7 ms·
In TV 'Mr. Big' is usually the 'Showrunner'. Basically the original creators. It's like a form of creative production and management. For film, the Director is
by jollybean 4y ago
In TV 'Mr. Big' is usually the 'Showrunner'. Basically the original creators. It's like a form of creative production and management.
For film, the Director is often kind of the version of 'Showrunner'.
If the director was the one doing the pitching, raising the money - they they are that.
If it's a big IP asset, like Star Treck, then it's different, sometimes a team effort.
Like Kathleen Kennedy is the 'Big Honcho' for Star Wars and will have absolutely the 'last word' on everything, directors may not. Directors may have to negotiate their degree of freedom and may really want to avoid those situations where they are 'not in control', and will be forced to 'take notes'.
So 'director', depending on the type of show, does not have to be the most critical thing, it really depends.
Something that's heavily dependent on the quality of the acting, probably the director will matter a lot.
A perfunctory serial, a bit less.
For something so fundamentally institutionalized, like 'The Big Bang Theory' I'll bet you could remove almost any single person, and the gap would be filled in by the others who are all professionals. Like literally a child could direct an episode, because everyone would know 'what to do'.
But yeah, it helps to have a 'core creative team' that has track record of resonance, this way, you have an idea of what you will get.
Cohen Brothers, Villeneuve, Tom Cruise Inc., they use a lot of the same people. So you have less risk.
- jowday 4y agoSure - the MCU uses a lot of TV directors for example - since it functions more like a TV show than a auteur-driven series of films.
- asdajksah2123 4y agoAnd because it's a lot cheaper.
- jollybean 4y agoThe creative elements in MCU films are (mostly) not director-driven, they are franchise-driven. You need a 'good' director and a 'good' script, with 'good' and 'famous' actors, from there, so long as the creative leads are professional and the budget is there, you're good. I believe that DC suffers from bad creative direction and bad scripts. Most of the rest is workable. Star Wars suffers from bad stories/scripts and Kathleen Kennedy interference politics.
- deelowe 4y agoAm I the only one struggling to understand this? Are 'Mr. Big' and 'Showrunner' references to something specific? Why are these terms in quotes?
- jowday 4y agoHe’s putting those in quotes because they’re generally not formal positions that are explicitly credited, but are informal phrases referring to whoever has final creative control over a series.
- deelowe 4y agoThat sounds like it's all a bit made up then...
- jowday 4y agoIt’s not. See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Showrunner https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Showrunner
- deelowe 4y agoSo these are real terms then...
- cygx 4y agoShowrunners are a thing. See eg https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=hollywood+reporter+showrunner+roundtable https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=hollywood+repor... for some stories from the trenches.
- karaterobot 4y ago"Mr. Big" and "Head Honcho" are euphemisms for "the person who is actually in charge", or the boss. "Director" and "Showrunner" are job titles you'd have on your resume. In the case of the showrunner, they're directly involved in day to day stuff. I've heard interviews in which showrunners say their job involves making 500 snap decisions every day: "which fabric swatch should we use? is it worth an extra $80k to film in this location?" that kind of thing. I guess the software equivalent would be a product manager? In Kathleen Kennedy's case, as head of Lucasfilm, she's making big decisions on everything, but likely not micromanaging individual decisions. So, she'd be the CTO or equivalent.
- logifail 4y ago> the showrunner This term seems to have entered common usage quite recently. Q: Why? "In United States network television [the showrunner is] typically credited as an executive producer"[0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Showrunner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Showrunner
- xsmasher 4y agoYou can't use the terms interchangeably. An "Executive producer" credit may be applied to lots of people who are not the showrunner. >This credit is given to the showrunner, or the head writer, and is sometimes also given to other important members of the production. These could include the show’s creator if different from the showrunner, other high-level writers (often future seasons’ showrunners), the owner/creator of source material, a show’s star, the star or writer or creator’s manager, a high-level executive or creative type (like Steven Spielberg) influential in the show’s creation, or any other number of people. >Many TV shows have multiple executive producers, and without knowing the specific situation, it’s hard to say what the individual people do. For instance, a TV show derived from a movie (like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”), may bring with it Executive Producers from the original film, who have little direct involvement with the show.
- logifail 4y ago> You can't use the terms interchangeably Right, but what's the actual definition of the term "showrunner"? It's "the leading producer", according to the first sentence of that Wikipedia article. Why aren't we talking about the "lead[ing] producer"? Is the term "showrunner" perhaps just industry jargon that slipped out into the mainstream? EDIT: Go read through the Wikipedia:Talk page for 'Showrunner'[0], the quote "so much conflicting terminology, contradictions within contradictions" seems pretty apt. An ill-defined and (?) informal position? Q: Is it just me or are people - particularly journalists - desperate to use terms that make them sound like they're part of the "in" crowd? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Showrunner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Showrunner
- HWR_14 4y ago