Glen Mazzara (born July 6, 1967) is an American television producer and writer. He is most well known for his work on ''

The Shield ''The Shield'' is an American crime drama television series starring Michael Chiklis that premiered on March 12, 2002, on FX in the United States, and concluded on November 25, 2008, after seven seasons. Known for its portrayal of corrupt poli ...

'', '' The Walking Dead'' and ''

Damien Damien is a given name and less frequently a surname. The name is a variation of Damian (given name), Damian which comes from the Greek ''Damianos''. This form originates from the Greek derived from the Greek word δαμάζω (damazō), "(I) con ...

''.

Life and career

An Italian-American, Mazzara was born in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, New York City, and grew up in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

. He graduated from St. Francis Preparatory School in 1985. He attended

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

and earned a masters in English. He worked as a hospital administrator in New York before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a writer in 1998. He was a story editor and writer for the fourth and fifth seasons of '' Nash Bridges''. In 2002, he joined the drama series ''

'' as an executive story editor and writer for its first season; was promoted to producer for the second season while continuing to write, to supervising producer for the third season, to co-executive producer for the fourth season and to executive producer for the fifth season; and left midway through the sixth season in 2006. Later in 2006 he was an executive producer on the short-lived series '' Standoff'', and then a co-executive producer on the first season of NBC drama ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

''. Mazzara left ''Life'' to create and executive produce a new series ''

Crash Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collision, an impact between two or more objects * Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond * Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating * Couch su ...

'', based on the Oscar-winning film of the same name, on which he served as head writer 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 ...

. He left after one season, but was credited as a consulting producer for the second season premiere. In 2009, he joined the medical drama series ''

Hawthorne Hawthorne often refers to the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne may also refer to: Places Australia *Hawthorne, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane Canada * Hawthorne Village, Ontario, a suburb of Milton, Ontario United States * Hawt ...

'' for two seasons as executive producer and writer. In 2010, he wrote his first of several episodes of the AMC series '' The Walking Dead'', episode 1.5: "

Wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

. On July 27, 2011, it was reported that Mazzara had taken over as showrunner of '' The Walking Dead'' after

Frank Darabont Frank Árpád Darabont (born Ferenc Árpád Darabont, January 28, 1959) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. In his early career, he was primarily a sc ...

dropped out of the position. Mazzara left this role following season 3. After The Walking Dead, he signed an overall deal with Fox Television Studios in 2013. Glen Mazzara is the Creator, Executive Producer, and Showrunner of A&E's series, ''

'', based on the classic horror film, ''

The Omen ''The Omen'' is a 1976 supernatural horror film directed by Richard Donner and written by David Seltzer. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and the United States, it stars Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Harvey Spencer ...

''. On April 15, 2019, Mazzara joined several other writers in firing their agents as part of the WGA's stand against the ATA and the unfair practice of

packaging Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of designing, evaluating, and producing packages. Packaging can be described as a co ...

Filmography

Producer

Writer

References

External links

*
Master Class with Glen Mazzara at 2012 Banff World Media Festival

Q&A with Glen Mazzara at 2012 Banff World Media Festival
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mazzara, Glen American male screenwriters American television writers American writers of Italian descent Living people New York University alumni Writers from Manhattan People from Queens, New York 1967 births Showrunners American male television writers Screenwriters from New York (state)