Ian Brennan (writer)
Introduction '''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'', ''Scream Queens'',  ''The Politician'', and ''Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story''.
Early life Brennan is the son of John and Charman Brennan. He is Irish Catholic and his father was a Paulist priest. 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. He graduated in 2000, and acted for a time in Chicago, studying at The Second City Training Center and working with the Steppenwolf and Goodman Theatres, before moving to New York City to continue his acting career. He has performed in off-Broadway plays at the Vineyard, Playwrights Horizons and MCC Theatres. His early writing experience was limited to sketch pieces in high school and college plays he describes as "terrible".
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." Brennan was inspired by these events, 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. He completed the script in 2005, but could not generate interest in the project for several years.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. 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. The script was entirely re-written, 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. Brennan, Falchuk and Murphy wrote all of the show's episodes in the first two seasons, 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. ''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, and starred Emma Roberts, Ariana Grande, Lea Michele, Keke Palmer, Abigail Breslin, and Jamie Lee Curtis.
Personal life Brennan lives in both New York City and Los Angeles. He married actress Trilby Glover in September 2016 and the couple have two children, Blaise (born in April 2016) and Juno (born in August 2018).
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, actor (Vice Principal Simms)  2015  ''Scream Queens''  Television series  Co-creator, writer, director  2018  ''LA to Vegas''  Television series  Writer  Episode: "#PilotFight" 2019–2020  ''The Politician''  Television series  Co-creator, writer, director   2020  ''Hollywood''  Limited series  Co-creator and writer   2020–present  ''Ratched''  Television series  Writer  2021  ''Halston''  Limited series  Writer  2022  ''Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story''  Limited series  Co-creator and writer  ''The Watcher''  Limited series  Co-creator and writer + Theatre Year Title Role Theatre 1999  ''Saturday Night''  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''  Performer  Martel Theatre, Poughkeepsie, New York and Beckett Theatre New York City
References
External links * *  Ian Brennan at the ''New York Times''