Chris McKenna (writer)

Chris McKenna is an American television writer, film producer, screenwriter, and television producer. He has written for American Dad!, Community,[1] and The Mindy Project, and part of the first Marvel Cinematic Universe Spider-Man trilogy (2017–2021).

Chris McKenna
McKenna on a Community panel at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2014.
Born (1969-12-03) December 3, 1969 (age 54)
Occupation(s)Television writer, film producer, screenwriter, television producer
Years active1993-present

Early life

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McKenna attended The Bishop's School in La Jolla, California.

Career

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McKenna was an uncredited writer on the 2004 film The Girl Next Door, having developed the screenplay with director Luke Greenfield. He was denied credit by the WGA arbitration process.[2]

McKenna wrote some of Community's most critically acclaimed episodes, including "Paradigms of Human Memory", "Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design", and the Emmy- and Hugo-nominated "Remedial Chaos Theory". He also co-wrote (along with his brother Matt McKenna) one of the most acclaimed episodes of American Dad!, "Rapture's Delight".[3]

During his time as a writer for American Dad, he met Erik Sommers, who would later become his writing partner. Together they have since written for The Lego Batman Movie (2017), co-writing Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and its sequels, Far From Home (2019) and No Way Home (2021), along with Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) and Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018).[4][5]

Having worked with the Russo brothers on the sitcom Community, McKenna contributed to the script of Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) by writing jokes for the film.[citation needed]

Filmography

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Film

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Writer

Assistant

Executive producer

  • Registered Sex Offender (2008)

Producer

Special thanks

Television

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Year Title Writer Producer Notes
2005–2011 American Dad! Yes Yes Also staff writer, story editor, executive story editor and supervising producer
2010–2015 Community Yes Executive Nominated–Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing ("Remedial Chaos Theory")
Nominated–Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation – Short Form
Nominated–Online Film & Television Association Television Award for Best Writing
2012–2014 The Mindy Project Yes Co-executive Nominated–Writers Guild of America Award for Television: New Series

References

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  1. ^ Dropped Last Year, ‘Community’ Creator Returns Archived 2013-06-11 at the Wayback Machine June 10, 2013 NYT
  2. ^ "What Really Goes Into Making A Cult Favorite". HuffPost. April 15, 2014. Archived from the original on December 25, 2021. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
  3. ^ McFarland, Kevin. ""O, Brother, Where Bart Thou?"/"A Cleveland Brown Christmas"/"Business Guy"/"Rapture's Delight"". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on December 25, 2021. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
  4. ^ Jim (July 8, 2019). "Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers Talk "Spider-Man: Far From Home"". Creative Screenwriting. Archived from the original on July 17, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  5. ^ Schaefer, Sandy (April 17, 2019). "Spider-Man: Far From Home Release Date Moves Up 3 Days". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on April 17, 2019. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
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