| Brian Wayne Peterson | |
| Birth Place: | United States |
| Occupation: | Screenwriter, television producer |
Brian Wayne Peterson (born c. 1971/1972) is an American screenwriter, television producer, and showrunner. 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, Beauty and the Beast, Salem, Genius, and The Hot Zone.
Peterson received a Master of Fine Arts in writing for screen and television from the USC School of Cinematic Arts in 1997.[1] 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.[2] Peterson used his experience for the story, which is about a group of teenagers who attend conversion therapy camp. He is gay himself[3] and had experience with conversion therapy while working at a prison clinic for sex offenders.[4] In 1999, Variety named him one of 10 Screenwriters to Watch.[5]
Peterson and Souders renewed their deal with Fox 21 Television Studios in August 2018.[6] Their next project, The Hot Zone,[7] tells the true story of the Reston virus in the US in 1989. It will be released on National Geographic on Memorial Day 2019.[8]
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).