Humanitas Awarded California Arts Council Statewide and Regional Networks Grant

State funds will support Humanitas Prizes, New Voices Fellowship, College Screenwriting Awards, and Public Programs

LOS ANGELES, CA – The California Arts Council has announced a grant award of $32,405 to Humanitas as part of its Statewide and Regional Networks program during its 2024-25 fiscal year grant cycle. Support awarded will continue to benefit communities throughout the state until the end of the project cycle timeline in September 2025.

With support from the California Arts Council, Humanitas will build upon the strengths of its network of programs, which consists of The Humanitas Prizes, New Voices Fellowship, College Screenwriting Awards, and Public Programs including the Industry 101 event series, The Writers Room educational program, and Groceries for Writers, a direct aid project. The network benefits early-to-mid-career writers and partner organizations.  

“For the second year in a row—and in the company of so many great organizations we admire—the Humanitas staff is humbled to receive an organization grant from the California Arts Council’s Statewide and Regional Networks program,” said Michelle Franke, Humanitas’s Executive Director. “These funds will support the network of arts, awards, development, education, and direct aid programs Humanitas presents annually. During such a challenging time for screenwriters and the industry at large, we are deeply grateful for this encouragement and support.”

Humanitas was featured as part of a larger announcement from the California Arts Council of more than 800 grant awards totaling close to $19.5 million in overall projected investments for operational and project support to nonprofit organizations and units of government throughout the state of California.

The California Arts Council is a state agency with a mission of strengthening arts, culture, and creative expression as the tools to cultivate a better California for all. The Arts Council is California’s leading public arts grants provider with funding accessible to every county in California.

“Art makes us who we are in California,” said California Arts Council Executive Director Danielle Brazell. “We are defined by our creative workforce, and our everyday lives are informed, enriched, and uplifted by the artists and cultural workers across our state. On behalf of the CAC, I offer my sincere congratulations – and my gratitude – to each of our award recipients for this grant cycle.”

“We pledged fealty to our comprehensive and field-informed Strategic Framework in our decision making for funding for this fiscal year,” said Council Chair Roxanne Messina Captor. “Council made every effort to make each dollar in our budget go its furthest toward our most important aspirations for our agency, our governor, and our Legislature alike: to create a California for all, where the arts are accessible to all.”

Organizations were awarded grants across nine different program areas designed to benefit the whole of California’s arts and culture ecosystem, including a second year of funding for two-year programs awarded in the previous fiscal year. Award funds prioritize many of the aspirations articulated in the agency’s Strategic Framework, specifically increasing opportunities for general operating and multiyear grants, geographic equity, individual artists, small organizations, and state-local partner funding and capacity building.

Read the full announcement by the California Arts Council for more details and to view a complete listing of all 2024-25 CAC grantees by county, alphabetically by organization, and by program.

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About Humanitas

Since 1974, Humanitas has honored and empowered television and film writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced, meaningful way. Humanitas distinguishes itself among other artistic organizations by celebrating stories that explore the human experience, because we believe that the act of acknowledging our common humanity is transformational. 

For more information on Humanitas and its suite of programs, connect with Humanitas at www.humanitasprize.org or on Instagram and Bluesky.

For Humanitas Media Inquiries: 
Daniel Plagens
Humanitas
Program Manager
press@humanitasprize.org

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About The California Arts Council

The California Arts Council is a state agency with a mission of strengthening arts, culture, and creative expression as the tools to cultivate a better California for all. It supports local arts infrastructure and programming statewide through grants, initiatives, and services. The California Arts Council envisions a California where all people flourish with universal access to and participation in the arts.

Members of the California Arts Council include: Roxanne Messina Captor, Chair; Leah Goodwin, Vice Chair; Gerald Clarke; Caleb Duarte; Vicki Estrada; Roy Hirabayashi; Alex Israel; Dorka Keehn; Phil Mercado; Nicola Miner. Learn more at www.arts.ca.gov.

For CAC Media Inquiries Only:
Kimberly Brown
California Arts Council
Public Affairs Specialist
kimberly.brown@arts.ca.gov