Greg Berlanti received the inaugural Greg Berlanti Social Impact Award at the UCLA Center for Scholars and Storytellers’ annual Teens and Screens Summit on Thursday in Los Angeles. The writer, director, producer and showrunner of films and shows such as “Love, Simon,” “Dawson’s Creek,” “Riverdale,” “You,” and multiple series in the CW’s “Arrowverse,” gave a heartfelt acceptance speech, reflecting on his journey toward self-acceptance and creating shows where audiences can feel represented, seen and loved.
“As storytellers in Hollywood, we can heal our old stories and craft new stories that are honest and vulnerable, and those stories change the hearts and minds of our audiences and remind them that the human experience is far more universal than disparate,” a tearful Berlanti explained.
Berlanti shared some of the “old stories” he has had the opportunity to heal and develop throughout his illustrious career. He begins with his own childhood, reminiscing about his love of television as a boy, while also realizing that “there was still a big void. I was a closeted gay teenager, and there were only a few LGBTQ characters on TV.”
He recalled that a chance encounter at an AIDS march in New York City led to his first positive representation of gay people, but that when one of the marchers reached out to him, he refused it. “He was waiting for me to pick it up, but I didn’t. I didn’t have the courage. I just looked away, worried that if I did, my parents or someone else would know my secret.”
The story came full circle decades later, when Berlanti’s “Love, Simon” was shown in Olathe, Kansas, in 2018. After the screening, a 14-year-old boy appeared in public and thanked director Berlanti for giving him a show and a movie that made him feel a little less alone. “When he held out my hand for a handshake, I thought I’d get a second shot to make up for missing the handshake all those years ago,” Berlanti recalled.
Berlanti’s writing partners Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson introduced the award and its name. “I cry a lot when I work with Greg, and that’s no coincidence. There’s always a big, heartfelt emotion at the heart of Greg’s work, because that’s who Greg is,” Williamson said, adding Plec, “Whether he’s a superhero in a cave, a teenager falling in love for the first time, or a family finding their way, his shows give us some of the most heartfelt, diverse and ambitious storytelling and television ever.” Just please entertain us. they are watching us. ”
Molly Ringwald, who starred in “Riverdale,” also sent a video comparing Berlanti to John Hughes. She notes that the iconic YA collaboration with Hughes from the 1980s has “withstood the test of time, but it’s also a product of its time,” adding, “Greg Berlanti has built on this legacy to shape our modern portrayal of adolescence in much the same way, but more representative of our diverse society.”
The ceremony’s focus on Berlanti’s contributions to the YA space was a fitting emphasis for the summit, which comes in the wake of the Center for Scholars and Storytellers’ Teens and Screens annual report. This report provides insight into the media preferences and consumption habits of Gen Z Americans. Among the findings: Young Americans still value traditional movies and television, often consumed in bits and pieces on TikTok and YouTube, but they significantly prefer animation, are less interested in overly sexualized love stories, and crave content that authentically represents lives like their own.
The summit unveiled these findings through multiple panels and discussions featuring media executives, content creators, and academics. The most memorable panel may have been the “Ask The Teens” panel. The panel, moderated by Roblox Youth Engagement Program Manager Andres Cuervo, featured four teenagers taking the stage for a conversation about their preferences. The young panelists affirmed much of what the study suggested, and expanded on teens’ distaste for “trend-following” media that they feel is artificial and unrealistic in lieu of more serious storytelling. Hollynn Alpert, 14, said, “Teens are not monolithic, just like adults. They all have different opinions. They all have different views, beliefs, races, sexualities, religions. Just explore it and embrace it.” The audience, filled with seasoned Hollywood professionals, listened intently.
Berlanti summed up the importance of listening to the voices of these young people, saying, “What a gift it is to be reminded of these things, to have a positive impact on the young lives of our audience, to give them a sense of belonging, empathy and self-worth. In return, they… They give us hope. These days, the people who give me the most hope are young people. No matter how bleak today may seem, or how difficult our journey into the future may ultimately be, I believe that the future will always be bright.” Thanks to young people, it became brighter. ”
