A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position 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 (or its most prolific writer). The role of a showrunner is not present on all television series, especially outside the United States; this article describes the nature of the role where it is present.
United States
Writer Alex Epstein, in his book and blog Crafty Screenwriting, defines a showrunner as follows:
The contract gained by the Writers Guild of America in the 2023 strike now explicitly defines "showrunner" as writers and people responsible for making hiring decisions regarding a project's other staff writers.
In a January 1990 submission to the United States Congress House Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Administration of Justice, Barney Rosenzweig (Executive Vice President and Chairman, Television Division of Weintraub Entertainment Group) wrote: