What is a Showrunner and What EXACTLY Do They Do?

Being a showrunner is one of the most unique and important jobs in contemporary television. The position is a combination of creativity, consistency and managerial responsibility. They’re the behind-the-scenes masters and the ones that make everything happen. But what exactly does the showrunner’s job entail? We take a look…

What is a Showrunner?

A showrunner is the person who has overall creative authority for a television series.

• This person is often, but not always, the creator of the show.
• They’re typically listed as the ‘executive producer’.
• Usually, they have a writing background and run the series from this perspective.
• Additionally, they handle some of the show’s practical elements as well as its creative ones.

Some showrunners create original concepts for a series. Others are brought in to take on concepts that were created by another executive or creative. Either way, they’re the lead on the series as a whole; the person that holds the series together from episode to episode, season to season.

While the other positions (staff writers, story editors, producers, directors) are fundamental cogs in the system, the showrunner is the person that calls the shots and makes the final decisions. They oversee everything and ensure that things run smoothly in all aspects of production, from writing to directing to casting.

Ultimately, the showrunner is a visionary. They have a clear overall picture and birds-eye-view for the series and its story.

• They especially support the writers’ room, making sure the writers get the series’ vision across.
• Whilst they also communicate the show’s creative direction to the studio and network executives.

In film, a director will lead the way. But in TV, there are so many moving parts over a long period of time that a showrunner is needed to steer the ship. Creating TV involves realizing many scripts, written by different writers and directed by different directors, often over many years.

So a showrunner is supposed to be the steady hand. They maintain a consistent creative voice in a constantly shifting, multi-faceted environment.