The TV Showrunner's Roadmap Read online

  The TV Showrunner’s Roadmap

  101 Things I Learned in Film School

  with Matthew Frederick

  Grand Central Press, 2010

  The Screenwriter’s Roadmap: 21 Ways to Jumpstart Your Story

  Focal Press, 2012

  The TV Showrunner’s Roadmap

  21 Navigational Tips for Screenwriters to Create and Sustain a Hit TV Series

  Neil Landau

  First published 2014

  by Focal Press

  70 Blanchard Road, Suite 402, Burlington, MA 01803

  and in the UK

  by Focal Press

  2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

  Focal Press is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

  © 2014 Neil Landau

  The right of Neil Landau to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

  Notices

  Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary.

  Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.

  Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Landau, Neil.

  TV showrunner’s roadmap: 21 navigational routes to creating and

  sustaining / Neil Landau.

  pages cm

  1. Television authorship. 2. Television—Production and direction.

  3. Television writers—United States—Interviews. 4. Television producers

  and directors—United States—Interviews. I. Title.

  PN1992.7.L36 2014

  ISBN: 978-0-415-83167-3 (pbk)

  ISBN: 978-0-203-38110-6 (ebk)

  Typeset in Minion Pro and Stone Sans

  By Apex CoVantage, LLC

  I’ve been an Executive Producer on twelve scripted TV Series and I can honestly say that everything I’ve learned about how to sell, create, and operate a show is contained in Neil Landau’s The TV Showrunner’s Roadmap. Anyone with the ultimate goal of becoming a Creator/Executive Producer of a television series should read this book, as should anyone interested in knowing how their favorite show came to be.

  — Gavin Polone, television and film producer, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Gilmore Girls, Twisted, Zombieland, Panic Room

  The ultimate “how to” guide for anyone working in TV. Whether you’re a writer, an executive, or just a TV watcher, Neil highlights every aspect of the unrelenting task of producing television, leaving us with even more respect for the process and those who do it successfully. It’s the most comprehensive guide I’ve ever read, supported by interviews with the most talented writers working in the business today. A fantastic and insightful read!

  — Maira Suro, Executive Producer of the Emmy nominated series The 4400, former Senior Vice-President of Development and Current Series at NBC-Universal Cable Productions, former President at American Zoetrope Television, and former Director of Drama Development at CBS

  Neil’s book is a must-read for anyone serious about the craftof writing for television. His analysis of the fundamentals is clear, precise, and entertaining. But it’s his one-on-one conversations with showrunners currently working at the top of their game that makes this book a true gem, giving the reader fly-on-the-wall access to some of the best minds in the business.

  — Channing Dungey, Executive Vice-President, Drama, ABC Entertainment Group

  If I had my wish, I would insist that every TV writer—from the youngest “baby” staff writer to the most experienced showrunner—read this book! Then I’d get every producer, studio honcho, development executive, and summer intern to read it, too … because Neil’s book really IS the roadmap to TV series in the 21st century!

  — Tana Nugent Jamieson, Senior Vice-President, in charge of all scripted programming, A&E (Bates Motel, Longmire, The Glades)

  Neil has not only beautifully and succinctly tackled an enormous subject — what it takes to be a television showrunner — he also has provided a blueprint for any writer forging through the turbulent and ever-changing waters of producing a TV series. He gives good common sense information and advice on working in television. And he writes in a clear, understandable, and entertaining way. But the unique value of the book is the interviews from an impressive list of top showrunners, who recount their own experiences. I’d recommend this book to anyone looking for a career in the television business.

  — Stephen Tao, Television Executive, Bad Robot Productions

  Neil’s is the book that finally demystifies the process of breaking into and staying in the business. It’s an invaluable guide filled with step-by-step advice about how to navigate the not-always-obvious industry pitfalls. Ignore his advice at your own risk!

  — Elizabeth Wise Lyall, Current Programming, CW Television Networks

  Neil Landau, screenwriter, producer and one of Hollywood’s best writing teachers, has blessed us with this amazing guide to the world of television writing and show running. I wrote and produced television for twenty-three years and I learned invaluable skills from this book that I never even acquired on the job.

  — Fred Rubin, veteran TV producer; UCLA Professor of Screenwriting; and Instructor for the ABC/Disney, Warner Brothers, and Nickelodeon Writers’ Fellowships

  For my brother, Michael, who always

  watched TV with me, back then.

  And to Trent, who always watches TV with me now.

