Greg Berlanti accepted the first-ever Greg Berlanti Social Impact Award at the UCLA Center for Scholars and Storytellers' annual Teens and Screens Summit in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Berlanti, who has written, directed, produced, and run some of the most popular TV shows and movies like "Love, Simon," "Dawsons Creek," "Riverdale," "You," and many others in the CW's Arrowverse, gave a touching speech about how his experience with self-acceptance led him to create shows that help people feel seen, represented, and loved.
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Berlanti said, "As storytellers in Hollywood, we get to heal our own old stories, creating new ones that are honest and true.
And those stories can change hearts and minds, reminding everyone how much more we have in common than how different we are." He added, "We all still want to connect. We all still want to be seen and understood. We all want love."
Berlanti shared some of the "old stories" he has had the chance to heal and grow from throughout his long and successful career.
He started with his own childhood, talking about how much he loved television as a kid. But he also realized there was still something missing—that he was a closeted gay teenager and that there were very few LGBTQ characters on TV at the time.
He reflected on a chance encounter with an AIDS march in New York City, which was his first real positive image of queer people.
But when one of the marchers reached out his hand to him, he didn't take it. "He waited for me to take it, but I didn't. I didn't have the courage. I was afraid my parents or someone would find out my secret if I took that hand, so I just looked away," he said. "I spent much of my youth running from that outstretched hand, first afraid, but over time, I found the strength to come out and eventually come to love myself."
The event came full circle many years later when Berlanti showed "Love, Simon" in Olathe, Kansas in 2018.
After the screening, a 14-year-old boy came out publicly and thanked Berlanti for the shows and movies that helped him feel less alone. "As he reached out his hand to shake mine," Berlanti recalled, "It wasn't lost on me that I was getting a second chance to make up for the hand I didn't take so many years before."
Berlanti's writing partners, Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson, introduced the award and its namesake.
"When you work with Greg, you cry a lot, and that's not by accident," Williamson said. "There's always big, heartfelt emotion at the center of Greg's work, because that's who he is." Plec added, "He's given us some of the most heartfelt, diverse, and ambitious storytelling and television, whether it's a superhero in a cave, a teenager falling in love for the first time, or a family finding their way. His shows don't just entertain us—they see us."
Molly Ringwald, who starred in "Riverdale," also sent in a video comparing Berlanti to John Hughes.
She said her iconic YA collaborations with Hughes from the 1980s have "stood the test of time, but they are also of their time," adding, "Greg Berlanti has built upon this legacy, shaping our modern portrayals of adolescence in much the same way, but with more representation of our diverse society."
The ceremony's focus on Berlanti's contributions to the YA space was a fitting emphasis for the Summit, which follows the release of the Center for Scholars and Storytellers' annual Teens and Screens report.
The report gives insight into what young Americans like and how they watch media. Among the findings were that young people still value traditional movies and TV shows, but often watch them in small bits on TikTok and YouTube. They prefer animation, don't enjoy overly sexualized love stories, and want content that shows real, authentic lives that reflect their own.
The summit hosted many panels and discussions with media executives, content creators, and academics.
One of the most memorable was the "Ask The Teens" panel, where four teenagers took the stage for a conversation about their media preferences, moderated by Roblox Youth Engagement Program Manager Andres Cuervo. The young panelists confirmed much of what the study showed, expanding on teens' dislike for "trend chasing" content that feels fake and out of touch, in favor of more genuine storytelling. As 14-year-old Hollyn Alpert said, "Teens, like adults, aren't all the same. They all have different opinions, beliefs, races, sexualities, and religions. Just explore that and embrace it." A room full of experienced Hollywood professionals listened intently.
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