Editing Showrunner (section)

==United States==
Writer [[Alex Epstein (screenwriter)|Alex Epstein]], in his book and blog ''Crafty Screenwriting'', defines a showrunner as "the person responsible for all creative aspects of the show and responsible only to the network (and production company, if it's not [their] production company). The boss. Usually a writer. Traditionally, the executive producer of a television program was the ''chief executive'', responsible for the show's creative direction and production. Over time, the title of executive producer was applied to a wider range of roles&mdash;from a senior writer, to someone who arranges financing, to an "angel" who holds the title as an [[honorific]] with no management duties in return for providing backing capital. The term ''showrunner'' was created to identify the executive producer who holds ultimate management and creative authority for the program."<ref>{{cite web|author=Epstein, Alex|url=http://complicationsensue.blogspot.com/2005/08/tentative-glossary.html|title=Tentative Glossary|publisher=Complications Ensue: The Crafty Screenwriting, TV and Game Writing Blog|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=August 24, 2005|access-date=August 29, 2023|archive-date=August 10, 2020|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200810073651/https://complicationsensue.blogspot.com/2005/08/tentative-glossary.html}}</ref> The contract gained by the Writers Guild of America in the [[2023 Writers Guild of America strike|2023 strike]] now explicitly defines "showrunner" as writers and people responsible for making hiring decisions regarding a project's other staff writers.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/30/23892324/these-are-the-biggest-wins-in-the-wgas-new-labor-contract | title=These are the biggest wins in the WGA's new labor contract | date=September 30, 2023 }}</ref>

In a January 1990 submission to the United States Congress House Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Administration of Justice, [[Barney Rosenzweig]] (Executive Vice President and Chairman, Television Division of [[Weintraub Entertainment Group]]) wrote:<ref name=RosenweigJan1990>{{Cite book |last=Justice |first=United States Congress House Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Administration of |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-4gXCTIk7UgC&dq=%22show+runner%22&pg=PA436 |title=Moral Rights and the Motion Picture Industry: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Administration of Justice of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, One Hundred First Congress, Second Session, January 9, 1990 |date=1991 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |language=en}}</ref>{{blockquote|In the early days of Hollywood, no one questioned what Producer [[David O. Selznick]] was to ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]'', or [[Pandro S. Berman|Pandro Berman]] to all those [[Fred Astaire]] and [[Ginger Rogers|Ginger Rodgers]] {{sic}} films, or [[Walt Disney]] to his early work, or [[Arthur Freed]] to the MGM musical. They were the producers... the storytellers. Today in television, the producer is still that person: the show-runner. Television is a producer's medium. Ask the people who make and stand behind their shows – from [[Aaron Spelling]] to [[Stephen J. Cannell|Stephen Cannell]], [[Steven Bochco|Stephen Bochco]], [[Leonard Hill (producer)|Len Hill]], [[Edgar Scherick]] or Phil de Guerre [Philip DeGuere Jr.]. The definition of who does what in television today is not that different from what it was generally in Hollywood before a few critics in France coined the term '[[auteur]]' and the [[Writers Guild of America|Writer's Guild]] took the producers, their traditional nemesis, to court – thus all but destroying the [[Producers Guild of America|Producer's Guild]] and giving leave for the studios themselves to usurp the name producer.<ref name=RosenweigJan1990/>}}

''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' columnist Scott Collins describes showrunners as:<ref name="collins">[http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-channel23nov23,0,5609336.story "Showrunners run the show"], "Channel Island" column, ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', 23 November 2007</ref>
{{blockquote|"Hyphenates", a curious hybrid of starry-eyed artists and tough-as-nails operational managers. They're not just writers; they're not just producers. They hire and fire writers and crew members, develop [[Plot (narrative)|story lines]], write scripts, cast actors, mind budgets and run interference with studio and network bosses. It's one of the most unusual and demanding, [[Lateralization of brain function|right-brain/left-brain]] job descriptions in the entertainment world....[S]howrunners make – and often [[television program creator|create]] – the show and now more than ever, shows are the only things that matter. In the "[[long tail]]" entertainment economy, viewers don't watch networks. They don't even care about networks. They watch shows. And they don't care how they get them.}}

