Shane Brennan
{{short description|Australian television producer and writer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Use Australian English|date=October 2011}}
{{infobox person
| image = Shane Brennan manipulates a radio-controlled robot used by Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians (cropped).jpg
| caption = Brennan in 2015
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1957|1|20}}
| birth_place = Bendigo, Victoria, Australia
| occupation = Television writer and producer
}}
Shane Brennan (born January 20, 1957, in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia) is an Australian television writer and producer, best known as the executive producer of the CBS drama NCIS, as well as the creator of the NCIS spin-off series, NCIS: Los Angeles.{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2009-09-21-brennan-ncis_N.htm|title=Shane Brennan of 'NCIS': The hardest-working man in TV biz|date=22 September 2009|last=Keveney|first=Bill|work=USA Today |accessdate=23 March 2011}}
Brennan's other television credits include Special Squad, The Flying Doctors, All Together Now, King & Maxwell, State Coroner, Stingers, Flipper, CSI: Miami, and Summerland. Beginning as a journalist for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), by 1981, he had abandoned journalism for television scriptwriting.
From the mid-1990s he worked on American cable shows shot in Australia – of which Flipper is the only named example in the IMDb. That gave him exposure, friends in the United States and an agent. As he said, "I started travelling backwards and forwards for about five years – usually four or five times a year, coming for two or three weeks at a time, doing lots and lots of meetings, all at my expense."[https://archive.today/20121230142904/http://www.screenhub.com.au/news/shownewsarticleG.php?newsID=36048 Profile], screenhub.com.au; Retrieved 15 April 2014.
In 2003, Brennan became supervising producer for CSI: Miami, and then went on to succeed Donald P. Bellisario as the showrunner on NCIS, handing the day-to-day showrunner operations over to Gary Glasberg after season 8. He then created and became the showrunner of NCIS: Los Angeles, while remaining an executive producer of NCIS until the end of the eleventh season. His last credited episode as executive producer of NCIS was the season 11 finale episode, "Honor Thy Father". In 2011, his production company signed a deal with CBS.{{Cite web|last=Littleton|first=Cynthia|date=2011-04-21|title=Shane Brennan inks deal with CBS|url=https://variety.com/2011/tv/news/shane-brennan-inks-deal-with-cbs-1118035715/|access-date=2020-11-07|website=Variety|language=en-US}}
In July 2016, it was announced that Brennan was stepping down as showrunner of NCIS: Los Angeles and that he was handing the reins over to R. Scott Gemmill.{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}} In February 2022, it was announced that Brennan would lead a new NCIS: Sydney set in Sydney.{{Cite web|last=Ravindran|first=Manori|date=2022-02-15|title='NCIS' Adapted for Paramount Plus Australia, 'SEAL Team' Spin-Off Movie Heads Stateside|url=https://variety.com/2022/tv/global/ncis-sydney-seal-team-movie-paramount-plus-1235182734/|access-date=2022-02-16|website=Variety|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|title=NCIS's latest spin-off will be set in Sydney|url=https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/streaming/nciss-latest-spinoff-will-be-set-in-sydney/news-story/1e1a7f8a21badd6f281c1ed8073c876d|access-date=2022-02-16|website=News.com.au}}
Brennan was elected president of the Australian Writers' Guild in January 2019.{{Cite web|date=2019-01-24|title=Shane Brennan elected AWG president|url=https://www.if.com.au/shane-brennan-elected-awg-president/|access-date=2020-08-24|website=IF Magazine|language=en-US}}
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
! rowspan="2" scope="col"| Title ! rowspan="2" scope="col"| Year ! colspan="1" scope="col"| Credited as ! rowspan="2" scope="col" class="unsortable"| Notes |
| Writer |
|---|
| scope=row|Clowning Around
|1992 |{{yes}} | |
=Television=
The numbers in writing credits refer to the number of episodes.
