Movie Review Monday: Showrunners - The Art of Running a TV Show
Welcome to another awesome edition of Movie Review Monday!
This week's film is the 2014 documentary, Showrunners: The Art of Running a TV Show.
A film many years in the making (which I had to verify after watching the sort of outdated proceedings), Showrunners defines and explores this industry term for people who are an amalgam of roles for a particular show. Part head writer, part executive producer, part public relations face, the showrunner has become a popular personality in the Internet age that is attached to their show and is the leader that makes sure a show happens on time, on budget, and with a good story all at the same time.
Many people may take for granted all the tireless effort that goes into creating television, especially in the new Golden Age we're experiencing right now with some amazing shows being put out on networks and through various streaming services. This movie interviews several different showrunners with names you might recognize: Joss Whedon, JJ Abrams, Damon Lindelof, Kurt Sutter, and Hart Hanson among many others. They go through typical day-to-day of creating a show, the politics, and the heartbreak associated with a show, whether it is because of the long days or because after all the work that can go into something, it can get cancelled just as easily.
I'm a huge fan of entertainment (especially television and movies) so this was a neat look behind the curtain to see what actually goes into making these things happen. It's a very unique process that is more complicated (and simple at times) than people give it credit for. So many shows come and go for various reasons so this film does a fine job of telling the story of creating television currently, which of course is sure to change which the continuing advent of streaming media services.
If you're a TV junkie like myself who takes their entertainment very seriously, check out this documentary. It's not terribly long and it is very engaging.
You can stream Showrunners right now on Netflix.