SHOWRUNNER - EXECUTIVE PRODUCER (In the Entertainment industry. What do they do?

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What does a Showrunner do?

Showrunner is the 21st-century term for the leading executive producer of a Hollywood television series in the United States. The concept has since been adopted as well in the Canadian and British TV industries. A showrunner typically has creative control of a TV series production, through combining the responsibilities of the head writer, executive producer, and script editor. In films, directors typically have creative control of a production, but in television, the showrunner outranks the director.

Pedantically, the Oxford Dictionary defines a "showrunner" as "The person who has overall creative authority and management responsibility for a television program." Writers' Guild of America (WGA) members (the labor union for film and television writers) have known that job to be the executive producer position since the guild started arbitrating writing credits titles back in 1941.

In practice, the showrunner is the big brain of an episodic television series, and the executor of the ordered number of scripts for a given season. But what does that mean day-to-day to a person sitting at the helm?

As it turns out, the specifics of the job are consistent, yet very individual to a person's particular focus. How they each define the job is telling about their priorities within the position and how they execute the post.

History

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 — from someone who arranges financing to someone who holds the title as an honorific with no management duties. The term showrunner was created to identify the producer who held ultimate management and creative authority for the program. The blog and book 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."

Los Angeles Times columnist Scott Collins describes showrunners as:

"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 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, right-brain/left-brain job descriptions in the entertainment world....[S]showrunner’s make – and often 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 an interview with Shane Brennan, the showrunner for NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles, states that:

... 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."

Typically, the showrunner is the creator or co-creator of the series, but this is not always the case. In long-running shows, often the creator of the show moves on, and day-to-day responsibilities of show running fall to other writers or writing teams. Law & Order, ER, The Simpsons, The West Wing, Star Trek: The Next Generation, NYPD Blue, and Supernatural are all examples of long-running shows that had successive, multiple showrunners.

Canada

In 2007 The Writers Guild of Canada, the union representing screenwriters in Canada, established the Showrunner Award at the annual Canadian Screenwriting Awards. The first Showrunner Award was presented in April 2007 to Brad Wright, Executive Producer of Stargate Atlantis and Stargate SG-1.

United Kingdom

In the first decade of the 21st century, the concept of a showrunner, specifically interpreted as a writer or presenter with overall responsibility for a television production, began to spread to the British television industry.

The first British comedy series to use the term was My Family (2000–11), which had several showrunners in succession. Initially, the show was overseen by creator Fred Barron from series 1–4. Ian Brown and James Hendrie took over for series 5, followed by American writer Tom Leopold for series 6. Former Cheers showrunner Tom Anderson was in charge from series 7 to the final series, series 11.

The first writer appointed the role of showrunner on a British primetime drama was Tony McHale, writer and creator of Holby City, in 2005. Jed Mercurio had carried out a similar role on the less conspicuous medical drama Bodies (2004–2006). But Russell T Davies' work on the 2005 revival of Doctor Who brought the term to prominence in British television (to the extent that in 2009 a writer for The Guardian wrote that "Over here, the concept of 'showrunner' has only made it as far as Doctor Who").

In an interview, Davies said that he felt the role of the showrunner was to establish and maintain a consistent tone in a drama. Doctor Who remains the most prominent example of a British television programme with a showrunner, with Steven Moffat having taken over the post from Davies. The term has also been used to refer to other writer-producers, such as Tony Jordan on Moving Wallpaper and Echo Beach, Ann McManus on Waterloo Road, Adrian Hodges on Primeval and Jed Mercurio on Bodies, Line of Duty, and Critical.

SOME OF THE POSSIBLE JOB REQUIREMENTS AND DUTIES (That may apply or be required) 

• Comprehensive knowledge of production management and production techniques…
• Excellent knowledge of handling administrative functions and managing staff…
• Strong communication, interpersonal and relationship building skills…
• Handling the tasks of creative production and development…
• Responsible for budget performance, content quality, and overseeing market share of assigned project… Familiar with applications such as Microsoft Word, Access, Excel, Adobe Photoshop, After Effects, Illustrator, and Final Cut Pro…
• Excellent knowledge of operating production equipment like cameras, microphones, manual filming cameras, lighting equipment, ladders, and audio equipment…
• Handle tasks of writing, shooting, and editing contemporary programs and feature stories for various shows…
• Responsible for providing training sessions to segment staff in areas of shooting television segments and special features…
• Perform tasks of tapping on-site or off-site television programs and events…
• Handle responsibilities of editing video tape assignments using various editing software programs such as After Effects, Adobe Photoshop, Final Cut Pro and illustrator…
• Perform complete responsibilities of traveling to various locations for filming on-site events such as crusades and other special assignments…
• Assisting associate producers, producers, and production assistants in all aspects of the production… Tracking and reporting on production schedules and budgets for news shows…
• Planning, directing, and managing the creation and content…
• Assisting subordinates and conducting performance reviews…
• Coordinated the work of producers and created a unified end result…
• Tracked and met deadlines for projects, adjusted production schedules, and ensured projects are delivered on time…
• Maintained and updated content in master schedule and database… 

Other responsibilities may include: 

• Responsible for gathering and maintaining records of all pre-production details…
• Assigned tasks of assisting segment producer in script development and approvals…
• Handle tasks of shooting and directing interviews, casting and recording voice over talent…
• Responsible for managing all final deliverables, schedules and budgets…
• Coordinate with account managers, designers and editors in organizing various shows…
• Perform tasks of overseeing the management and creation of video shooting… 

From top to bottom, the chain of command runs: 

• Executive Producer
• Showrunner
• Co-executive Producer
• Line Producer
• Supervising Producer
• Producer
• Co-producer
• Coordinating Producer
• Consulting Producer
• Associate Producer
• Segment Producer
• Field Producer
• Edit Producer
• Post Producer 

Sources, References & Credits: Google, Wikipedia, Wikihow, Pinterest, IMDB, Linked In, Indie Wire, Film Making Stuff, Hiive, Film Daily, New York Film Academy, The Balance, The Numbers, Film Maker, TV Guide Magazine, Media Match, Quora, Creative Skill Set, Investopedia, Variety, No Film School, Daily Variety, The Film Agency, Best Sample Resume, How Stuff Works, Career Trend, Producer's Code of Credits, Producers Guild of America, Film Connection, Entertainment Careers, In Deed, Glass Door, Pay Scale, "TV's showrunners outrank directors", Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn, Business Insider, Slate, Copy Blogger, USA Today, Merriam-Webster

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