photos by Elisa Haber (Los Angeles) & Marcie Revens (New York)
During the DGA LGBTQ+ Committee’s celebration event in his honor, Director Greg Berlanti shared stories from his 25-year legacy of breaking boundaries for authentic representation of the LGBTQ+ community in film and television. The bi-coastal event, held in the Guild’s Los Angeles theater and live streamed to the DGA Boardroom in New York on October 18, celebrated Berlanti’s enduring vision and the resilience behind the stories that continue to inspire and transform.
Opening the event, LGBTQ+ Events Subcommittee Co-Chair C. Fitz said, “In times like these it feels extra meaningful to honor someone in our community whose shown such resilience uplifting our stories into the mainstream. Tonight is all about us coming together, to celebrate Greg’s vision, our community, and the importance of our resilience to tell our stories.” Events Subcommittee Co-Chair Jessica Lowrey thanked and welcomed attendees, saying, “These diversity events are so important because they keep us connected. In this time now more than ever, we need the support of our community and our allies. Our queer community has a long history of coming together to lift each other up, have fun, and celebrate who we are. So thank you for being here and keeping our tradition of gathering and keeping our community alive as we honor Greg Berlanti, a giant in our field.”
In his introduction of the honoree, DGA Past President/Secretary Treasurer and former LGBTQ+ Committee Co-Chair Paris Barclay asked, “What makes someone a hero? Does it make you a hero if you keep telling stories that show us in all our diversity and even when the push back is pushing back, you keep pushing on? Does it make you a hero if you create an entire company that champions LGBTQ+ creators, actors, and most importantly for us here today, Directors and their teams? And does it make you a hero if when you work for that company, you find yourself in this rarefied air, where people like us don’t have to hide, don’t have to fear, don’t have to act differently to fit in? Does it make you a hero if that company becomes one of the most successful companies in television, constantly breaking barriers, especially with its LGBTQ+ characters and storylines reaching the hearts of millions and millions of people around the world? It does make you a hero if you inspire so many of us here in this room, if you inspire us to use the medium of television to battle the ignorance, the bigotry, the hate speak, the racism, the fear mongering, that we are experiencing every single day. And we battle it with stories of love, with stories of compassion, with stories of hope, and stories that include all of us. Tonight, we get to turn our attention to a hero, a fearless leader whose creativity has taken him to places that few of us can imagine and shown us what’s possible. Greg Berlanti shows us that hope remains the best choice.”
Illustrated by clips from his work, Berlanti spoke about his career during a conversation moderated by former LGBTQ+ Committee Co-Chair John Krokidas.
Recounting a pivotal moment in his career, Berlanti shared how he was asked to run the third season of Dawson’s Creek. Though he initially declined, he later agreed on the condition he could include the first gay kiss on television. The studio agreed but later backtracked as Berlanti shared, “In the eleventh hour they said, ‘we’re not going to do it’ and I walked out of my office and quit. They called the next day; said they were sorry, and they would do it but there would be restrictions.” The studio wanted the camera across the street and didn’t want a close-up. While Berlanti couldn’t be there when it was shot, he told them to make sure to get a close-up. “One of the ways I had to prove the point was I brought in a clip reel of other things that had aired at the same 8’oclock timeslot and it was violence and violence and violence and violence…. and you’re not going to just let us air a kiss?” And history was made on network television.
Drawing from his personal and professional experiences in the industry, Berlanti encouraged Directors to have more faith in themselves that they can make a great show, and to focus on building a community of people you can rely on, referencing his long-time partnership with Producer Sarah Schechter.
Speaking of the challenges of the Director’s chair, Berlanti admitted, “For me personally, I think the hardest things are pilot and episodic directing. I think [episodic directing] physically it’s harder, you have to bounce into a place where a different Thanksgiving dinner is held every week, with all these same people who are at it except for you, and you have to take command of that and you have to martial that story and you have to see something in a new way that maybe in however many episodes, no one has seen it that way before, and you have to make people feel immediately comfortable. With pilot directing, you have to create whole worlds in such a minute about of time and with such limited funds.” He added that he has an immense amount of gratitude for Directors and said, “They are the great unsung heroes of television.”
After the moderated discussion and questions from the audience, LGBTQ+ Committee Co-Chair Kimberly Peirce shared, “From teen dramas to superhero shows, Berlanti’s work reminds us that queer stories are central and that visibility changes everything for those watching and those creating for generations to come.”
LGBTQ+ Committee Co-Chair Mark Hansson provided an overview of the Committee inviting members to get more involved and encouraged DGA LGBTQ+ members to self-identify publicly or privately on the Guild’s website. “In three years, we’ve been developing our national group as a place for learning, networking, and a sense of community as we work on our production careers.”
See video from this event in the gallery below.
About Greg Berlanti:
A DGA member since 2009, few have changed the television and film landscape as Berlanti did when stepped behind the camera. Over more than two decades, has brought queer stories from the margins to the mainstream, redefining what’s possible in broadcast, streaming and in theaters, marked by groundbreaking moments from Dawson’s Creek’s first same-sex kiss on network television to Love, Simon, Supergirl, Brilliant Minds, and beyond.
His work was recognized by the Guild with a 2012 DGA Movies for Television and Mini-Series Award nomination for his pilot episode of Political Animals.
Berlanti has built more than hit shows and films — he has built space. Space for queer love stories, trans visibility, and authentic representation. For BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and emerging Directors to thrive. Through his unwavering commitment to inclusive storytelling and assembling some of the most diverse creative teams in Hollywood, he has opened doors, shifted culture, and amplified the voices of generations of viewers, creators, and crew.
About the Committee:
The LGBTQ+ Committee was founded in 2021 as a provisional committee to explore ways to educate, inform, address the concerns of and create opportunities for members who identify in these categories. At the DGA National Board meeting on January 8, 2022, the Board voted make the LGBTQ+ Committee an official standing committee.The Committee is dedicated to empowering and advancing the professional interests of LGBTQ+ and to promoting and working for employment equity throughout the entertainment industry. The Committee’s Co-Chairs are Directors Paris Barclay, John Krokidas and Kimberly Peirce.
