Biography
Brian McLaughlin is a producer of narrative feature films and TV series. He has been a Producers Guild of America member since 2011, sponsored by the iconic Roger Corman. He was a mentor in the PGA Power of Diversity Master Workshop and the One-On-One Mentoring Program, and a member of the PGA Education, Diversity, and AAPI committees. He has been a mentor in the Plenty of Pie producer incubator.
In addition to developing and producing his own projects, he is a freelance development consulting producer with over 100 clients since early 2024.
He was born in Southern California but was never interested in a Hollywood career, although his grandmother, Madelyn McLaughlin, was a sculptor who created props for such movies as Alien (1979) (the alien), The Deep (1977) (the eel), Heaven Can Wait (1978), Billy Jack Goes to Washington (1977), and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978).
Brian was a visiting film professor at the University of Notre Dame for the 2011-2012 academic year. Immediately prior to that, he was the media production advisor to General David Petraeus in Afghanistan. In that role, he produced several documentary shorts with Afghan crew. He also taught at The Los Angeles Film School, the Art Institute of Tucson, and Cal State San Bernardino.
He was a PAGE International Awards quarter-finalist for his feature screenplay, Scylla Dilemma, which he wrote under the tutelage of the yearlong Writers Guild Foundation's Veterans Writing Project, an outstanding program that he continues to support as a volunteer. His mentors in that program included Karen Struck, April Fitzsimmons, Niceole R. Levy, Brian Anthony, and Timothy Wurtz. Scylla Dilemma was selected as one of ten projects in the 2017 PGA Power of Diversity Master Workshop, where Brian's mentors included Nic Novicki, Carrie Lynn Certa, and Olga Zhurzhenko, and workshop chairs Sasheen Artis and Julie Janata.
He was published in The Hollywood Reporter, January 29, 2016 issue, "Oscars' Diversity Dilemma: A Mathematical Solution to Parity in Voting."
Brian is an active member of Veterans in Media and Entertainment and is that organization's producers liaison. He produced a PSA for a veterans charity, which aired on CBS in Los Angeles.
Brian is a veteran of the Army and Army Reserve, a Major in the Infantry, Airborne, and Special Operations. His decorations include Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, German and Dutch Commando Parachutist badges, Pathfinder Torch, and Airborne Wings.
Brian was a three-time president of the Independent Film Association of Southern Arizona (now Independent Film Arizona), a founding member of Media and Entertainment of Notre Dame (later renamed Hollywood Domers), and treasurer of the Loft Cinema in Tucson. He was awarded a Notre Dame Exemplary Asian Pacific Alumnus award.
Brian has also been an actor in over 60 films, the first of which was directed by William Shatner, and stand-up comic.
He worked nearly twenty years in corporate finance and international business, earned an MBA from Boston University and a BBA from University of Notre Dame.
He has one son, Collin.
