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‘The Witcher’ Co-Producer Rae Benjamin to Receive Starz #TakeTheLead Award at Humanitas Event, Presented by Russell T Davies
Rae Benjamin, co-producer of “The Witcher” season five, will receive the Starz #TakeTheLead Award at next month’s Humanitas Prizes event, presented by Russell T Davies. The award recognises mid-career writers whose work amplifies stories about and for women and underrepresented audiences, and highlights Benjamin’s writing and support for emerging talent through her organisation, In The Cut.
Benjamin will receive $10,000 and mentorship from Starz executives, with the funding intended to support a short film about Black maternal health. Humanitas also named Winnie Holzman as recipient of the Kieser Award, selected five 2026–27 New Voices Fellows who will receive six months of mentoring and $7,500 stipends, and awarded $20,000 college screenwriting prizes to Omid Iranikhah and Lauryn Bedford; the fellowship has also begun an educational partnership with Echo Lake Entertainment.
In short
- Rae Benjamin will receive Humanitas and Starz’s #TakeTheLead Award.
- The prize includes $10,000 and Starz executive mentorship.
- Humanitas also announced fellows, student award winners and an Echo Lake partnership.
Explained simply
Humanitas is an organisation that supports writers and recognises work for film and television. Its awards and programmes include prizes for established writers as well as mentoring and funding for people developing their careers.
Rae Benjamin writes for television and is a co-producer on the fifth season of The Witcher. She also runs In The Cut, which supports emerging writers and filmmakers. The Starz #TakeTheLead Award recognises mid-career writers whose work brings attention to women’s stories and underrepresented audiences.
The award includes money and mentoring from Starz executives, with the funding set aside for a short film about Black maternal health. It is one of several Humanitas awards and support programmes intended to help writers develop projects and careers.
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