  Contents

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

  Foreword

  Introduction

  1 Prepare the Perfect Pitch

  Interview: Shonda Rhimes—Scandal

  2 Explore a New Arena

  Interview: Steven S. DeKnight

  * —Spartacus

  3 Service Your Franchise

  Interview: Michael Rauch—Royal Pains

  4 Deliver the Verdict

  Interview: Michelle and Robert King—The Good Wife

  5 Make Us Care

  Interview: Vince Gilligan—Breaking Bad

  6 Value Family Dynamics

  Interview: Shonda Rhimes—Scandal

  7 Fuel Your Story Engine

  Interview: Pam Veasey*—CSI: New York

  8 Identify Characters’ Weaknesses

  Interview: David Shore—House, M.D.

  9 Determine the POV

  Interview: Alex Gansa—Homeland

  10 Get to the Heart of Your Story

  Interview: Jason Katims—Parenthood

  11 Know Who and What They’re Up Against

  Interview: Tim Kring—Touch

  12 Mine the Mystery

  Interview: Damon Lindelof—Lost

  13 Blueprint Your Structure

  Interview: Glen Mazzara—The Walking Dead

  14 Unify Storylines (via Theme)

  Interview: Chip
Johannessen—Dexter

  15 Pique Our Interest with a Potent Teaser

  Interview: Dawn Prestwich and Nicole Yorkin*—The Riches

  16 Hit the Sweet Spot

  Interview: Hart Hanson—Bones

  17 Pay Off the Setups

  Interview: Veena Sud—The Killing

  18 Establish the Mythology

  Interview: Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis—Once Upon a Time

  19 Push Them Off a Cliff

  Interview: Michael Kelley—Revenge

  20 Designate an Expertise

  Interview: Janet Tamaro—Rizzoli & Isles

  21 Make Us Laugh

  Interview: Christopher Lloyd—Modern Family

  Interview: Carter Bays and Craig Thomas—How I Met Your Mother

  Interview: Don Roos and Dan Bucatinsky*—Web Therapy

  Index

  * Interview on companion website: http://www.focalpress.com/cw/landau.

  About the Author

  Neil Landau is a screenwriter, producer, author, and professor in the MFA in Screenwriting and Producing Programs at UCLA School of Film, Television, and Digital Media. His movie credits include the teen comedy Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead; his TV credits include Doogie Howser, M.D., Melrose Place, The Magnificent Seven, The Secret World of Alex Mack, Twice in a Lifetime, and MTV’s Undressed and pilot deals at CBS, Disney, Freeman-tle, Lifetime, Spelling, and Warner Bros. Television. He served as Executive Script Consultant for several years for Sony Pictures Television International, is a faculty member in the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and just won a Spanish Academy (“Goya”) Award for best screenplay adaptation for the animated movie Tad the Lost Explorer (2012); he is currently working on the sequel and on a new animated movie for Paramount: Capture the Flag.

  Acknowledgments

  I am most grateful to the illustrious showrunners interviewed in this book for generously and graciously taking the time to share their knowledge, insights, and hard-earned wisdom.

  To my crackerjack editor, Trisha Chambers, who always makes it fun because (1) she’s so organized; (2) she’s so smart; (3) she loves TV, too.

  It takes a village, and I certainly couldn’t have built this one without these industrious associate editors: Spencer Ballou, James Morris, and Tom Austin.

  Enormous amounts of respect and gratitude to these friends and colleagues for their encouragement and support: Hal Ackerman, Alexander Akopov, Eyal Alony, Cary Brokaw, Channing Dungey, Sorche Fairbank, Jordi Gasull, Ben Harris, Jennifer Johnson, Sergey Kaluganov, Allison Liddi-Brown, Pamela K. Long, Denise Mann, Laurie Megery, Cory Miller, Irina Pivrovna, Janis Richardson, Mike Stein, David Stern, and Richard Walter.

  Thanks to Dennis McGonagle and Carlin Reagan at Focal Press.

  And special thanks to my sons, Noah and Zach, just for being awesome.

  Foreword

  Writing this book was like stepping into quicksand. My last book was about writing movies, which are finite; once a movie is finished, it can be dissected, analyzed, and interpreted by audiences. But sequels aside, a movie is intended to end—its story set in stone. A classic movie is an indelible, singular sensation.

  A television series, on the other hand, is a fluid, continuously unfolding story. The plot thickens. Mysteries deepen. Characters evolve. The end of one episode presents us with more questions than answers. The detectives may catch this perpetrator, but tune in next week for more crime and punishment.

  We forge ongoing relationships with our favorite TV series that can often run for a hundred episodes over many years or even decades. As we watch iconic TV characters win and lose, struggle and endure, we feel what they feel; we root for them, pass judgment, yell at the TV screen— and come back for more. They become part of our lives. And when a long running series ends, we collectively feel the sense of loss.

  This book isn’t just about classic TV series of yesteryear. Sure, I pay homage to those shows, too. But this is the New Golden Age of Television, so I wanted to stay current. And yet, with the sheer volume of TV series on hundreds of channels, watching all the shows on the air—let alone keeping abreast of their latest plot developments—is a virtually impossible task.

