Fourth Annual Teens & Screens Summit Unites Academics, Activists, and Entertainment Industry Professionals
On October 25, 2024, the Center for Scholars & Storytellers (CSS) hosted its fourth annual Teens and Screens Summit in Los Angeles, California. The day-long event, presented by Disney, gathered entertainment industry professionals, youth activists, researchers, scientists, and public health leaders to discuss the current landscape of entertainment, teens’ media consumption, youth wellbeing, and future opportunities for impact. Through presentations, interactive exercises, and panel discussions, all 155 attendees were challenged to address the most pressing concerns of our time by meeting teens where they are: on screens.
Introduction: Why Teens?
Dr. Yalda T. Uhls delivers opening remarks at the 2024 Teens and Screens Summit at UCLA.
CSS Founder and CEO Dr. Yalda T. Uhls opened the event by answering a critical underlying question: Why should we care about teens’ behavior and their relationship to screens and media?
Simply put, adolescents are forward thinkers and discerning consumers who are experiencing drastic changes in their physical and cognitive development. They are surrounded by digital media virtually every waking moment of their lives. The content they see and internalize can powerfully shape the way they view themselves, others, and the world around them.
But far too often, the stories teens are presented with fail to resonate. Stories that contain outdated tropes and lack authenticity alienate a youth audience. This has serious implications for not only the entertainment industry’s future, but for adolescent development and social progress more broadly.
Dr. Uhls explained how work like the Teens & Screens 2024 Report can help. This year’s report yielded some critical insights about the way teens engage with media and their environment. First and foremost, despite shifting mediums and doubts about the future of the film industry, teens love movies and the moviegoing experience. They also see entertainment media as an escape from the uncertainty and chaos of their current environment – they prefer to see fantasy worlds and stories with hopeful conclusions.They value stories of friendship and self-discovery and are less concerned with romance. And ultimately, they want authenticity. Meeting these needs, and meeting teenagers where they are, Dr. Uhls said, is not only possible, but critically important.
Director of Media Impact Workshops Sheena Brevig and Workshops Projects Manager Nina Barker echoed that sentiment, explaining how their work with young adults and entertainment companies proves how research insights can translate into the creation of authentic and inclusive content.
Opening Plenary, Dr. Diana Ramos: Effective Storytelling Improves Youth Health and Wellbeing
CA Surgeon General Dr. Diana Ramos delivers an opening plenary about the state of ACEs and Youth Mental Health.
After Dr. Uhls opening remarks, California Surgeon General Dr. Diana Ramos addressed the group, emphasizing how storytellers and changemakers holdpower to take action around society’s most urgent issues. One of these pressing concerns, she said, is young people’s physical and emotional health.
Dr. Ramos recalled how entertainment media shaped her own adolescence. Growing up in a Spanish-speaking, single-family home with no siblings, she “lived vicariously” through the 1970s sitcom “The Brady Bunch.” Watching the English-speaking, blended family, she said, shed light on cultural nuances she hadn’t noticed before and allowed her to experience the dynamics of sibling relationships. The show also provided lessons that related more directly to her own life. “It really created a narrative of: How do you deal with conflict? How do you deal with some of life’s challenges?” she said.
Her own experience, she acknowledged, is just a small snapshot of the power of entertainment media and its influence on young people. Media representation can play a critical role in addressing public health challenges like adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). ACEs, which are defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as “potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood (0-17 years),” include abuse, neglect, violence, substance use, and household instability. Research shows that these experiences place young people on a negative health trajectory for the rest of their lives – putting them at higher risk for depressive disorders, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and substance use disorders, among other health conditions – unless proper intervention and healing takes place. Entertainment media, as a staple in youth culture, has a unique opportunity to enter the conversation, raise awareness, educate, and ultimately change the trajectory of young people’s lives.
When storytelling is done well, Dr. Ramos said, it can begin a path to the necessary healing: seeing media narratives depicting these experiences and exploring characters’ paths to healing can validate young people’s lived experiences, destigmatize asking for help, and empower them to look to the future. Nuanced and responsible treatment of these traumas in media may encourage young people to process their own ACEs in healthier ways, rather than turning to risky behaviors that will impact their long term health and wellbeing.
While addressing such heavy topics is challenging, it can be done successfully. Dr. Ramos pointed to the film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s “Matilda” as an example of entertainment media tackling ACEs with care and empowerment. She also highlighted scenes from “Ted Lasso” that depicted a character experiencing and effectively coping with a panic attack.
Keynote Presentation, Dustin Lance Black: Storytelling Is a Powerful Outlet for Young People During Times of Chaos
Oscar Award winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black delivers a keynote address about the power of storytelling for young people.
Through his opening keynote, Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black addressed young storytellers in the audience, encouraging them to follow in his footsteps by embracing their craft and creativity in times of political and social uncertainty.
In 2004, Black was in his twenties, coming into his queer identity and grappling with his place in the world amid political attacks on marriage equality. At the advice of a mentor, he “dug in” to the complexity of his feelings and channeled his energy into creative pursuits. He came across the story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office. The inspiring story of Milk’s political rise to The San Francisco Board of Supervisors (and its tragic end in Milk’s assassination in 1978) spoke to Black. While the story was not positive, he said, the “reverberations of Milk’s life was.”
“I thought, ‘Is there anything I can do with this? Is there anything here that speaks to the future and not the past?’” Black explained. From there, he toyed with adapting the story for film, eventually writing the script for “Milk,” which won an Oscar for best original screenplay in 2009.
Black attributed the creative feat to the challenging times that sent him searching for hope and inspiration — and he voiced his desire for storytellers to find inspiration in their current circumstances. “Maybe that chaos can create something beautiful — and not just beautiful, something inevitable,” he said.
Panel Discussions
Throughout the day, there were several panel discussions and short-form “spark talks,” where experts, youth and industry professionals discussed critical topics like Evolving Depictions of Masculinity, Psychology and Screenwriting, Gun Violence & Growing Up, Parasocial Relationships and Social Media, and Mental Health On-Screen. Notable panelists included Meg LeFauve (screenwriter of Pixar’s Inside Out 1 and 2), Jason Genao (actor from Netflix’s On My Block), Joy Gorman Wettels (producer of Hulu’s Unprisoned), Brenda Hsueh (screenwriter of Disney’s Elemental), Olly Sholotan (actor on Peacock’s Bel-Air), Jeffrey Marsh (social media influencer and LGBTQ+ activist), and many more.
In the first panel, “Why Authentic Inclusive Representation Matters,” pediatrician and public health leader Dr. Devika Bhushan led a discussion with entertainment industry professionals who have dedicated their careers to telling the stories of previously underrepresented groups. The group recalled their own experiences yearning for representation on screen and shared how they strive to create a more inclusive world on the screen. Bhushan described seeing herself represented on screen for the first time in the character Devi in Mindy Kaling’s hit show “Never Have I Ever,” calling the experience “revelatory.” Podcast host, author, and digital creator Dr. John Paul Higgins recalled feeling empowered by seeing public figures like Vogue Editor Andre Leon Talley, “America’s Next Top Model” Star Miss J Alexander, and “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star Lawrence Washington. “I saw queerness and fatness and blackness in a way that made me feel like I could be my authentic self,” they said. Ultimately, these role models paved the way for Higgins’s own trajectory in the entertainment industry. “I love the idea of disrupting systems that don’t represent me and don’t advocate for me,” they said.
Q&A: Asking The Experts (Teens)
Teens from CSS’s Youth Media Representation Program speak with Oscar Award winner Daniel Scheinert.
In an audience-favorite panel led by Oscar Award winning writer, director, and producer Daniel Scheinert, representatives from CSS’s Youth Media Representation Program took the stage to answer questions about their media preferences and lived experiences. Some recalled narratives that felt like an accurate representation of their lived experiences: “Euphoria,” “Crazy Rich Asians,” and “Ladybird” stood out to the group. Others shared common mistakes that movies and TV shows often make in representing teenagers: overexaggerating their texting communication, depicting teen girls as frequently unstable and moody, and rebooting hit shows and movies by slapping “trendy” language on the same plotline.
Special Performance & Fireside Chat
Audience members were treated to a special musical performance from singer-songwriter Leanna Firestone, a Gen-Z performer who got her start on TikTok sharing songs about her mental health challenges.
Following the performance, actor, dancer, and author Alyson Stoner, who has boldly spoken about her complex experiences with mental health as a child star, joined Firestone on stage. The performers discussed youth, fame, branding, and how the three interact to create mental health challenges for creatives — especially in an ever emerging digital landscape.
Closing Keynote, Sarah Schecter: Reach Audiences with Empathy
The event concluded with inspiring words from Sarah Schechter, one of the most prolific producers in television history.
Award-winning producer and President of Berlanti Productions Sarah Schecter closed out the event by sharing her trajectory in the film industry and her call to action for storytellers.Shecter found her passion for storytelling and the film industry at 13 years old, and as she advanced in her filmmaking career, she found herself focused on telling coming-of-age stories.
“To reach people when they feel things deeply, when they care deeply, when they're still forming their identities and figuring out their priorities and their values... I think it's just an incredible opportunity and responsibility,” she said.
This responsibility, she explained, includes telling stories without lecturing. Instead, storytellers can impact teen audiences by sharing narratives that foster empathy. Filmmaking first excited Schecter, she recalled, because of the opportunity to walk in someone else’s shoes and to create environments where people feel more connected. Her call to action, she said, is to lead with this empathy and tell meaningful stories.
View Recordings of the 2024 Teens and Screens Summit Event on YouTube:
CSS would like to thank our generous sponsors who made this year’s 2024 Teens and Screens Summit possible: Disney, Hopelab, YouTube, Paramount, Showtime, MTV, CAA Foundation, Comcast, CERES, MacArthur Foundation, Illumination, NRG, Netflix, 3 Arts Entertainment, Warner Bros. Discovery, Sony Pictures, and UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television. We’d also like to thank each of our incredible speakers, staff, and volunteers who gave so much of their time, energy and expertise to make this event success — as well as all of our attendees who helped contribute to a truly unforgettably impactful experience for all.