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
! rowspan="2" scope="col"| Title ! rowspan="2" scope="col"| Year ! colspan="3" scope="col"| Credited as ! rowspan="2" scope="col"| Network ! rowspan="2" scope="col" class="unsortable"| Notes |
| Creator
! Writer ! Executive |
|---|
| scope=row|Special Squad
|1984–85 |{{no}} |{{yes}} (5) |{{no}} | |
| scope=row|Prime Time
|1986 |{{no}} |{{yes}} |{{no}} |unknown episodes |
| scope=row|A Country Practice
|1986–88 |{{no}} |{{yes}} (13) |{{no}} | |
| scope=row|In Between
|1987 |{{no}} |{{yes}} (2) |{{no}} |SBS |miniseries |
| scope=row|The Flying Doctors
|1987–91 |{{no}} |{{yes}} (19) |{{no}} |Nine Network | |
| scope=row|Embassy
|1990 |{{no}} |{{yes}} |{{no}} |ABC |unknown episodes |
| scope=row|All Together Now
|1991–93 |{{no}} |{{yes}} (18) |{{no}} |Nine Network | |
| scope=row|Bony
|1992 |{{no}} |{{yes}} (3) |{{no}} |Seven Network | |
| scope=row|Ocean Girl
|1994 |{{no}} |{{yes}} (1) |{{no}} |Network 10 | |
| scope=row|Blue Heelers
|1995 |{{no}} |{{yes}} (1) |{{no}} |Seven Network | |
| scope=row|The Man from Snowy River
|1995–96 |{{no}} |{{yes}} (7) |{{no}} |Nine Network | |
| scope=row|State Coroner
|1997–98 |{{no}} |{{yes}} (4) |{{no}} |Network 10 | |
| scope=row|Good Guys, Bad Guys
|1998 |{{no}} |{{yes}} (1) |{{no}} |Nine Network | |
| scope=row|Flipper
|1998–2000 |{{no}} |{{yes}} (11) |{{no}} |Syndication |supervising producer (1998–99: 2 episodes) |
| scope=row|Witch Hunt
|1999 |{{n/a}} |{{yes}} |{{no}} |Television film, associate producer |
| scope=row|Crash Zone
|1999 |{{no}} |{{yes}} (1) |{{no}} |Seven Network | |
| scope=row|Stingers
|2000–03 |{{no}} |{{yes}} (19) |{{no}} |Nine Network | |
| scope=row|Tales of the South Seas
|2000 |{{no}} |{{yes}} (1) |{{no}} |Network 10 | |
| scope=row|The Lost World
|2002 |{{no}} |{{yes}} (1) |{{no}} |Syndication | |
| scope=row|McLeod's Daughters
|2003 |{{no}} |{{yes}} (1) |{{no}} |Nine Network | |
| scope=row|CSI: Miami
|2003–04 |{{no}} |{{yes}} (4) |{{no}} |CBS |supervising producer (24 episodes) |
| scope=row|Summerland
|2005 |{{no}} |{{yes}} (2) |{{no}} |supervising producer (13 episodes) |
| scope=row|One Tree Hill
|2006 |{{no}} |{{no}} |{{no}} |The WB |co-executive producer (episode: "With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept") |
| scope=row|NCIS
|2006–15 |{{no}} |{{yes}} (11) |{{yes}} |CBS |consulting producer (2006: 8 episodes), co-executive producer (2006–07: 16 episodes), executive producer (2007–15: 166 episodes) |
| scope=row|NCIS: Los Angeles
|2009–2023 |{{yes}} |{{yes}} (17) |{{yes}} |CBS | |
| scope=row|King & Maxwell
|2013 |{{yes|developer}} |{{yes}} (2) |{{yes}} |TNT | |
| scope=row|NCIS: Sydney
|2023 |{{TableTBA}} |{{TableTBA}} |{{yes}} |Paramount+ | |
References
{{reflist}}
{{CSI: Miami}}
{{NCIS (franchise)}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brennan, Shane}}
Category:Australian expatriates in the United States
Category:American television producers
Category:American television writers
Category:American male television writers
Category:Australian television producers