In a 2011 article in ''[[The Australian]]'', [[Shane Brennan]], the showrunner for ''[[NCIS (TV series)|NCIS]]'' and ''[[NCIS: Los Angeles]]'', described the position thus:

{{blockquote|He explains the moniker was created to identify the producer who actually held ultimate management and creative authority for the program, given the way the honorific 'executive producer' was applied to a wider range of roles. There's also the fact that anyone with any power wanted a producer's credit, including the leading actors, who often did no more than say the writers' lines. "It had got to the stage where it was incredibly confusing; there were so many production credits no one knew who was responsible," he says.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Blundell |first=Graeme |date=April 23, 2011 |title=Getting the run of the place |work=[[The Australian]] |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/getting-the-run-of-the-place/story-e6frg8n6-1226041663244 |access-date=May 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713183431/https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/getting-the-run-of-the-place/story-e6frg8n6-1226041663244 |archive-date=2011-07-13}}</ref>}}

In June 2023, [[Andy Greenwald]] of ''[[Briarpatch (TV series)|Briarpatch]]'' said of the title of showrunner, "It's a made-up title, and it's not a paid position". Without an [[overall deal]], he said, a showrunner could be paid less than a co-executive producer "because everything else that I do — from hiring the writers, to being on set and producing, to being in [[post-production|post]] for months, then doing press — is not compensated". With the end of the [[streaming wars]] and Hollywood emphasizing profitability, overall deals became much rarer. Reduced compensation for showrunners and others in the writers' room helped cause the [[2023 Writers Guild of America strike]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last1=Adalian |first1=Josef |last2=Brown |first2=Lane |date=2023-06-06 |title=The Binge Purge |url=https://www.vulture.com/2023/06/streaming-industry-netflix-max-disney-hulu-apple-tv-prime-video-peacock-paramount.html |access-date=January 8, 2024 |magazine=[[Vulture (website)|Vulture]]|language=en-us|archive-date=August 1, 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230801200302/https://www.vulture.com/2023/06/streaming-industry-netflix-max-disney-hulu-apple-tv-prime-video-peacock-paramount.html}}</ref> In an interview that same month with ''[[Vox (website)|Vox]]'', writer [[Erica Saleh]], who developed the series ''[[One of Us Is Lying (TV series)|One of Us Is Lying]]'', listed the function and structure of the personnel in WGA [[writers' room]]s, explaining that showrunners determine the tone and genre of the show, and break down the structure of a season, its episodes, and storylines, prior to actual production of the program. Saleh listed the hierarchy of the staff on WGA shows, in order of authority:<ref name=Vox>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILaU78Oo7XM|title=How streaming caused the TV writers strike|magazine=[[Vox (website)|Vox]]|via=[[YouTube]]|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=June 7, 2023|access-date=July 1, 2023|archive-date=July 1, 2023|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/ILaU78Oo7XM}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Level
! Position
! Notes
|-
| 1.
| Showrunner
| The showrunner is the highest authority in charge of the production of a television show.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/showrunner|publisher=[[Random House]]|via=[[Dictionary.com]]|title=showrunner|language=en-US|url-status=live|access-date=July 1, 2023|archive-date=July 1, 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230701164544/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/showrunner}}</ref>
|-
| 2.
| Executive producer
| The executive producer has been likened to the [[CEO]] of a series.<ref name=CareerMatch>{{cite web|url=https://www.careermatch.com/job-prep/career-insights/profiles/co-executive-producer/|title=Co-Executive Producer|publisher=Chegg CareerMatch|language=en-US|url-status=live|access-date=July 1, 2023|archive-date=July 1, 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230701172208/https://www.careermatch.com/job-prep/career-insights/profiles/co-executive-producer/}}</ref> The executive producer is often the creator of a series, and sometimes serves as the showrunner as well. They help write scripts, and run day-to-day production operations,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-an-executive-producer-whats-the-difference-between-an-executive-producer-and-producer|title=What Is an Executive Producer? What's the Difference Between an Executive Producer and Producer?