You've probably heard all three of these titles before. You've even seen the "Created By" credit on every single TV show you've ever seen. Then you've also seen a slew of Executive Producer credits on every TV show. And yet, the "showrunner" title, an arguably more important role in the day-to-day functioning of a TV show, is nowhere to be seen on those same credits.
This is a strange phenomenon in TV that "showrunner" doesn't actually exist as a formal title. Yet, there's certainly a showrunner on every show and it's not at all a loose term. But instead of being called a showrunner on paper, they are usually one of the Executive Producers.
And just to make things more complicated, the Creator could be the same person or it could be somebody completely different. None of this made any sense to me when I began my TV writing career. That's why I want to talk about:
What these three TV writing titles mean
Why they often all refer to the same person
What exactly an Executive Producer is and why there are so many of them
Showrunner Vs. Creator Vs. Executive Producer
Creator
The creator of a TV show is the one writer who had the initial concept for that show. They are likely the one who originally pitched it, and chauffeured it through the development process.
So, what is an initial concept for a show? Generally, this means they came up with the basic plot, characters, and tone. Sometimes, though not always, they're also the one who writes the pilot script.
The pitching process is long and arduous, but if your show gets picked up, meaning it's going to be made into a TV show, you experience a total financial windfall. Part of that windfall comes from the fact that you'll likely be working on the show at a high level (if not showrunning). Part of the money comes from the sale of the series. And part of it comes from fees you get as a creator for the length of the show even if you're fired.
Money aside, let's get back into what pitching looks like. Pitches are generally 15-60 minute presentations. There are often slides or concept art, and the writer describes the basic structure of the show. Sometimes there's even a sizzle reel, and other times a bible is created for the pitch, meaning a detailed outline of the structure of the series.
Since shows are usually bought from pretty high-level writers, most TV show creators go on to run their own shows. Let's move on and take a look at what it means to be the showrunner.
Showrunner
The showrunner is in charge of running the writers' room, in addition to managing the creative output of the entire show. There are line producers who handle the day-to-day financial logistics, but all creative decisions - including costumes, set decoration, character arcs, editing, etc. - are overseen by the showrunner. It's a big job. This is the top dog on any TV show.
The flow of a writers’ room is completely dictated by the showrunner. When a room touches on an interesting topic that the showrunner wants to explore, they will guide the discussion in that direction. The showrunner will assign specific episodes to each writer, they will decide on the arc of the season, and they’ll even determine when the room starts and ends each day. During shooting, nothing can move forward unless the showrunner, or their proxy, has signed off on a scene, and all editing is approved by the showrunner before being sent to the network or studio.
As I mentioned, most of the time, at least for the first few seasons, the creator becomes the showrunner. For example, Vince Gilligan is both the creator of Breaking Bad and worked as the showrunner for all of its seasons.
However, there are other shows that last so long that the original showrunner moves on to other projects. For example, Shonda Rhimes was the creator and then showrunner of Grey's Anatomy for almost ten years before moving on and passing the baton to Krista Vernoff.
There are also examples of creators who never get to be showrunners. The TV series, Lost, was originally created by Jeffrey Lieber. He even wrote a script before getting fired. The pilot was then re-tooled by the eventual showrunners, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, as well as JJ Abrams.
This is one of those rare instances I mentioned earlier in which Lieber gets a "Created By" credit on every episode, and the money that comes along with it, while having nothing to do with the show past his initial pilot script.
Executive Producer
Now we're getting into real confusing territory. You've probably seen many Executive Producers listed on your favorite shows. And that's because many people are given Executive Producer credits for all different reasons. So, before I get into all those different roles, I'll explain how they relate to Creators and Showrunners.
If there was a Venn diagram of all of these positions, "Executive Producer" would occupy the overlapping spot in the middle of everything. It's almost always the case that the creator of a show is an EP and the showrunner is an EP. The only time this wouldn't happen is if there were a less experienced writer who sold a show, but the studio didn't trust them to have a high amount of creative control of the series.
Now, who else can get an Executive Producer credit? Almost anybody. Other high level writers could be EPs. The Line Producer, who is in charge of production, can be an EP. The biggest actor on any show is usually an EP. Even managers or agents of actors can be EPs. I worked on one show where there were three Executive Producers who weren't even involved with the show, but got the title because they were the actors' managers.
You'll also see the list of Executive Producers balloon on shows that have been around a long time. This is because, season after season, writers, actors and everyone else negotiates, and they get higher and higher titles. Sometimes this means they're getting more creative control. But usually this just means they're getting paid more. For example, on Friends, by the end of the series, every main actor was an Executive Producer.
The Other TV Writing Jobs in a Writers' Room
A writers' room is made up of lots of other positions, all of which I dive into in detail in my book, Breaking into TV Writing, out now from Turner Publishing. My goal was to write a guidebook for up-and-coming TV writers and enable people outside the industry to understand what it was like to be in a writers' room and what it takes to get inside.
