“Showrunner.”
You’ve probably heard the word before, and given the context can even guess what it means. But unless you’re entrenched in the television industry, it’s a word that’s spread to the mainstream without a lot of understanding of what it is, exactly, a Showrunner does.
Luckily, there’s a new documentary aptly titled “Showrunners” which takes a look at the rise of the job position in prominence, including in depth interviews with some of the biggest names around: Joss Whedon (“Buffy The Vampire Slayer”); Damon Lindelof (“Lost”); Ronald D. Moore (“Battlestar Galactica”); and many, many more.
To accompany the documentary, Titan Books is releasing a companion volume that also works nearly as an oral history, letting showrunners explain what they do in their own words. And though the book doesn’t hit stores until September 2, MTV News is bringing you an exclusive look at a chapter from the book about what a network and studio expect from a Showrunner…
And as a bonus, an in depth talk with “The Avengers” director Joss Whedon about how, through publicly perceived “clashes” with studios on “Firefly” and other shows, he became an “unexpected rebel.”
Titan Books
What a Network and a Studio Expect from a Showrunner
When looking at the chain of command in television, the showrunner is responsible for overseeing the cast, producers, directors, and everyone in the crew (or those below the line). While it may seem like the pinnacle position, the showrunner is actually beholden to the network, which ...
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