How These Famous Showrunners Got Their Start in TV Writing

In TV writing, no one showrunner makes it to the top of their game the same way. Everybody has a different route, and everybody gets to where they are using a different set of skills.

Some make it from the theater world, others come by way of movies. Others just move up in position through the ranks of TV writers' rooms - going from a staff writer, to story editor, to producer, and finally make their way to become a showrunner.

Others just skip any sort of trajectory altogether and find themselves at the top of the heap through pure luck. (Those are much less helpful to pay attention to.) But what is helpful is looking at what others before you have done to get to where they are.

Every Showrunner's Trajectory is Different

I'm not suggesting you try to mimic each of these showrunners' paths in order to make it into the industry the same way they did. The sheer fact that this industry is changing so quickly makes any sort of mimicry nearly impossible. Instead, it's important to pay attention to the pivots these showrunners made, how they made their connections, and where these connections led to.

Becoming a successful TV writer is a little bit about skill, a little bit about luck, and a lot about who you know. As you read through the rise of these famous showrunners, pay attention to the connections they're making at every stage, and how that launched them into their showrunner roles.

Eventually, we're going to start seeing showrunners who have gotten their start on TikTok, YouTube, and other social media platforms. They will not follow a prescribed path. But they will take lessons from those who have come before them in cultivating a network and forcing their way in.

So, let's take a look at some showrunner trajectories and see what they can teach us about breaking into TV now.

Aaron Sorkin

Aaron Sorkin is arguably one of the most influential screenwriters and showrunners of all time. It's hard to remember a time when his name wasn't in the zeitgeist, but that time certainly did exist. Originally intending to be an actor, Sorkin moved to New York City after college and began writing plays. He put on a couple off-Broadway plays, which got some notoriety and eventually landed him an agent.

But it was the play, A Few Good Men, that really put him on the map, both in the theater world and the film world. In fact, the rights to the movie were sold even before the play premiered. Following the success of the film, Sorkin went under contract with Castle Rock and worked as a script doctor and sometimes screenwriter for many years. It wasn't until 1998 when he would break into the TV world.

Sorkin's first foray into showrunning was the show, Sports Night, which was sold to ABC and aired two contentious seasons before being cancelled. I say "contentious" not because the show was disliked - in fact, it was a critical darling - but the network had many issues with it, chief among them forcing a laugh track on Sorkin, which he was vehemently against.

This trajectory is an unusual one, but also proof that putting your work out there can pay dividends, even in the journey from playwright, to screenwriter, to script doctor, to showrunner.

Shonda Rhimes

Shonda Rhimes has written and showrun some of the biggest TV shows of all time. But, similarly to Sorkin, her foray into TV writing was actually through the film world.

After graduating from USC, Rhimes bounced around LA from job to job, taking internships when she could. She eventually was able to pull together and direct a short film, Blossoms and Veils, which got her some notoriety. From there, she became entrenched in the writing community, though on the film side of things.

She co-wrote an HBO movie, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, and then went on to write the Britney Spears movie, Crossroads. (I know, I was shocked when I learned that too!) THEN came the TV pilots. ABC commissioned her to write a couple scripts, and one took off. That one was Grey's Anatomy. That was a pretty much instant hit, and the success continued from there.

Vince Gilligan

Compared to Shonda Rhimes and Aaron Sorkin, Vince Gilligan had a much more typical route into becoming a showrunner, even though he also bounced back and forth between film and TV.

Gilligan graduated from NYU and got a little heat from winning a screenwriting competition called Home Fries, though it wouldn't actually be sold and become a movie for another ten years, which is a story for another article. But this small bit of fanfare wasn't enough to propel him into working steadily. He remained a struggling writer for a number of years, submitting freelance scripts to various TV shows (a practice not done anymore today) until one struck. And it was a big one!

Gilligan became a staff writer on The X Files and eventually rose the ranks until he was a producer on the show. But it wasn't until an X Files spinoff came around, The Lone Gunmen, that Gilligan was given the chance to showrun as a creator and Executive Producer of the show.

Of course, from there, there were movies like Hancock with Will Smith, and Breaking Bad. But it all started as a staff writer on The X Files.

Damon Lindelof

There's a lot of hits under Lindelof's belt - Watchmen, The Leftovers, Lost. But it all started with a feature screenplay competition.

In 1999, Lindelof placed as a semi-finalist in the Nicholl Fellowship. Now, usually a semi-finalist placement in a competition doesn't mean much, particularly these days. But this is the premiere competition, put on by the Academy, as in the same people who do the Oscars.

From there, he was hired on as a staff writer for a couple forgotten TV shows on Fox, before winding up on Nash Bridges and Crossing Jordan. There was a pretty steady trajectory up before he was asked to rewrite a little pilot called Lost. And, well, the rest is history.

To Be A Showrunner You Need To Learn and Adapt

The journeys of these showrunners demonstrate that there is no one-size-fits-all formula for breaking into TV writing. Whether it’s through persistence, unexpected opportunities, or seizing the right connections, each path reflects a combination of talent, timing, and resilience.

What’s most important for aspiring writers is not to focus on replicating someone else's success, but to understand the key factors that shaped their careers—how they navigated the industry, adapted to changes, and built their networks. As the industry continues to evolve, with new platforms and opportunities emerging every day, the future of TV writing is wide open. The common thread is clear: success in this field is less about following a prescribed path and more about embracing the journey, learning from others, and forging your own way forward.