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.
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.", 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.
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. In February 2022, it was announced that Brennan would lead a new NCIS: Sydney set in Sydney.
Brennan was elected president of the Australian Writers' Guild in January 2019.
Filmography Film Title Year Credited as Notes WriterClowning Around1992
Television The numbers in writing credits refer to the number of episodes. Title Year Credited as Network Notes Creator Writer ExecutiveproducerSpecial Squad1984–85 (5)Network 10Prime Time1986Nine Networkunknown episodesA Country Practice1986–88 (13)Seven NetworkIn Between1987 (2)SBSminiseriesThe Flying Doctors1987–91 (19)Nine NetworkEmbassy1990ABCunknown episodesAll Together Now1991–93 (18)Nine NetworkBony1992 (3)Seven NetworkOcean Girl1994 (1)Network 10Blue Heelers1995 (1)Seven NetworkThe Man from Snowy River1995–96 (7)Nine NetworkState Coroner1997–98 (4)Network 10Good Guys, Bad Guys1998 (1)Nine NetworkFlipper1998–2000 (11)Syndicationsupervising producer (1998–99: 2 episodes)Witch Hunt1999Network 10Television film, associate producerCrash Zone1999 (1)Seven NetworkStingers2000–03 (19)Nine NetworkTales of the South Seas2000 (1)Network 10The Lost World2002 (1)SyndicationMcLeod's Daughters2003 (1)Nine NetworkCSI: Miami2003–04 (4)CBSsupervising producer (24 episodes)Summerland2005 (2)The WBsupervising producer (13 episodes)One Tree Hill2006The WBco-executive producer (episode: "With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept")NCIS2006–15 (11)CBSconsulting producer (2006: 8 episodes), co-executive producer (2006–07: 16 episodes), executive producer (2007–15: 166 episodes)NCIS: Los Angeles2009–2023 (17)CBSKing & Maxwell2013 (2)TNTNCIS: Sydney2023Paramount+Network 10CBS
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