Historical Review and Contemporary Characterization of Showrunner as Professional Profile in TV Series Production: Traits, Skills, Competences, and Style

This article reviews the professional profile of the showrunner in the audiovisual industry, from a historical and conceptual perspective: the background, the features that define it, and the TV media position. To do so, qualitative methodology has been used to conduct a thorough bibliographic revie...

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Main Authors: María José Higueras-Ruiz, Francisco Javier Gómez-Pérez, Jordi Alberich-Pascual
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidad de Navarra 2018-01-01
Series:Communication & Society (Formerly Comunicación y Sociedad)
Subjects:
Online Access:https://revistas.unav.edu/index.php/communication-and-society/article/view/35721
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author María José Higueras-Ruiz
Francisco Javier Gómez-Pérez
Jordi Alberich-Pascual
author_facet María José Higueras-Ruiz
Francisco Javier Gómez-Pérez
Jordi Alberich-Pascual
author_sort María José Higueras-Ruiz
collection DOAJ
description This article reviews the professional profile of the showrunner in the audiovisual industry, from a historical and conceptual perspective: the background, the features that define it, and the TV media position. To do so, qualitative methodology has been used to conduct a thorough bibliographic review, and examine the emergence and development of the “showrunner” concept in television history, and the term used to describe it. We then analysed the “executive producer” and “creative producer” categories, both of which are associated with the objective of the study, to determine a generalized definition of the audiovisual showrunner. We have also examined the characteristics associated with this professional producer and writer position, the skill set required for the same, the roles and responsibilities to be managed during the production process, and the creative hallmark of authorship over the TV series. Finally, the results obtained suggest that this writer-producer position has existed since the onset of the television industry; however, the use of the term “showrunner” is more recent. Today, we see a revaluation of this profile in TV series production thanks to the generalized use of the concept “showrunner”, and due to several historical, cultural, and technological factors that contribute to this situation.
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spelling doaj.art-ebb4cd4f3b14418d8fc2cbcc424d154a2022-12-21T23:26:40ZengUniversidad de NavarraCommunication & Society (Formerly Comunicación y Sociedad)2386-78762018-01-013119110535721Historical Review and Contemporary Characterization of Showrunner as Professional Profile in TV Series Production: Traits, Skills, Competences, and StyleMaría José Higueras-Ruiz0Francisco Javier Gómez-Pérez1Jordi Alberich-Pascual2Universidad de Granada. Universidad de Granada. Universidad de Granada. This article reviews the professional profile of the showrunner in the audiovisual industry, from a historical and conceptual perspective: the background, the features that define it, and the TV media position. To do so, qualitative methodology has been used to conduct a thorough bibliographic review, and examine the emergence and development of the “showrunner” concept in television history, and the term used to describe it. We then analysed the “executive producer” and “creative producer” categories, both of which are associated with the objective of the study, to determine a generalized definition of the audiovisual showrunner. We have also examined the characteristics associated with this professional producer and writer position, the skill set required for the same, the roles and responsibilities to be managed during the production process, and the creative hallmark of authorship over the TV series. Finally, the results obtained suggest that this writer-producer position has existed since the onset of the television industry; however, the use of the term “showrunner” is more recent. Today, we see a revaluation of this profile in TV series production thanks to the generalized use of the concept “showrunner”, and due to several historical, cultural, and technological factors that contribute to this situation.https://revistas.unav.edu/index.php/communication-and-society/article/view/35721showrunnerexecutive productioncreative productiontv seriesaudiovisual authorship
spellingShingle María José Higueras-Ruiz
Francisco Javier Gómez-Pérez
Jordi Alberich-Pascual
Historical Review and Contemporary Characterization of Showrunner as Professional Profile in TV Series Production: Traits, Skills, Competences, and Style
Communication & Society (Formerly Comunicación y Sociedad)
showrunner
executive production
creative production
tv series
audiovisual authorship
title Historical Review and Contemporary Characterization of Showrunner as Professional Profile in TV Series Production: Traits, Skills, Competences, and Style
title_full Historical Review and Contemporary Characterization of Showrunner as Professional Profile in TV Series Production: Traits, Skills, Competences, and Style
title_fullStr Historical Review and Contemporary Characterization of Showrunner as Professional Profile in TV Series Production: Traits, Skills, Competences, and Style
title_full_unstemmed Historical Review and Contemporary Characterization of Showrunner as Professional Profile in TV Series Production: Traits, Skills, Competences, and Style
title_short Historical Review and Contemporary Characterization of Showrunner as Professional Profile in TV Series Production: Traits, Skills, Competences, and Style
title_sort historical review and contemporary characterization of showrunner as professional profile in tv series production traits skills competences and style
topic showrunner
executive production
creative production
tv series
audiovisual authorship
url https://revistas.unav.edu/index.php/communication-and-society/article/view/35721
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AT jordialberichpascual historicalreviewandcontemporarycharacterizationofshowrunnerasprofessionalprofileintvseriesproductiontraitsskillscompetencesandstyle