Brad Falchuk Biography

Brad Falchuk (born March 1, 1971) is a television writer, director and producer. He is best known for co-creating the comedy-drama television series Glee and the horror-drama anthology series American Horror Story. He was also a writer and executive producer for the television series Nip/Tuck.

Early life

Falchuk grew up in Newton, Massachusetts, where he attended Beaver Country Day School. In high school, he tried to stand out from his classmates by wearing a tie to school each day and declaring himself a Republican. He said, "I was always trying to look smart because I didn't feel smart"; he actually suffered from undiagnosed dyslexia. In high school, he played baseball, basketball and lacrosse. He later attended the American Film Institute. He also graduated from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in 1993. Falchuk was the commencement speaker for Hobart and William Smith Colleges' 2014 graduating classes.

Career

Falchuk's career in television began as a writer for Mutant X (2001), Earth: Final Conflict (2001-02) and Veritas: The Quest (2003), before he was hired to work on the first season of Nip/Tuck in 2003. While working on Nip/Tuck, he formed a close bond and partnership with the show's creator, Ryan Murphy. Falchuk and Murphy went on to write a television pilot titled Pretty/Handsome, about a transsexual gynecologist, which the FX network bought in 2008. However, the pilot was not picked up as a series.

As Nip/Tuck neared its sixth and final season, Falchuk and Murphy began to look for their next project, and decided to focus on a lighter subject. They teamed up with Ian Brennan, who had written a screenplay about high school show choirs, to pitch a one-hour comedy about a glee club to the Fox Broadcasting Company. Their pitch was successful and turned into the television show Glee, which premiered in 2009. Falchuk, Murphy and Brennan received two Writers Guild of America Award nominations for Best Comedy Series and Best New Series. After the early success of Glee, Falchuk signed a two-year, seven-figure deal with 20th Century Fox Television which will involved further work on Glee as well as the development of other projects for the studio. Glee is set to conclude following its sixth season, which will air from January to March 2015.

In 2011, Falchuk co-created the FX horror-drama anthology series American Horror Story with previous collaborator Ryan Murphy. The first season, starring Jessica Lange, Connie Britton and Dylan McDermott, premiered October 5, 2011, and received critical acclaim; the series was nominated for 17 Primetime Emmy Awards in 2012, and 15 Primetime Emmys in 2013, with Falchuk nominated for Outstanding Miniseries or Movie both years. In 2014, the show was once again nominated for 17 Primetime Emmy Awards, with Falchuk nominated for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special.

Falchuk will serve as an executive producer on American Crime Story, the companion series to American Horror Story, which will begin airing in 2015. In October 2014, it was announced that Fox had given a 15 episode straight-to-series order for Scream Queens, a horror-comedy anthology series created by Falchuk, Murphy and Brennan. The first season, set on a college campus, will star Emma Roberts, Lea Michele, Abigail Breslin, Keke Palmer, Joe Manganiello and Jamie Lee Curtis, and will premiere in the fall of 2015.

Personal life

Falchuk is the son of Nancy Falchuk, the national president of the American Jewish women's organization Hadassah (). Falchuk's brother, Evan Falchuk, founded the United Independent Party and was a candidate for Governor in the Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 2014, and the president of Best Doctors, Inc. In 2008, Falchuk was diagnosed by his father and brother's medical consulting firm to have a serious problem with his spinal cord. After undergoing emergency spinal surgery, he recovered fully, but his experience inspired parts of the Glee episode "Wheels".

Brad Falchuk was married for more than 10 years to television producer Suzanne Bukinik. Together, they have two children. Bukinik filed for divorce from Falchuk in March 2013. He has called Ryan Murphy his closest friend.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2010	AFI Awards	TV Program of the Year	Glee (with Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan)
2011
2011	British Academy Television Awards	Best International
2010	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series
		Outstanding Comedy Series	Glee (with Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan, Dante Di Loreto, Bradley Buecker, Alexis Martin Woodall and Kenneth J. Silverstein)
2011			Glee (with Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan, Dante Di Loreto, Bradley Buecker, Alexis Martin Woodall, Kenneth J. Silverstein and Michael Novick)
2012		Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special	American Horror Story: Murder House (with Ryan Murphy for the episode "Bitchcraft")
2013		Outstanding Miniseries or Movie	American Horror Story: Asylum (with Ryan Murphy, Dante Di Loreto, Tim Minear, Jennifer Salt, James Wong, Jessica Sharzer, Bradley Buecker, Alexis Martin Woodall and Chip Vucelich)
2014			American Horror Story: Coven (with Ryan Murphy, Dante Di Loreto, Bradley Buecker, Alexis Martin Woodall and Chip Vucelich)
2011	National Television Awards	Digital Choice	Glee (with Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan)
2011	Producers Guild of America Awards	Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Comedy	Glee (with Ian Brennan, Dante Di Loreto, Ryan Murphy and Kenneth J. Silverstein)
2012
2013		Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television	American Horror Story: Asylum (with Bradley Buecker, Dante Di Loreto, Alexis Martin Woodall, Ryan Murphy and Chip Vucelich)
2014			American Horror Story: Coven (with Bradley Buecker, Dante Di Loreto, Ryan Murphy, Chip Vucelich and Alexis Martin Woodall)
2010	TV Quick Awards	Best New Drama	Glee (with Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan)
2011		Best Drama Series
2010	Writers Guild of America Awards	New Series
		Comedy Series
2011