Ian Brennan (writer)

Ian Brennan (born April 23, 1978) is an American screenwriter, director and actor. He is known for his work on the American television shows Glee and Scream Queens.

Ian Brennan
Brennan at the San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2011
Born	(1978-04-23) April 23, 1978 Mount Prospect, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation	Screenwriter producer director actor
Nationality	American
Spouse	Trilby Glover ( m. 2017)
Children	2

Early life

Brennan is the son of John and Charman Brennan.[1] He is Irish Catholic and his father was a Paulist priest.[2][3] Brennan spent four years at Prospect High School in Mount Prospect, Illinois during the mid-1990s, and was a member of the school show choir, which he did not find particularly enjoyable. He was friends with actress Jennifer Morrison. Brennan aspired to be an actor, and as his high school musical director was also the show choir director, he joined the choir to enhance his chance of being cast in musical productions. Brennan credits his high school theatre director John Marquette for inspiring him to act. The character Will Schuester in Glee is partially based on Marquette. Brennan went on to study theatre at Loyola University Chicago.[4] He graduated in 2000,[5] and acted for a time in Chicago, studying at The Second City Training Center and working with the Steppenwolf and Goodman Theatres,[6] before moving to New York City to continue his acting career.[5] He has performed in off-Broadway plays at the Vineyard, Playwrights Horizons and MCC Theatres.[6] His early writing experience was limited to sketch pieces in high school and college plays he describes as "terrible".[4]

Career

Brennan conceived the idea for Glee based on his own experience as a member of the Prospect High School show choir. He explained: "I find it interesting that there is something in everybody, a longing for something transcendent, particularly in a place like Mt. Prospect, a place that's very suburban and normal and plain. Even in places like that, there's this desire to shine. That's fascinating and very funny to me, especially when people try to accomplish this through show choir – which, to me, is inherently a little ridiculous."[4] In 2005, a choir director at Prospect High was accused of inappropriate behavior with a student and was later convicted of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.[5] Brennan was inspired by these events,[6] and in August 2005, purchased a copy of Screenwriting for Dummies and wrote the first draft of Glee, initially envisioned as a film rather than a television series.[4] He completed the script in 2005, but could not generate interest in the project for several years.[5]

Mike Novick, a television producer and a friend of Brennan's from Los Angeles, was a member of the same gym as writer and producer Ryan Murphy, and gave him a copy of Brennan's script.[7] Murphy had been in a show choir while at college, and as such felt he could relate to the script. Murphy and his Nip/Tuck colleague Brad Falchuk suggested that Glee be adapted to a television show format.[4] The script was entirely re-written,[5] and was picked up by Fox within 15 hours of being received. Murphy and Falchuk became the show's executive producers and showrunners, while Brennan is a co-executive producer and Novick is a producer.[8] Brennan, Falchuk and Murphy wrote all of the show's episodes in the first two seasons,[9] and were nominated for two 2010 Writers Guild of America Awards for Glee, with nominations in the Best Comedy Series and Best New Series categories.[10] Glee concluded after its sixth season, which aired in early 2015.

Brennan, Falchuk and Murphy created Scream Queens, a comedy-horror series set on a college campus and in a hospital, that aired from September 2015 to December 2016,[11] and starred Emma Roberts, Ariana Grande, Lea Michele, Keke Palmer, Abigail Breslin,[12] and Jamie Lee Curtis.[13]

Personal life

Brennan lives in both New York City and Los Angeles.

He is married to actress Trilby Glover, with whom he has a son.[14]

Credits

Film and television

Year	Title	Format	Role	Notes
2000	Early Edition	Television series	Valet	Episode "Everybody Goes to Rick's"
	Too Much Flesh	Film	Bert
2002	No Sleep 'til Madison	Film	Dave
2006	Flourish	Film	Dr. Carter Kaufman
	Growing	Short film	Writer, actor (Jeremy)
	Save the Last Dance 2	Direct-to-DVD film	Franz
2007	I Think I Love My Wife	Film	Department Store Salesman #1
	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Television series	Lance Morein	Episode "Renewal"
	CSI: NY	Television series	Joe Silver	Episode "Buzzkill"
2008	New Amsterdam	Television series	Chris Duncan	Episode "Keep the Change"
2009	Glee	Television series	Co-creator, writer, narrator, director
	Staten Island	Film	Hippie in Tree
	Infamous	Video game	Voice
2011	The Glee Project	TV program	Judge
2014	Cooties	Film	Writer
2015	Scream Queens	Television series	Co-creator, writer, director
2018	LA to Vegas	Television series	Writer	Episode: "#PilotFight"
2019–present	The Politician	Television series	Co-creator, writer, director
2020	Hollywood	Limited series	Co-creator and writer

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Theatre
1999	Saturday Night[15]	Gene Gorman	O'Rourke Center for the Performing Arts, Chicago
	Finian's Rainbow	Performer	Marriott Theatre, Chicago
2005–2006	The Man in the White Suit[15]	Performer	Martel Theatre, Poughkeepsie, New York and Beckett Theatre New York City

References

1. Naqvi, Jameel (January 18, 2010). "Suburban-tied 'Glee' a big winner at Golden Globes". Daily Herald. Retrieved January 19, 2010.
2. https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/arts/television/24brennan.html?pagewanted=all
3. http://www.uscatholic.org/blog/2010/07/catholic-behind-glee
4. Mastony, Colleen (September 8, 2009). ""Glee Club" TV series creator uses Mt. Prospect high school for inspiration". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Company. Retrieved January 19, 2010.
5. Arado, Matt (May 19, 2009). "Mount Prospect native helped create new Fox show 'Glee'". Daily Herald. Archived from the original on January 31, 2012. Retrieved January 19, 2010.
6. "Ian Brennan". Fox Broadcasting Company. Archived from the original on January 17, 2010. Retrieved January 19, 2010.
7. Fernandez, Maria Elena (April 26, 2009). "Will TV audiences watch with 'Glee'?". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved June 1, 2009.
8. Schneider, Michael (July 23, 2009). "Fox greenlights 'Glee' pilot". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved January 19, 2010.
9. Silver, Curtis (December 7, 2009). "We're All Gleeks — 10 Questions for Glee Co-Creator Brad Falchuk". Wired. Condé Nast Publications. Archived from the original on January 31, 2012. Retrieved January 19, 2010.
10. "2010 WGA Awards TV Nominees Announced" (Press release). Writers Guild of America. December 14, 2009. Archived from the original on January 29, 2010. Retrieved December 15, 2009.
11. "Ryan Murphy & His 'Glee' Co-Creators Get Fox Series Order For Comedy-Horror Anthology 'Scream Queens'". Deadline. October 20, 2014.
12. "Meet All of the "Scream Queens"!". Bloody Disgusting. December 8, 2014.
13. "Emma Roberts, Jamie Lee Curtis join Ryan Murphy's 'Scream Queens'". Entertainment Weekly. December 8, 2014.
14. https://www.brides.com/story/scream-queens-trilby-glover-ian-brennan-wedding
15. "Ian Brennan". Broadway World. Retrieved January 19, 2010.

External links

• Ian Brennan on IMDb
• Ian Brennan at the New York Times