John Ridley and Richard Curtis nominated for Humanitas Prize

John Ridley and Richard Curtis are among the nominees for the 40th annual Humanitas Prize awards.

The acclaimed writers are on the shortlist for the accolades, which celebrate the best in TV and film writing.

Ridley, whose 12 Years a Slave script nabbed an Oscar earlier this year (14), is up against Belle scribe Misan Sagay and Nebraska's Bob Nelson for the Feature Film prize.

Meanwhile, Curtis' Mary And Martha will see off competition from Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart and Richard Friedenberg's Ring Of Fire in the 90 Minute category.

Other writers in the television category include Alex Gansa & Meredith Stiehm (Homeland), Jason Katims (Parenthood), Veena Sud (The Killing), and Nic Pizzolatto (True Detective) in the 60 Minute group, while sitcom scribes Carter Bays & Craig Thomas (How I Met Your Mother), Elaine Ko (Modern Family) and Roy Brown (The Middle), will duke it out in the 30 Minute category.

Independent movie writers in the Sundance Feature Film Category include Petter Sattler (Camp X-Ray), Kat Candler (Hellion), Ira Sachs & Mauricio Zacharias (Love Is Strange), and Damien Chazelle (Whiplash).

The winners will be announced during a special luncheon on 16 January (15) in Los Angeles.