Aline Brosh McKenna

Aline Brosh McKenna
Born	Aline Brosh (1967-08-02)August 2, 1967 France
Occupation	Screenwriter, producer, director
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Harvard University
Period	Contemporary
Notable works	The Devil Wears Prada 27 Dresses Morning Glory Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Spouse	Will McKenna
Children	2

Aline Brosh McKenna(born August 2, 1967) is an American screenwriter, producer and director. Her credits include writingThe Devil Wears Prada(2006),27 Dresses(2008),Morning Glory(2010),We Bought a Zoo(2011) and co-creatingThe CW'sCrazy Ex-Girlfriend.

Early life

Brosh was born to aJewishfamilyin France and, at the age of six months, moved with her family toNew Jersey,where she lived variously inFort Lee,DemarestandMontvale,and attendedSaddle River Day SchoolinSaddle River.She graduatedmagna cum laudefromHarvard University.

Career

After graduating, McKenna moved to New York City to seek a job inpublishing.While there, she did some freelance writing work.

A script she wrote during a six-week course inscreenwritingatNew York Universityhelped her get anagent,and, in 1991, she moved to Los Angeles.By age 26, she had sold a comedy feature and a television pilot, and continued to write a number of feature and television scripts.She also wrote an episode ofMargaret Cho's sitcomAll American Girl.

However, it would be eight years until her first movie, 1999'sMatthew Perry-Neve Campbellromantic comedyThree to Tango,was produced.

In 2004, she wroteLaws of Attraction,starringPierce BrosnanandJulianne Moore.

She adaptedLauren Weisberger’s novelThe Devil Wears Pradainto the2006 film of the same name,directed byDavid Frankeland starringMeryl Streep,Anne HathawayandEmily Blunt.Though her first two produced features were both romantic comedies, McKenna has reiterated thatThe Devil Wears Pradais not, and has instead described it as 'competence porn', noting: 'The real love story is, she ends up with that newspaper, having understood the world better and having understood her naiveté better'.The film earned McKenna aBAFTAnomination forBest Adapted Screenplay.

McKenna explored the nuances of the characters of Miranda (Meryl Streep's character) and Andy (Anne Hathaway's character) inThe Devil Wears Pradain a 2006 interview with Jan Huttner:

"I wanted to make sure the audience understood why she had so much power in her world; and then understand that there was a cost for her, because we wanted Andy to walk away from a life as opposed to walking away from a person. She sees how much Miranda has sacrificed in her personal life, and that’s just not what Andy wants to do. Miranda’s held to a different standard than male executives might be held to, and she lives under a microscope."

She wrote27 DressesstarringKatherine Heiglin 2008.The film took its place quickly as a classic romantic comedy, telling the story of a bridesmaid of twenty-seven weddings finding her own love.

Her next produced movie was 2010'sMorning Glory,starringRachel McAdams,Harrison FordandDiane Keaton,followed shortly after by 2011's adaptationI Don't Know How She Does It,withSarah Jessica ParkerandPierce Brosnan.McKenna has jokingly referred toThe Devil Wears Prada,Morning GloryandI Don't Know How She Does Itas 'The Blackberry 3', a thematically-linked trio of films featuring women who see theirBlackberriesmore than they see their own families.In an interview forThe Ringer,McKenna compared that lifestyle to her own as a showrunner: "Striving for perfection, you can easily end up having it fill all the gaps in your life because that’s the kind of job, like being a showrunner, that you’re never done, you’re never finished, you could always be doing something else."

In the same year, McKenna wroteCameron Crowe'sWe Bought a Zoo,an adaptation of thenovel of the same nameby Benjamin Mee.The film received positive reviews overall, with aLondon Evening Standardcritic commenting, "You have to admire the thoroughness with whichWe Bought a Zoo--which is the film Disney would make if they still knew how--caters to the whole family. "

In 2014, she wrote the musical comedy-dramaAnnie,directed byWill Gluckand withQuvenzhané Wallisin the title role. The film was a contemporary adaptation of the 1977Broadway musical of the same name.

McKenna returned to television in 2015, when she teamed up with singer and comedianRachel Bloomto create the romantic musical comedy-dramaCrazy Ex-Girlfriend.The show was originally developed forShowtime,with a half hour pilot produced. When Showtime opted not to proceed, McKenna and Bloom reworked the series forThe CW,including expanding it into an hour-long format.The CW renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on October 21, 2016,and a third season, which premiered on October 13, 2017.McKenna is the series' showrunner and an executive producer.

In a 2018 interview forDeadline,when asked aboutCrazy Ex-Girlfriend's commentary on gender, she said:

I mean it’s so fun to poke fun at. There are also still lots of things that haven’t been talked about. You still have to fight to get the word clitoris on the air and people still freak out when you talk about periods. We’re taking on some other gynecology because it’s always fun for us and threatening to the patriarchy.

In March 2017, McKenna inked a two-year overall deal withCBS Television Studios,the studio behindCrazy Ex-Girlfriend,to develop new projects for network and cable through her production company Lean Machine.The following October, she teamed up withRene Gube,a producer and recurring guest star onCrazy Ex-Girlfriend,for a single-camera comedy calledBig Menthat has been set up atCBS.

McKenna made her graphic novel debut in late 2017, working with artist Ramon Perez onJane,a modern retelling ofCharlotte Brontë's 1847 novelJane Eyre.The graphic novel was published byBoom! Studios.

Scriptnotes

McKenna was the first ever guest on the screenwriting podcastScriptnotes,hosted byJohn AugustandCraig Mazin.She made her debut on the show's 60th episode, a live event at theAustin Film Festivalin October 2012.She is, by a long distance, the podcast's most frequent guest, having made over two dozen appearances in subsequent years.In recognition, Mazin christened her 'theJoan RiversofScriptnotes'.McKenna guest-hosted the podcast for an episode in January 2014, filling in for Mazin.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
1999	Three to Tango	No	Yes	No
2004	Laws of Attraction	No	Yes	No
2004	Sleepover	No	Yes	No
2006	The Devil Wears Prada	No	Yes	No	Nominated-BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated-Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
2008	27 Dresses	No	Yes	No
2010	Morning Glory	No	Yes	No
2011	I Don't Know How She Does It	No	Yes	Executive
	We Bought a Zoo	No	Yes	No
2014	Annie	No	Yes	No
2021	Cruella	No	Story	No
2023	Your Place or Mine	Yes	Yes	Yes	Directorial debut

Television

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Executive Producer	Notes
1995	All-American Girl	No	Yes	No	Episode "Young Americans"
2015–2019	Crazy Ex-Girlfriend	Yes	Yes	Yes	Also co-creator and showrunner; Made an uncredited appearance as the prosecutor in episode "I Want to Be Here"

External links

• Aline Brosh McKennaatIMDb
• Aline Brosh McKenna: Screenwriting Lecturepart of theBAFTA Screenwriters on Screenwriting series
• If Cinderella Had a Blackberry...,nytimes, August 25, 2011
• Aline Brosh McKenna on Twitter