Greg Berlanti

Gregory Berlanti (born May 24, 1972) is an American writer, producer, and film director. He is known for his work on the television series Dawson's Creek, Brothers & Sisters, Everwood, Political Animals and Riverdale, in addition to his contributions to DC Comics on film and television, including The CW's Arrowverse. In 2018, Berlanti set a record in having 15 different live action scripted television series planned to air in the 2018–19 television season on various networks and digital platforms, and he signed the most expensive producer deal ever with Warner Bros. Berlanti also directed the 2018 romantic comedy-drama film Love, Simon.

Career
Berlanti made his feature film directorial debut with The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy (2000), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The film focused on "the universal themes of romance, acceptance and family", as opposed to AIDS, coming out, and sex, which are more controversial and stereotypical topics commonly covered in LGBT films. The film grossed over 2 million in ticket sales, and received generally positive reviews from critics.

Berlanti got his start in television as a writer and executive producer on Dawson's Creek before going on to create two of The WB's drama series, 2002's Everwood and 2004's Jack & Bobby. He created and produced the 2008 ABC legal drama Eli Stone and the 2012 USA miniseries Political Animals. For NBC, he has produced The Mysteries of Laura, an American adaptation of the Spanish television series, that premiered September 17, 2014, and Blindspot which premiered on September 21, 2015.

Berlanti directed the 2010 film Life as We Know It, starring Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel. He produced the film Pan for Warner Brothers under his Berlanti Productions banner; the film was released October 9, 2015.

In January 2016 The CW ordered the Berlanti-produced television pilot Riverdale based on the characters from Archie Comics, which was picked up to series in May 2016. Riverdale premiered on January 26, 2017, and was renewed for a second season on March 7, 2017.

Film
Berlanti co-wrote and co-produced the DC Comics film Green Lantern, starring Ryan Reynolds as the titular character. As the film was not critically nor financially successful, further planned releases were cancelled.

In May 2016, Berlanti discussed his involvement in a Booster Gold feature film that is currently in development, as producer and possibly as director as well. Zack Stentz is signed to the project as screenwriter.

Arrowverse
In December 2011, it was announced that, along with Andrew Kreisberg and Marc Guggenheim, Berlanti would create, write, and produce a series for The CW based on Green Arrow, called Arrow. In May 2012, it was picked up to series and premiered on October 10, of that year. On July 30, 2013, it was announced at the summer TCA tour that Berlanti, Kreisberg, and DC Comics CCO Geoff Johns would be introducing Barry Allen in the second season of Arrow, with the possibility of the character being spun off to his own series. Actor Grant Gustin was cast and made his debut in episode 8, "The Scientist". In November 2013, The CW officially ordered a pilot for The Flash, and in May 2014 the network picked the project up to series with a premiere scheduled for autumn of that year. The Flash premiered on October 7, 2014.

On February 26, 2015, it was announced that Berlanti, along with Guggenheim and Kreisberg, would write and executive produce a spin-off series featuring The Atom (Brandon Routh), Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller), Martin Stein (Victor Garber), and The White Canary (Caity Lotz), for a potential 2016 premiere. The series was ultimately titled Legends of Tomorrow, and it follows the ragtag team of heroes and villains as they travel through time and space on a mission to stop the devious immortal Vandal Savage. The series premiered on January 21, 2016, and was renewed for a second season on March 11, 2016.

In 2017, Berlanti assumed extra responsibilities for production of The Flash, following the dismissal of Andrew Kreisberg.

Supergirl
On September 4, 2014, it was reported that Berlanti would executive produce a re-imagining of the origin of Supergirl, to be written by The New Normal and Chuck alum Ali Adler. Flash co-creator Johns is also involved with development. On September 19, 2014, it was reported that CBS had made a series commitment to Supergirl. It was also announced that Berlanti would co-write the first episode.

After its first season, the show moved from CBS to The CW, bringing all live-action Arrowverse shows together on one network.

Following Andrew Kreisberg's firing from Warner Bros. due to sexual harassment allegations in November 2017, Berlanti assumed additional duties on production of the show.

Other DC shows
Berlanti later worked with Mara Brock Akil and her husband Salim Akil to develop Black Lightning which also aired on the CW.

He also worked with Akiva Goldsman, Geoff Johns, and Sarah Schechter to develop Titans.

Personal life
He was born in Rye, New York. His parents are Barbara Moller Berlanti and Eugene Berlanti. Greg has one sister, Dina, and two nieces. He has Italian and Irish ancestry. He described his early life in an August 2004 interview with Entertainment Weekly: "We were Italians in a town of WASPs" and his family was not "doing as well as 90% of the community." The Berlanti Productions production logo, which follows each episode of shows he produces, features a family with their backs to the audience and the spoken quote, "Greg, move your head!" This is an homage to Berlanti's father, Gene, who would yell at Greg when he was blocking the television screen. Berlanti graduated from Northwestern University in 1994.

Berlanti has been in a relationship with ex-LA Galaxy soccer player Robbie Rogers since mid-2013. On February 18, 2016, Berlanti and Rogers welcomed their first son via surrogacy, Caleb Berlanti. On December 31, 2016, Rogers and Berlanti announced they had become engaged. They wed on December 2, 2017.