Thursday, October 13, 2011

The Top Latino Showrunners of U.S. Television

In the United States, a showrunner, in television industry, refers to the person who is responsible for the day-to-day operation of a television series— although such persons generally are credited as an executive producer. The term is also occasionally applied to people in the television industries of other countries. Unlike films, where directors are typically in creative control of a production, in episodic television the showrunner usually outranks the director.

Traditionally, the executive producer of a television program was the "chief executive," responsible for the show's production. Over time, the title of executive producer became applied to a wider range of roles, from those responsible for arranging financing to an honorific without actual management duties. The term "showrunner" was created to identify the producer who actually held ultimate management and creative authority for the program. The blog (and book) Crafty Screenwriting defines showrunner as "the person responsible for all creative aspects of the show, and responsible only to the network (and production company, if it's not his production company). The boss. Usually a writer."

The industry magazine The Hollywood Reporter identified the top 50 showrunners in its recent article "The Power Showrunners 2011." In this list (the magazine's fourth annual), there are two Latinos-- Louis C.K. (of Mexican-Hungarian heritage) for the FX series "Louie" and Greg García (of Mexican heritage) for the Fox series "Raising Hope." To read about Louis C.K., shown at left, click here. To read about Greg García, shown at right, click here.

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