Humanitas Prizes 2026: 'The Witcher' Co-Producer Rae Benjamin to Receive Starz #TakeTheLead Award
Rae Benjamin, a co-producer on The Witcher Season 5 and co-writer of the animated film The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep, has been named the recipient of the Starz #TakeTheLead award at this year's Humanitas Prizes. Humanitas revealed its full slate of honours on Wednesday, 26 August 2026. The award will be presented to Benjamin at the Humanitas Prizes awards show and toast next month, with screenwriter and producer Russell T Davies handing it over. (Variety)
The #TakeTheLead award goes to a mid-career writer who shows promise in amplifying stories by, about and for women and underrepresented audiences. Benjamin was chosen from a shortlist of six finalists: Autumn Jimerson, William Yu, Melody Cooper, Jonathon Roessler and Sylvia Alcalá. The prize carries a $10,000 cash award and mentorship from Starz executives.
Starz's president of original programming, Kathryn Busby, praised Benjamin's organisation In The Cut, saying it reflects the spirit of the #TakeTheLead initiative. Benjamin herself said the prize money will go toward an upcoming short film about Black maternal health.
The Humanitas Prizes — an annual event recognising screenwriters whose work explores the human experience — also named its top career honour. Winnie Holzman, creator of the 1990s drama My So-Called Life, will receive this year's Humanitas Kieser Award. Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick, the producing duo behind thirtysomething, will present it to her.
Five early-career writers have been named Humanitas New Voices Fellows for 2026–27: Christina Ingraldi, Leon Lee, Alana Saab, Finn Wagstaff and Keith Walker. The fellowship includes a six-month mentorship programme and a $7,500 stipend, with writer Emmylou Diaz serving as program advisor. This year, Humanitas also launched a partnership connecting New Voices fellows with managers from Echo Lake Entertainment for an educational exchange.
At the college level, two screenwriters took top honours. Omid Iranikhah won the David and Lynn Angell College Comedy Award, and Lauryn Bedford won the Carol Mendelsohn College Drama Award. Each receives $20,000 and a script notes session with a professional writer.
What gives the #TakeTheLead award its weight is the combination of money, mentorship and visibility at a career stage where a writer's next job can hinge on exactly that. For Benjamin, it means a short film on Black maternal health gets closer to being made. For the five New Voices fellows, a six-month mentorship and a management introduction at Echo Lake is a door that many writers wait years for someone to open.
Benjamin's credits place her at the intersection of two of television's biggest streaming engines — a live-action fantasy franchise on Netflix and its animated offshoot — while the award itself recognises work she does beyond those shows. The Humanitas Prizes ceremony takes place next month.
