Ryan Murphy (producer)

Murphy started as a journalist working for The Miami Herald, Los Angeles Times, New York Daily News, Knoxville News Sentinel and Entertainment Weekly. He began scriptwriting in the late 1990s, when Steven Spielberg purchased his script Why Can't I Be Audrey Hepburn?.[9]

Murphy started his career in television with the teen comedy series Popular, which he co-created with Gina Matthews. The series premiered on The WB on September 29, 1999,[12] and ran for two seasons, ending in 2001. During the time, his production company Ryan Murphy Productions signed a deal with Warner Bros.[13] He then created the FX drama series Nip/Tuck, which premiered on July 18, 2003. In 2004, Murphy earned his first Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series.[9] Murphy took the show's signature line, "Tell me what you don't like about yourself," from a plastic surgeon he met when he was a journalist researching an undercover story on plastic surgery in Beverly Hills. The series ended after six seasons in 2010.

In 2006, Murphy wrote the screenplay for and directed the feature film Running with Scissors, based on the memoir by Augusten Burroughs.

On May 19, 2009, Murphy's musical comedy-drama series, Glee, premiered on Fox. He co-created the series with Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan. In its early seasons, the show was critically lauded.[14] Murphy won his first Primetime Emmy Award for directing the pilot episode.[15] The series concluded in 2015 following its sixth season.[16] Murphy was one of four executive producers on the reality television series The Glee Project, which premiered on Oxygen on June 12, 2011.[17] The show featured a group of contestants vying for the prize of a seven-episode arc on Glee, with someone being eliminated each week, until the winner is chosen in the final episode. The show was renewed for a second season, which ended up being its last.[18] Murphy was openly critical of several prominent bands for not releasing music for use in Glee, for which he subsequently apologized.[19]

In 2010, Murphy directed an adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir Eat, Pray, Love. The film was a box office success but a critical failure, receiving harsh reviews criticizing its pacing and lack of credibility. To date, the film has grossed $204,482,125 worldwide.[20]

Murphy and Falchuk created the anthology series American Horror Story, which premiered on FX on October 5, 2011. Most of the same cast have played different characters in different settings each subsequent season.[21][22]

Murphy and Glee co-executive producer Ali Adler created the half-hour comedy The New Normal, which premiered on NBC on September 10, 2012. The series was based on Murphy's own experiences of having a child via surrogate, with the main characters, Bryan and David, named for Ryan and his husband.[23] The series was ultimately cancelled after one season.[24]

Murphy next directed the 2014 television film adaptation of Larry Kramer's Broadway play The Normal Heart.[25] Murphy then collaborated with The Normal Heart executive producer Jason Blum to produce a metasequel to the cult-classic horror film The Town That Dreaded Sundown.[26] The film was the directorial debut of Alfonso Gomez-Rejon and was also released in 2014. In October 2014, FX greenlit a companion anthology series, American Crime Story, which Murphy and Falchuk executive produce. The series premiered on February 2, 2016.[27]

Murphy, Falchuk and Brennan next co-created the comedy-horror series Scream Queens, which premiered on Fox on September 22, 2015.[28] The series was cancelled after two seasons.[29][30]

Murphy's next project, the drama anthology series Feud, premiered on FX in 2017. The first season focused on the rivalry between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford on the set of their 1962 film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?.[31]

In 2018, Murphy co-created the police procedural drama 9-1-1 and also served as its director, writer and executive producer.

With newcomer Steven Canals, Murphy and Falchuk launched a new series, Pose, set in the Ball community in mid-1980s New York City. Murphy had wanted to adapt Paris Is Burning as a series[32] and Canals had been writing a script while at graduate school centered on a young African American teen made homeless for being gay, who moved to New York with dreams of going to dance school and who became adopted by a House mother.[33] Joining Canals, Murphy and Falchuk in the writing room were Our Lady J and Janet Mock, who Murphy also encouraged to direct an episode,[32] making her the first trans woman of colour to do so, as well as the first trans woman of colour in a TV series writing room.[32]

The series premiered on FX on June 3, 2018, attracting critical acclaim.[34][35] The first season boasted the largest cast of transgender actors ever for a scripted network series, with over 50 transgender characters all played by trans actors.[36][37] On July 12, 2018, it was announced that the series had been renewed for a second season, which premiered in 2019.[38]

In May 2018, ahead of the Pose premiere, Murphy announced that he would donate all of his profits from the series to charitable organizations working with LGBT people, tweeting different non-profits including Sylvia Rivera Law Project,[39] Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund,[40] and Callen-Lorde Community Health Center[41] telling Variety that: "The thing that struck me in talking to so many of them, was how much they've struggled, how under attack they feel, how many of them find it difficult getting healthcare, and finding jobs. I just decided I need to do more than just making a show for this community. I want to reach out and help this community."[42]

In 2018, Netflix signed Murphy for a development deal with compensation of $300 million over a period of five years.[43][44]

In September 2019, The Politician was released on Netflix to generally positive reviews. The series was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and renewed for a second season, which was released in mid-2020. Murphy then co-created the 9-1-1 spin-off series 9-1-1: Lone Star, which premiered on Fox in January 2020.

In May 2020, Murphy's period miniseries Hollywood was released to mixed reviews. Murphy served as co-creator, writer and director for the series. In June 2020, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQ Pride parade, Queerty named him among the fifty heroes "leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people".[45][46]

Murphy co-created, with Ian Brennan, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, a ten-part miniseries that premiered on Netflix in September 2022.[47] The series took the #1 spot on Netflix in the first week of its release.[48]

Numbers in directing and writing credits refer to number of episodes.

The Dorian Awards are given by GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics and are named in homage to The Picture of Dorian Gray author Oscar Wilde. This truncated list only includes Murphy's individual Dorian nominations and wins. Several of his productions, such as Glee and The Normal Heart, have also been honored by the group.[61][62][63][64]

Murphy has won 6 Primetime Emmy Awards out of 36 nominations[65] as a producer, writer and director.

The Golden Globe Awards are awarded annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film, both American and international, and American television. Murphy has won one award as a producer.[66]

The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States. Murphy has been nominated for two awards as a producer.

Murphy has won one Tony Award out of two nominations as a producer.