Shane Brennan
Australian television producer and writer
About Shane Brennan
Born 1957. Shane Brennan is an American screenwriter, television producer, showrunner and film 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.
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."
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.
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.
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Important facts
People in Shane Brennan's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Shane Brennan's
Frequently asked questions
Who is Shane Brennan?
Australian television producer and writer
When was Shane Brennan born?
Shane Brennan was born in 1957 in Bendigo.
What is Shane Brennan's occupation?
Shane Brennan is a screenwriter, television producer, showrunner and film producer.
What nationality is Shane Brennan?
Shane Brennan is American.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Shane Brennan. https://biography.guide/shane-brennan/
MLA: "Shane Brennan." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/shane-brennan/.
Chicago: "Shane Brennan." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/shane-brennan/.
Data last updated: 2026-09-21 · Spot an error? Report a correction.
Portrait: Wikimedia Commons · author & licence
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