|publisher=[[MasterClass]]|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=November 14, 2022|access-date=July 1, 2023|archive-date=July 1, 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230701165225/https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-an-executive-producer-whats-the-difference-between-an-executive-producer-and-producer}}</ref> overseeing production of a story from script to screen. The precise functions of an executive producer can vary, depending on multiple factors. In some cases, the title is used to credit a writer who had signed off on a series, but had little involvement with its production.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.screenskills.com/job-profiles/browse/film-and-tv-drama/development-film-and-tv-drama-job-profiles/executive-producer-film-and-tv-drama/|title=What does an executive producer do?|publisher=ScreenSkills|language=en-US|url-status=live|access-date=July 1, 2023|archive-date=July 1, 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230701165519/https://www.screenskills.com/job-profiles/browse/film-and-tv-drama/development-film-and-tv-drama-job-profiles/executive-producer-film-and-tv-drama/}}</ref>
|-
| 3.
| Co-executive producer
| Co-executive producers have been analogized to an executive producers's "[[first mate]]", the selection of which is solely the responsibility of the executive producer. They are usually the most senior writer on the staff, or "Head Writer", and therefore the dominant voice in the writers' room, who assist the showrunner by spearheading the management of the scripts. They also assist the showrunner in production, and in oversee the writers. The co-executive producer's duties typically include liaising between executives and staff, making design and directorial decisions, running the production when the Executive Producer is not present, and assisting with such daily activities as financing, staffing, scheduling, and other operations.<ref name=CareerMatch/>
|-
| 4.
| Supervising producer
| Supervising producers help oversee a show's daily creative direction,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-matt-lappin-co-executive-producer-1235384486/|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|title='The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' Promotes Matt Lappin to Co-Executive Producer|author=Schneider, Michael|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=September 27, 2022|access-date=July 1, 2023|archive-date=July 1, 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230701173723/https://www.ziprecruiter.com/e/What-Is-a-Supervising-Producer}}</ref> overseeing other producers and members of the production staff with administrative and creative duties. These include hiring episode directors, overseeing the writers' room, assisting with script rewrites, and training new writers. Supervising producers are required to have several years of production experience.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ziprecruiter.com/e/What-Is-a-Supervising-Producer|title=What Is a Supervising Producer|publisher=[[ZipRecruiter]]|language=en-US|url-status=live|access-date=July 1, 2023|archive-date=July 1, 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230701173723/https://www.ziprecruiter.com/e/What-Is-a-Supervising-Producer}}</ref>
|-
| 5.
| Producer
| Producers coordinate and supervise all aspects of TV production, in both creative and administrative capacities, including making financial decisions, and handling contracts, talent, and bargaining agreements. They also address problems that arise during production, and make sure that it does not exceed its budget. Their duties include fundraising and networking, soliciting and assessing scripts and project ideas, hiring writers, and securing rights to other intellectual properties.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/what-does-a-tv-producer-do/|publisher=[[New York Film Academy]]|title=What does a TV producer do?|language=en-US|url-status=live|date=June 16, 2017|access-date=July 1, 2023|archive-date=July 1, 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230701175405/https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/what-does-a-tv-producer-do/}}</ref> 
|-
| 6.
| Co-producer
| 
|-
| 7.
| Executive story editor
| 
|-
| 8.
| Story editor
| 
|-
| 9.
| Staff writer
| According to Saleh, this position, the lowest level in the writers' room, is the one in which new writers are usually placed when they obtain their first job writing on a television show.<ref name=Vox/>
|}