Education
University of Southern California.
University of Southern California.
He wrote the script for 1999 film But I"m a Cheerleader and has worked on many episodes of as writer and producer since 2002. Peterson received a Master of Fine Arts in writing for screen & television from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts in 1997. Shortly after his graduation, Jamie Babbit, the director for But I"m a Cheerleader, asked Peterson to write a script for her film after reading a story he had written about a gay cowboy.
Peterson used his own personal experiences to help him write the story, which is about a group of teenagers who attend conversion therapy camp.
He is gay himself, and had had some experience of conversion therapy while working at a prison clinic for sex offenders. In 1999, Variety named him one of "10 Screenwriters to Watch".