Ian Brennan (writer)

Early life

Brennan is the son of John and Charman Brennan. He is Irish Catholic and his father was a Paulist priest. His sister, Sarah, is one of the founders of Amandla Charter School in Chicago. 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." 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. 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 is set to conclude following its sixth season, which is set to air in early 2015.

In October 2014, it was announced that Fox had given a 15 episode straight-to-series order for Scream Queens, a comedy-horror anthology series created by Falchuk, Murphy and Brennan. The first season, set on a college campus, stars Emma Roberts, Ariana Grande, Lea Michele, Keke Palmer, Abigail Breslin and Jamie Lee Curtis and premiered in 2015.

Personal life

Brennan lives in both New York City and Los Angeles, and works on the Glee scripts in the latter.