# Showrunner

Source: https://storiara.com/roles/showrunner
Last updated: 2026-09-14
Author: Spencer Kaufman, Storiara

> A showrunner is the head writer and top executive producer of a television series, responsible for both the scripts and the production. The showrunner runs the writers' room, rewrites or approves every episode, hires directors and department heads with the studio, sets the show's tone, gives notes on cuts, and answers to the studio and network for schedule and budget. Showrunners are almost always Writers Guild members.

## Two jobs in one

A showrunner does the job of a head writer and the job of a producer at the same time. On the writing side, they decide what the season is about, break stories with the room, assign episodes, and rewrite drafts until they sound like the show. On the producing side, they approve casting, hire or approve department heads and episode directors, review budgets with the line producer or UPM, sit in on prep meetings, and give notes on every cut.

The show goes on even when the showrunner can't be everywhere, so a lot of the job is deciding what to delegate. A common split has a co-executive producer running the room on days the showrunner is in the edit, a producing writer on set for each episode, and a line producer or UPM carrying the physical production.

## The writers' room

Before production, the room breaks the season. Writers pitch arcs, the showrunner picks directions, and the stories go up on a board, usually one column per episode with scene cards for the A, B, and C stories. From the board each episode becomes a beat sheet, then an outline, then a first draft by the assigned writer, then a rewrite by the showrunner or a senior writer.

The [writers' assistant](https://storiara.com/roles/writers-assistant) takes notes the whole time, and the script coordinator handles drafts once they're headed to production. When the showrunner signs off on a production draft, the script goes to the production office, which breaks it down for scheduling. After that, every change goes out on colored [revision pages](https://storiara.com/glossary/revision-colors) so the crew can see what changed without rereading the script.

## Prep and production

For each episode, the showrunner or their producing writer runs a tone meeting with the episode director: what each scene is about, how the characters should play, what the show never does visually. They attend or send a writer to the concept meeting, the production meeting, and casting sessions for guest roles.

The schedule arithmetic sets the pace. Under the 2026 to 2027 DGA rate card, a director on a network prime-time one-hour episode is guaranteed 7 days of prep and 8 shooting days. Each director's prep overlaps the previous episode's shoot, so the production calendar moves at about 8 shooting days per episode. A 10-episode season at that pace is 80 shooting days, or 16 five-day weeks, plus holidays and any second unit. Scripts need to be finished before their director's prep starts, which means the room has to stay several episodes ahead of the shoot. When the room falls behind, directors prep from outlines and the AD department has to schedule around pages that don't exist yet.

During the shoot, the showrunner watches dailies, approves rewrites on set, and fields calls about anything that changes the story: a location that fell through, an actor who's sick, a scene that isn't working.

## Post

After the editor's assembly and the director's cut, the showrunner does their own cut and then handles studio and network notes. They're in the room for the sound spotting session, the mix, color, and music decisions, and they approve the final version for delivery. On a series with episodes in different stages, a showrunner might be in the room in the morning, on a mix stage in the afternoon, and reading a draft at night.

## A realistic week in the middle of a season

| Day | Work |
|---|---|
| Monday | Room breaks episode 7. Tone meeting with the episode 5 director at lunch |
| Tuesday | Rewrites episode 6 draft. Watches episode 3 director's cut |
| Wednesday | Network call on episode 2 notes. Casting session for an episode 5 guest |
| Thursday | Production meeting for episode 5. Room outlines episode 8 |
| Friday | Visits set for episode 4's big scene. Signs off episode 6 production draft |

## Budget and the physical production

The showrunner doesn't build the budget, but they make the decisions that drive it. A line producer or UPM prepares a pattern budget (a typical episode's cost) and flags scripts that go over: an extra location day, a stunt sequence, a night exterior with rain. The showrunner decides whether to rewrite to the budget, trade that cost against another episode, or ask the studio for more. A showrunner who can read a [one-line schedule](https://storiara.com/templates/one-line-schedule) and a cost report makes those trades faster.

## The ladder to showrunner

TV writing staffs have a title ladder, roughly: staff writer, story editor, executive story editor, co-producer, producer, supervising producer, co-executive producer, executive producer. Most showrunners have climbed most of it, or sold a pilot as a creator and been paired with an experienced co-showrunner.

The WGA runs a Showrunner Training Program. It is open to current-active WGA West or WGA East members in good standing who have supervising producer credit or above on a current comedy or drama series, or who are creators with a pilot script, pilot, or series set up at a network, cable channel, or streaming service. Applying requires a recommendation form submitted by a current or recent showrunner, executive producer, or a network or studio executive, and writing teams apply as one entity. The 22nd session starts January 9, 2027. The WGA East separately runs a Showrunner Academy.

For writers heading toward that path from the support staff side, the [writers' assistant](https://storiara.com/roles/writers-assistant) page covers the jobs that sit next to the room.

## Documents a showrunner touches

The season arc document and episode outlines, production drafts and revision pages, the pattern budget and each episode's budget, the [shooting schedule](https://storiara.com/templates/shooting-schedule) for each block, casting sessions, cut notes, and network notes memos. Storiara's [script analysis](https://storiara.com/feature/script-analysis) parses an uploaded script into scenes with interior or exterior, time of day, and page lengths in eighths, and highlighting a phrase in the script logs it as a character, prop, or other element. A showrunner can use that to see what a draft asks of production before it reaches the office.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is a showrunner the same as an executive producer?

Showrunners are almost always credited as executive producers, but most series have several executive producers who aren't running the show: producing partners, a star, a studio-side producer, or the pilot director. The showrunner is the executive producer in charge of the writing and day-to-day creative decisions.

### Do showrunners direct episodes?

Some do, especially on streaming series, but most episodes are directed by DGA directors hired per episode. The showrunner meets with each director in a tone meeting during prep and reviews the director's cut.

### How do you become a showrunner?

Most showrunners climbed the writing staff ladder from staff writer to co-executive producer, or created a show that sold. The WGA Showrunner Training Program is open to WGA West or East members with supervising producer credit or higher, or a creator with a project set up at a buyer.

### Does the WGA set a showrunner salary?

Showrunner pay is negotiated in individual deals. The WGA Minimum Basic Agreement sets minimums for writing services, and what a showrunner earns for producing is set in their own contract.

## Sources

- [The WGA Showrunner Training Program](https://www.wga.org/members/programs/showrunner-training)
- [WGA East Showrunner Academy](https://www.wgaeast.org/programs/showrunner-academy/)
- [DGA Rate Cards 2026 to 2027 (episodic director prep and shooting guarantees)](https://www.dga.org/Contracts/Rates-2026-to-2027)