prize.

The winners:

Feature film: “You Can Count on Me,” written by Kenneth Lonergan.

90 minute or longer (cable): “Wit,” screenplay by Emma Thompson and Mike Nichols.

90 minute or longer (network): “Haven,” written by Suzette Couture.

60 minute (network): “Food for Thought” episode of “Once and Again,” written by Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick.

30 minute (network): “Ray’s Journal” episode of “Everybody Loves Raymond,” written by Jennifer Crittenden.

Children’s live action: “The Miracle in Lane Two,” written by Joel Kauffmann and Donald C. Yost.

Children’s animation: “A New Friend” episode of “Clifford the Big Red Dog,” written by Larry Swerdlove.

Sundance feature film: “Green Dragon,” written by Timothy Linh Bui (story by Bui and Tony Bui).