Ethan Sandler: the writer-producer's ladder

Born 3 December 1972, Fort Wayne — My Boys, Whitney, New Girl, Man with a Plan

In front of the camera first: Ethan Sandler was born in Fort Wayne on 3 December 1972 and raised in the city before Northwestern University, where he met his future wife, the actress Kathryn Hahn. He is known first as an actor — ADA Jeffrey Brandau across six seasons of Crossing Jordan, a debut in The Chocolate War, a turn in The Bourne Supremacy, and the voice of DOR-15 in Disney's Meet the Robinsons — and that fame is the People chapter's to tell. What belongs here is the second career he built in the writers' room, climbing American network comedy's producing ladder rung by credited rung: producer and writer on My Boys (TBS); consulting producer and writer on Whitney (2011–2012); co-executive producer of We Are Men (2013); co-executive producer and writer on New Girl (2016–2017), on which he also appeared, fittingly, as a juror; and co-executive producer and writer on Man with a Plan (2017–2020). In television the producing credits are the writing credits grown senior, and Sandler's file is the clean example of it in this roster.

Sources:

1. Biographical profiles of Ethan Sandler (The Famous People; Healthy Celeb-derived profiles) — born 3 December 1972 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and raised in Fort Wayne; Northwestern University; the producing and writing credits summarized at series level.
2. Credit record (Wikipedia filmography, producer table) — My Boys, producer/writer; Whitney (2011–2012), consulting producer/writer; We Are Men (2013), co-executive producer; New Girl (2016–2017), co-executive producer/writer; Man with a Plan (2017–2020), co-executive producer/writer; the acting record, including Crossing Jordan (2002–2007).