Every year, as part of the Directing Change Film Contest, Youth Creating Change celebrates shows, films, and individuals promoting outstanding messaging around mental health and suicide prevention. Our aim is to recognize content and creators doing an exemplary job of elevating conversations about mental health and suicide prevention, driven by the conviction that incredible storytelling and public advocacy can have a positive influence on audiences and communities – inspiring them to improve their self-care, reach out for help, support others, and spread awareness.
As our programs seek to demonstrate to young people, stories are a powerful tool for elevating conversations around critical health topics, changing norms, challenging harmful perceptions, supporting inclusivity, and driving connection.
Our 2026 Messaging Awards honorees have gone the extra mile, crafting narratives and sharing messages that encourage viewers to imagine a future where mental health is no longer stigmatized, foster cultures of help-seeking and acceptance, and offer an open ear to those around them.
2026 Awards
Outstanding Substance Use Storyline – Ginny & Georgia (Season 3)
Mental Health Messaging (Film) – KPop Demon Hunters
Mental Health Messaging (Series) – Forever
Mental Health Messaging (Series) – Shrinking
Music and Mental Health – The Runarounds
Mental Health Advocacy – Lauren Betts
Ginny & Georgia (Season 3, 2025)
Award: Outstanding Substance Use Storyline
Created by Sarah Lampert, the youth-focused series Ginny & Georgia has interwoven a range of important mental health lessons into its storytelling since its debut in 2021; with this year’s award, Directing Change calls special attention to the show’s substance use storyline in season 3. Centered on the character Marcus Baker, this storyline portrays the harsh realities of substance use realistically, also touching on the complex ways addiction can impact the close friends and loved ones of the person struggling. Building on strong mental health messaging in earlier seasons, Ginny & Georgia shows how depression can feed into unhealthy coping strategies – in this instance, alcohol misuse – which can damage relationships and worsen mental health issues. Crucially, Ginny & Georgia also reminds viewers that there is hope, with Marcus’s sister advocating for him to get help, all the while facing her own mental health challenges; by the season’s end, Marcus enters rehabilitation.
KPop Demon Hunters (2025)
Award: Mental Health Messaging (Film)
KPop Demon Hunters is an imaginative and empowering 2025 Netflix film which follows a K-pop girl group whose members are also secretly demon hunters. Using creative expression and demons both as metaphors, the film finds clever ways to explore numerous mental health themes likely to resonate with today’s youth – including internal battles and shame, anxiety, the pressure to mask emotions, perfectionism, and fear of rejection. In doing so, KPop Demon Hunters also maintains a focus on the immense power of community support, using the character of Rumi in particular to show that fear and stigma can be overcome through vulnerability, connection, and a focus on self-worth.
Forever (2025 – )
Mental Health Messaging (Series)
Created by showrunner Mara Brok Akil, Forever is a 2025 Netflix series that reimagines a Judy Blume novel, following two high school students in Los Angeles as they navigate love, social expectations, and parental pressures. The show presents a nuanced depiction of living with ADHD as a black youth, going beyond common stereotypes and showing how the condition can impact relationships, communication, and mental health. Additionally, Forever also addresses digital bullying, showing the trauma it can have on youth, and encouraging them to have patience with themselves and their emotions and not suppress what they are going through.
Shrinking (2023 – )
Award: Mental Health Messaging (Series)
An Apple TV series centered on a trio of therapists working at a group practice, Shrinking explores grief, relationships, and therapy in a nuanced, but lighthearted way. Through its simultaneously humorous and touching storytelling, the show reminds viewers that navigating grief isn’t simple or linear and that light and dark often coexist. In doing so, Shrinking helps destigmatize talk therapy, highlights boundary-setting in the context of mental health care, emphasizes the therapeutic power of community, and encourages open, honest conversations about mental health and personal challenges.
The Runarounds (2025)
Award: Music and Mental Health
The Runarounds is a 2025 Amazon Prime series about a group of high school graduates who form a rock band in North Carolina. This musical series shows the pressures that come with chasing stardom and navigating young adulthood, highlighting the complications caused by dysfunctional family and personal identity crises alike. More specifically, the character Sophia, the emotional core of the show, is shown managing her anxiety and aspirations while also caring for a grieving, alcoholic father. Even while touching on heavy topics, The Runarounds remains hopeful, often depicting music as a refuge for its characters and emphasizing the positive power of the band’s bond.
Lauren Betts
Award: Mental Health Advocacy
Lauren Betts is senior at UCLA, where she is best-known for her accomplishments as a member of the school’s highly decorated women’s basketball team. Her athletic achievements are many, including being named a First-Team All-American, Naismith Women’s Defensive Player of the Year, Lisa Leslie Center of the Year, and Big Team Conference Player of the Year. Amid all her success, Betts has also been a vocal advocate for mental health, speaking openly about her lived experience with depression, and helping break down the stigma for other young people and student athletes. In 2026, Betts penned the article “I Want to be Here,” in which she discusses fears around seeking help, her experience of checking herself into a hospital, the effects of athletic pressure on her mental health, and the support she eventually found through therapy.
Directing Change
The Directing Change Film Contest engages students and young people throughout California to educate them on the topics of suicide prevention and mental health. By participating in the program, youth learn about mental health and suicide warning signs, as well as how to help themselves and those around them who might be struggling. Additionally, short films youth create for the program are used to support further education and awareness in both schools and communities. Learn more at DirectingChangeCA.org.