BUILDING BRIDGES BETWEEN

ENTERTAINMENT & RESEARCH

TO HELP THE NEXT GENERATION THRIVE

Media has power. Content creators have an opportunity. Research can help.

Drawing of clap board for film

THE POWER OF STORIES

Stories move hearts and minds in a way that numbers alone can’t. We all know it inherently. And a growing body of research supports it.

THE IMPACT ON YOUTH

Media impact on youth

Good intentions are important, but often not sufficient. Research can help ground us in how to create content responsibly.

Importance of research

THE IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH

The brain is more malleable during early childhood and adolescence than at any other time of our lives. And young people today report consuming more than 9 hours of media a day. 

Featured News

  • NEW TEEN SNAPSHOT: Bridging the Empathy Gap–How Storytellers Can Capture Adolescent Audiences & Influence Perceptions of Systems-Facing Youth

    The Center for Scholars & Storytellers (CSS) at UCLA has conducted new research on how adolescents perceive systems-facing youth and what entertainment media could do to better serve them.

    Read Now

  • NEW RESEARCH: Heroes Like Us? Comic Book Franchise Characters & Diverse Adolescent Audiences

    CSS partnered with leading entertainment insights firm National Research Group (NRG) whose Franchise IQ surveyed 13-24 year-olds on their preferred characters from superhero films, and the results reveal something striking about this generation's moral compass. Across all demographics, participants were 10x more likely to relate to characters they saw as heroes rather than any other type.

    Read Now

  • AIR 3.0 Roadmap to Authentically Inclusive Representation on Screen

    Funded by the Nielsen Foundation, this dynamic resource builds on our prior AIR research, which demonstrates that studios can potentially lose millions at the box office by not prioritizing AIR.

    Read Now

  • Media Teens & Young Adults Look To During Times of Stress

    Our Teen Research Snapshot explores the types of media teens and young adults turn to during stressful and uncertain times.

    Read Now

  • Finding Comfort in the Neighborhood: How Daniel Tiger's Lessons Follow Children into Adolescence

    Our latest research, done in collaboration with Fred Rogers Productions, uncovered something remarkable: the lessons from Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood haven't just entertained children—they've shaped teenagers' emotional lives for years to come.

    Read Now

Ways We Help

Clients We’ve Worked With

Working out of UCLA, the Center for Scholars & Storytellers (CSS) is a nonprofit helping connect the biggest names in Hollywood and creative professionals everywhere with evidence-based insights from psychology to positively impact kids, teens, and young adults.

We’re the only organization with the institutional affiliation, academic credibility, and entertainment expertise to meet youth and young adults where they are: on screens.

Hollwood sign UCLA center

“Although insights that can guide responsible storytelling emerge regularly from the work of social scientists, they are often slow to make their way into the hands of the entertainment industry. That’s why, when I obtained my doctorate in psychology after almost two decades working in the movie industry, I created the Center for Scholars & Storytellers.”