Brian Wayne Peterson (born c. 1971/1972) is an American

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

, television producer, and

showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...

. After finding success writing the script for 1999 film '' But I'm a Cheerleader'', he and his writing partner Kelly Souders wrote and produced the television series ''

Smallville ''Smallville'' is an American superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produced by Millar Gough ...

'', '' Beauty and the Beast,

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

, Genius'', and '' The Hot Zone''.

Biography

Peterson received a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...

in writing for screen and television from the USC School of Cinematic Arts in 1997. It was here that he met Souders, where the two decided to form their writing partnership. Shortly after his graduation, Jamie Babbit, the director for ''But I'm a Cheerleader'', asked Peterson to write a script for her film after reading a story he had written about a gay

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...

. Peterson used his experience for the story, which is about a group of teenagers who attend conversion therapy camp. He is gay himself and had experience with conversion therapy while working at a prison clinic for sex offenders. In 1999, '' Variety'' named him one of 10 Screenwriters to Watch. Peterson and Souders renewed their deal with Fox 21 Television Studios in August 2018. Their next project, ''The Hot Zone'', tells the true story of the Reston virus in the US in 1989. It will be released on National Geographic on Memorial Day 2019. In 2012 Peterson and Souders were nominated for an Online Film and Television Association (OFTA) Television Award for Best Writing of a Motion Picture of Miniseries for ''Political Animals'' (2012).

Filmography

Film

* '' But I'm a Cheerleader'' (

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

)

Television

* '' Beauty and the Beast'' (2012–2013) * '' Genius'' (2017–2018) * '' The Hot Zone'' (2019) * '' Political Animals'' (2012) * ''

'' (2015–2017) * ''

'' (2002–2011) * '' Under the Dome'' (2014)

References

External links

* 1970s births American television producers American television writers Date of birth missing (living people) American gay writers LGBT screenwriters Living people American male television writers USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni 21st-century LGBT people {{US-screen-writer-stub