A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series production, who outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over the production, and the executive producer's role is limited to investing. In scripted comedy and drama TV shows, the showrunner also usually serves as the head writer. The role of a showrunner is not present on all television series, especially outside the US; this article describes the nature of the role where it is present.
Richard Anthony Wolf, known professionally as Dick Wolf, is an American film and television producer, best known for his Law & Order franchise. Since 1990, the franchise has included six police/courtroom dramas and four international spinoffs. He is also creator and executive producer of the Chicago franchise, which since 2012, has included four Chicago-based dramas, and the creator and executive producer of the FBI franchise, which since 2018, has also become a franchise after spinning off two additional series.
Howard Gordon is an American television writer and producer.
Ilene Chaiken is an American television producer, director, writer, and founder of Little Chicken Productions. Chaiken is best known as being a co-creator, writer and executive producer on the television series The L Word, and was recently an executive producer on Empire, The Handmaid's Tale, and Law & Order: Organized Crime.
David Shore is a Canadian television writer. Shore worked on Family Law, NYPD Blue and Due South, also producing many episodes of the latter. He created the critically acclaimed series House and more recently, Battle Creek and The Good Doctor.
William Van Duzer Lawrence IV is an American television producer, screenwriter, and director. He is the creator of the series Scrubs and co-creator of shows including the live-action Cougar Town, Spin City, Ground Floor, Ted Lasso, and Shrinking, and the animated series Clone High, in which he also voiced the leader of the shadowy figures. He has written for many other shows, including The Nanny and Boy Meets World.
Arthur Carlton Cuse, known as Carlton Cuse, is an American screenwriter, showrunner, producer, and director, best known for the American television series Lost, for which he made the Time list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2010.
Carol Mendelsohn is an American television producer, showrunner, and screenwriter, known for her work on the crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
Paul Bevan Lieberstein is an American actor, screenwriter, television director and television producer. A Primetime Emmy Award winner, he is best known as a writer, executive producer, and supporting cast member Toby Flenderson on the NBC sitcom The Office. He served as the series' showrunner from seasons five to eight.
Terence Patrick Winter is an American writer and producer of television and film. He is the creator, writer, and executive producer of the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire (2010–2014). Before creating Boardwalk Empire, Winter was a writer and executive producer for the HBO television series The Sopranos, from the show's second to sixth and final season (2000–2007).
Matthew Hoffman Weiner is an American television writer, producer, and director best known as the creator and showrunner of the television series Mad Men, and as a writer and executive producer on The Sopranos.
Jenji Leslie Kohan is an American television writer and producer. She is best known as the creator and showrunner of the Showtime comedy-drama series Weeds and the Netflix comedy-drama series Orange Is the New Black. She has received nine Emmy Award nominations, winning one as supervising producer of the comedy series Tracey Takes On....
Victor Fresco is an American television writer and producer.
Jeff Greenstein is an American television writer, producer and director. Greenstein was the showrunner of Will & Grace and Dream On, as well as on Partners and Getting Personal, both of which he created. A member of the Writers Guild and Directors Guild of America, Greenstein also created the television series State of Georgia.
Anthony Sparks is an American television showrunner, writer-producer, and playwright. He is also an essay writer who focuses on media, performance, and African American politics and culture. He has a Ph.D. in American studies & ethnicity from USC and began his career as an actor in classical acting and was also a lead performer in New York in the show Stomp and in the Emmy-winning HBO film Stomp Out Loud.
John Tinker is an American television producer and writer. He is the co-creator of the CBS drama Judging Amy and has been an Executive Producer and Writer on American television shows such as NBC's iconic St. Elsewhere, the CBS drama Chicago Hope, the ABC drama The Practice, and the NBC drama The Book of Daniel. Recently, he developed the television series Chesapeake Shores for the Hallmark Channel and was the Executive Producer and Co-Writer on the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, Love Locks. Tinker won the 1986 Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series for the St. Elsewhere episode "Time Heals" which he co-wrote with Tom Fontana and John Masius. He has received numerous Emmy Award nominations and Humanitas Award nominations.
Robert Stuart Nathan, usually credited as Robert Nathan, is an American novelist, journalist, screenwriter, director, and television producer.
Michael S. Chernuchin is an American television writer and producer. He has worked on the NBC crime dramas Law & Order and Brooklyn South. He has won a Producers Guild of America (PGA) Award and an Edgar Award.
David Manson is a Peabody Award-winning American film and television producer, screenwriter and director.
Jeff Melvoin is an American television writer, producer, and educator. He has written dozens and produced hundreds of one-hour episodes on over a dozen television series.
