Brian Yorkey

Brian Yorkey is an American playwright and lyricist. His works often explore dark and controversial subject matter such as mental illness, grief, the underbelly of suburbia, and ethics in both psychiatry and public education. Yorkey adapted Jay Asher's bestselling novel, 13 Reasons Why, for Netflix, Paramount Television, and Anonymous Content. It was released on Netflix in March 2017. He scripted Sluts for Lionsgate Films. His first feature film pitch, Time After Time, sold in a bidding war to Universal Pictures. It is now fast tracked at Lionsgate/Summit with Bradley Buecker directing. Yorkey is adapting Next to Normal's film adaptation for Anonymous Content and an untitled fashion musical for Paramount Pictures, Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald. Yorkey and Kitt are also developing Score!, a theatre camp musical for Robert Downey Jr. to star in for Warner Bros. More recently, he signed deals with Netflix to start the Echoes limited series, and adapt Neal Shusterman's book Game Changer into a series.

Works

Great Performances

The best in the performing arts from across America and around the world including a diverse programming portfolio of classical music, opera, popular song, musical theater, dance, drama, and performance documentaries.

Release Date1971-01-28

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count1

Vote Count19

Riverdale

Set in the present, the series offers a bold, subversive take on Archie, Betty, Veronica and their friends, exploring the surreality of small-town life, the darkness and weirdness bubbling beneath Riverdale’s wholesome facade.

Release Date2017-01-26

DepartmentWriting

JobMusical

Episode Count1

Vote Count13556

13 Reasons Why

After a teenage girl's perplexing suicide, a classmate receives a series of tapes that unravel the mystery of her tragic choice.

Release Date2017-03-31

DepartmentProduction

JobExecutive Producer

Episode Count49

Vote Count4315

Echoes

Identical twins Leni and Gina have secretly switched places for years. But when one sister disappears, both of their lives start to fall apart.

Release Date2022-08-19

DepartmentProduction

JobExecutive Producer

Episode Count7

Vote Count171

Freaky Friday

When an overworked mother and her teenage daughter magically swap bodies, they have just one day to put things right again before mom’s big wedding.

Release Date2018-09-14

DepartmentWriting

JobMusical

Vote Count128

Next to Normal

A mother struggles with worsening bipolar disorder and the effects that managing her illness has on her family. The PBS Great Performances recording of the West End Transfer (from Donmar Warehouse) in 2024.

Release Date2025-09-11

DepartmentWriting

JobLyricist

Next to Normal

Diana Goodman, a suburban mom, comes to terms with her bipolar disorder and the effect her struggle has on her family. It is a gripping and honest portrayal of how one suburban family grapples with mental illness touching on issues such as grieving, suicide, drug abuse and ethics in modern psychiatry. This contemporary musical deals tenderly with how far two parents will go to keep their family’s world intact.

Release Date2020-05-08

DepartmentWriting

JobLyricist