  I could have narrowed the playing field by solely focusing on pilot episodes, but I also wanted to explore how series build, evolve, and sustain over time. And so I found myself catching up on long-running series and falling down many rabbit holes. The overwhelming challenge was selecting the best TV series to analyze and which showrunners to interview, along with the trepidation of overlooking someone’s favorite show (I apologize in advance for that). And even as I’d complete an interview with a current showrunner and discuss the show’s latest developments, that series would keep forging ahead, making it harder and harder to get a foothold (hence my quicksand analogy).

  When I was a kid and we got our first color TV, there were only three channels: ABC, CBS, and NBC. Now there are almost a thousand. The technology has substantially changed, prompting a steady migration away from the big broadcast networks and the creation of hundreds more niche cable channels (many owned by the parent companies of broadcast networks). If you go by a college dorm, you won’t see many TV sets in students’ rooms; if they’re watching TV, it’s probably on their iPads and laptops and smart phones. Regardless of how they’re watching, I’m confident that the best story telling today exists not in movie theaters but on TV. Sure, reality shows can provide us with a sense of spontaneity, immediacy, and voyeurism. But only great scripted dramas and comedy series can transport us on a journey that transcends real life. Stay tuned.

  Introduction

  What Is a Showrunner?

  In movies, the director is king. In the television series business, the show-runner calls the shots. A showrunner is almost always the head writer and executive producer (EP) of a TV series. Very often, but not always, the show-runner is also the creator of the series. In many cases, a TV network will buy a series “pitch” or a completed pilot script that’s already been written speculatively (on “spec”) by a screenwriter who has little or no producing experience. In such cases, the studio and network will work together to assign an experienced showrunner to supervise all the writing on the series, and this Executive Producer will also be the last and final word on all production decisions, including casting, locations, art direction, the hiring of the directors for each episode, and all final cuts in postproduction for the series. Not all EPs are showrunners, but all showrunners are credited as EPs.

  Non-showrunner EPs can either be directing producers, impresarios from the series’ production company, or perhaps the producer who packaged the pilot by discovering the writer or nurturing the project from its inception. Blockbuster screenwriters who transition into writing and producing TV series (which has become more and more prevalent in the last few years) will often be awarded an EP credit and might also be entrusted with running the show. EPs might also earn their title from a series that originated in another format (movie to TV) or a series that was successful in another country (called “incubation”) and then exported to the United States.

  Showrunners can be one person in the leadership position or writing partners who have ascended to the highest levels on a TV series. Although there are exceptions, most showrunners earn their positions after many years of paying their dues, working their way up the food chain. On a TV series, all upper level writers on staff receive the title of “producer” with a prefix added according to his/her relative position on the food chain (which most higher level writer/producers take very seriously). In addition to breaking stories and writing scripts, many high level writer/producers will participate in preproduction decisions (casting, locations, on-set supervision in respectful collaboration with the director, post production, network note sessions). Depending on the showrunner, some story editors and staff writers may or may not be invited to participate in extra producer responsibilities. If you’re fortunate enough to be included in the whole process: seize the opport
unity! It’s an invaluable learning experience. But make sure that you’re an unobtrusive observer, and only offer your opinion when asked for it.

  Here’s the hierarchy:

  Showrunner (credited as EP; customarily also head writer)

  EPs (who are not the actual showrunner): writer/producer

  Co-executive producer: writer/producer

  Supervising producer: writer/producer

  Producer: writer/producer or supervisor of production.

  Consulting producer: writer/producer

  Co-producer: writer/producer (with very few, if any, producer responsibilities)

  Executive story editor: highest level staff writer

  Story editor: promoted from “staff writer”

  Staffwriter: often called “baby staffer” (this is an entry-level writer position)

  Freelance episode writer: hired to write a script but not on staff

  Suffice it to say that the showrunner can earn millions of dollars per season and, if the series is successful, garner all the credit and accolades. By the same token, if the series gets cancelled after its first few airings, the showrunner will take all—or most of—the heat.

  Every member of the TV series (actors, writers, directors, producers, crew) works under the auspices of the showrunner who must answer to the senior executives at the studio and the TV network.

  The Successful Showrunner Checklist*

  According to my informal showrunner poll, the following are the most essential qualities and skills for the successful management of a scripted, episodic TV series:

  Staying on time and on budget: According to veteran showrunner, Jeff Melvoin (Early Edition, Alias, Army Wives) and cofounder/director of the Writers Guild of America Showrunner Training Program, a show-runner’s first responsibility in episodic television is quality scripts, on time. Time is money. Keeping a series running on time and on budget— from script through post-production—is essential for all showrunners.