IT Upstart

GREG BERLANTI

Age: 28. Why him? An exec producer of "Dawson's Creek," he just wrote and directed his first feature, the accessible gay-posse flick "The Broken Hearts Club - A Romantic Comedy" (out, so to speak, in September). The script attracted actors like Dean Cain and "Frasier's" John Mahoney, while the film earned standing ovations at its Sundance 2000 premiere.

Work Ritual: "I put a song on repeat. It works like Pavlov's dogs - it triggers emotions for me to fall right back into writing a scene. I've done that with 'I Will Always Love You' - the Whitney version."

Jeans or Khakis: "Oh, please. Khakis. With no pleats."

Who'd play him in the biopic: "My friend Jason Behr."

Knew he'd made it when" "Right after the screening at Sundance, when my mother and father and I stood in the corner and cried."