Prolific writer, director and producer Greg Berlanti spoke about his personal journey and lifelong love of television at the 2024 Governors Award ceremony at the Emmy Awards.
“I wanted to be part of television before I even knew how it was possible,” said the 52-year-old showrunner, one of the youngest individual award winners, in his emotional speech. “So many Gen-X kids in the ’70s and ’80s, the only color TV our family could afford was on 24/7 in our house, and I watched it all and loved it all.”
Berlanti used this childhood experience as inspiration for the logo of his company, Berlanti Production.
“There weren’t many gay characters on TV back then, and I was an un-aware gay kid, and it’s hard to describe how lonely that was back then,” Berlanti continued. “There was no internet to connect with other gay kids, no LGBTQ advocacy groups in schools. Back then, the only way to know if another kid might be gay was if they were watching movies, too. Dynasty, Dallas and could name all four Golden Girls.”
Berleni then recalled the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, which, in addition to fear, brought the first images of openly gay men on television. He saw them “holding hands with other men, marching and fighting for their lives.”
“They gave me hope that one day I would have their courage to come out and tell the world my truth,” Berlanti said.
He spoke fondly of his mother, who made him business cards that read “Greg Berlanti, Puppeteer” when he was young because he “wanted to be Jim Henson.”
“Someone believed in me that I could tell stories for a living,” Berlani said of his mother. And although his career as a puppeteer was short-lived, limited to a few puppet shows for children in his hometown, he did become a storyteller.
Berlanti also thanked his longtime studio Warner Bros. TV and its former longtime head Peter Roth, who was one of Berlanti’s biggest supporters throughout his career and gave the then-young writer his first overall deal to create his first show. EverwoodHe also thanked WBTV’s current boss Channing Dungey and her boss David Zaslav of Warner Bros. Discovery, as well as his “incomparable” producing partner Sarah Schechter, his sister, his father and “my soul mate, my husband Robbie Rogers,” who executive produced the Emmy-nominated fellow travelers.
“When I think about how far I’ve come from being that frightened child years ago to being here on stage with my husband in the audience and our two beautiful children Caleb and Mia watching at home, when I think about how much the world had to change to make the life I live now possible, it’s unimaginable, even in retrospect,” Berlanti said.
Then he added, fighting back tears, “Unfortunately, the person who first envisioned this night is not here to celebrate it with us. We lost my mother to cancer several years ago, but the faith she had in me remains long after she is gone.
“That’s how powerful faith is, and her faith goes through me and to all the kids out there today who may feel alone or different or afraid to share their truth with the world. If my mom was here, she would want you to know that you are loved and that you are worth something and that you have a story to tell, and we need those stories now more than ever. She believes in you, and I do too, so hurry up and get here.”
You can watch Berlanti’s speech above.
Berlanti is a WGA, DGA, PGA and Emmy nominated writer, director and producer. He began his television career as a staff writer at Dawson’s Creek: The mysterious settingwhose star Joshua Jackson presented the award alongside Berlanti’s collaborator and friend Matt Bomer, and who became executive producer and showrunner of the series after just one year as a staff writer. That first job was the beginning of a meteoric career rise for Berlanti, who has produced or created/co-created more than 45 shows over the past two decades, including Arrow, Blindspot, The Flash, Supergirl, Everwood, You, Titans, Riverdale, All American, Found, The Flight Attendant and the upcoming Brilliant minds, Building DC Universes on CW and Max. His Berlanti Productions had a record-breaking 15 shows on the air simultaneously.
Throughout his career, Berlanti has been a trailblazer and voice for inclusion in the entertainment industry, both on screen and behind the camera. He helped introduce a gay character on a primetime television show and filmed the first same-sex kiss between two men with Dawson’s Creek: The mysterious setting. This was followed by the first gay superhero to play the lead role in a television series (Freedom Fighter: The Beam), the first recurring transgender character on television and the first legalized gay marriage on network television (Dirty, sexy money), the first transsexual superhero on television (Supergirl), the first lesbian superhero to headline a television show (Batwoman) and the first gay lead role in a US medical drama (Brilliant minds).
The Berlanti Family Foundation was established in 2019 to support numerous charities and those in need, including F Cancer, ACLU, The Giving Spirit, GLAAD, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, Make-A-Wish Foundation and Girls Inc. Additionally, Berlanti and his foundation donated over $2 million to the MPTF, the Entertainment Community Fund and a direct fund for his own productions to support those in the industry affected by Covid-related production shutdowns and industry strikes.
