Steven Knight's screenplayfor the drama Dirty Pretty Thingswon the feature film category in the 30th Humanitas Prize ceremony in LosAngeles yesterday (8), earning $25,000 as judges praised its "stark andrealistic depiction of the life of undocumented workers".

Jacob Estes claimed the$10,000 Sundance Feature Film honour for the screenplay to his directorialdebut Mean Creek, which ParamountClassics is due to release in the US on Aug 20.

Humanitas Prize presidentFrank Desiderio announced a new fundraising campaign to increase prize moneyfor children's writers and endow an annual workshop for children's writers andexecutives.

"Over the years numerousstudies have reported that children imitate behavior they witness ontelevision," Desiderio said in a statement.

"At its best, this can meansharing and caring, at its worst it can mean hitting and kicking. We want tohelp improve the quality of children's entertainment."