Production Leadership • Above-the-Line

Producers & Showrunners

The producer is the one who makes it all possible — and the one who is still making decisions long after the director has moved on. In film, the producer shepherds a project from initial idea through development, financing, production, post, and release. In television, the showrunner is the singular creative authority whose voice runs through every episode: the writer-producer who is simultaneously head writer, creative director, and chief executive of a production that may run for years. This page covers every producing role, the awards that honour them, and the showrunners who defined the prestige TV era.

PGA Awards Emmy Outstanding Drama Series Emmy Outstanding Comedy Series Oscar Best Picture BAFTA Best Film
1992
PGA Founded
1990
First PGA Awards Ceremony
3
Kathleen Kennedy’s Best Picture Oscars
60+
Episodes: Average Showrunner Season Oversight
5
Vince Gilligan Emmy Wins (Breaking Bad)
Department Roles

The Producing Team

Producing is a discipline with more title variations than almost any other in entertainment — from the showrunner who holds absolute creative authority to the co-producer managing a single production block. This guide covers the roles that matter.

Showrunner
Executive Producer / Head Writer (TV)
A role unique to American television. The showrunner is simultaneously the head writer of the series and its executive producer — the person whose creative vision runs through every episode, who hires and manages the writing staff, who works with the network or streamer, who oversees casting, and who is ultimately responsible for every creative and logistical decision. Showrunners like Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad), David Chase (The Sopranos), David Simon (The Wire), Matthew Weiner (Mad Men), and Shonda Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal) are the auteurs of the prestige TV era. The Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series goes to the showrunner first.
Executive Producer
EP
In film, the EP typically handles financing and deals rather than day-to-day creative control. In TV, the title can mean anything from co-showrunner to producing partner to studio representative — or to the star actor whose deal includes a producer credit. On the biggest productions multiple EPs may share creative authority: in the final season of Game of Thrones, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were the showrunner EPs, with HBO executives and a large producing team beneath them. The Oscar for Best Picture is accepted by the film’s producers — usually a very small group.
Producer
Film Producer
In film, the producer is the creative and logistical architect of the project — the person who develops the script (often for years before a director is attached), secures financing and distribution, hires the key creative team, manages the budget, and shepherds the film through post and awards season. Great producers like Scott Rudin, Kathleen Kennedy, Jerry Bruckheimer, and Plan B’s Brad Pitt have shaped the careers of many directors. The producer-director relationship is one of cinema’s most complex and consequential partnerships.
Line Producer
LP
Manages the physical and financial production on a day-to-day basis. While the EP or producer handles creative vision and external relationships, the line producer is responsible for the budget breakdown, the production schedule, the daily cost reports, and ensuring that what is shot matches what was planned and funded. A great line producer can save a production; a bad one can destroy it. The title “line” refers to the below-the-line costs section of a film budget.
Unit Production Manager
UPM • Production Manager
Works under the line producer to manage the day-to-day logistics of a shooting unit — crew scheduling, location logistics, equipment rentals, hotel and travel, and coordination between departments. On large multi-unit productions there may be multiple UPMs for different locations or second units. Eligible for the PGA Award in some categories.
Co-Producer / Supervising Producer
Co-EP • Consulting Producer (TV)
In TV, the hierarchy of producing credits runs from Producer at the bottom of the ladder to Supervising Producer, Co-Executive Producer, and Executive Producer at the top. These titles reflect seniority in the writer’s room and the degree of creative responsibility on set and in post. A Co-Producer may be a staff writer who has been promoted; a Supervising Producer may run a production block. The WGA governs producing credits for writer-producers.
Development Executive
VP of Development • Creative Executive
The bridge between the creative world and the studio or network. Development executives read scripts, identify projects and talent, shepherd projects through the development process, and maintain relationships with the writer-producers and showrunners who will create content for their network or studio. Often the unsung force behind a project’s greenlight.
Studio Liaison / Physical Producer
Production Executive
The studio’s representative on set — ensuring that the production is running to budget and schedule and that the creative work aligns with the studio’s expectations. May have no creative authority but significant financial oversight. The relationship between a physical producer and a director can be one of productive tension or creative conflict, depending on the project and the personalities involved.
Award Shows

How Producers Get Recognised

Producing is honoured at every major awards ceremony — but nowhere more specifically than at the PGA Awards, which exist to recognise production as a craft and a discipline in its own right.

PGA Awards
Producers Guild of America • since 1990
The Producers Guild of America’s annual awards are the industry’s definitive recognition of producing excellence. The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures is one of the most reliable Oscar predictors — aligning with the Best Picture winner in most years since the introduction of PGA voting rules. Television categories are equally competitive and cover drama, comedy, limited series, and non-fiction.
  • Darryl F. Zanuck Award — Outstanding Theatrical Motion Picture
  • Norman Felton Award — Outstanding Drama Series
  • Danny Thomas Award — Outstanding Comedy Series
  • David L. Wolper Award — Outstanding Limited Series or TV Movie
  • Outstanding Documentary Motion Picture
  • Outstanding Non-Fiction Program
Annual • February/March • Los Angeles
Emmy Awards — Outstanding Drama & Comedy
Television Academy • since 1949
The Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Comedy Series are accepted by the showrunner and producing team. In practice, these are the awards that define a showrunner’s legacy — Breaking Bad’s five wins, Succession’s four, The Sopranos’ five, and Game of Thrones’ record-breaking run define the prestige TV canon. The Emmy is the ultimate validation that a show’s creative vision, as managed by its showrunner, reached the highest level.
  • Outstanding Drama Series
  • Outstanding Comedy Series
  • Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
  • Outstanding Variety Talk Series
  • Outstanding Variety Sketch Series
Annual • September • Los Angeles
Oscar — Best Picture
Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences • since 1929
The Oscar for Best Picture is accepted by the film’s producers — and only those designated as the film’s official producers by the Academy’s strict eligibility rules. The Academy limits the number of eligible producers to three or four per film, reflecting a longstanding debate about who really produces a film versus who has an honorary credit. The Best Picture Oscar is the producer’s equivalent of the director’s for Best Director.
  • Best Picture — accepted by designated producers
  • Maximum three producers eligible for the award statuette
  • A frequent source of controversy over credit attribution
Annual • March • Hollywood
BAFTA Best Film & Best British Film
British Academy of Film & Television Arts • since 1949
BAFTA’s Best Film award goes to the producer(s), and the Best British Film award similarly honours British-led productions. BAFTA’s producing recognition is particularly significant for UK-based producers and for international co-productions with British elements.
  • Best Film
  • Best British Film
  • Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema
Annual • February • London
Notable Producers & Showrunners

The Showrunners Who Defined Prestige TV — and the Producers Who Built Modern Cinema

The creative architects behind the most celebrated film and television of the past three decades.

Vince Gilligan
American • Showrunner, Writer, Director
Created and ran Breaking Bad — widely considered the greatest drama series in television history. Gilligan’s five-season arc, transforming chemistry teacher Walter White into a criminal empire, is the showrunner’s art at its apex: a single sustained vision maintained with complete creative control and escalating ambition across 62 episodes. His subsequent work on Better Call Saul extended that universe to equal critical acclaim.
Breaking Bad Better Call Saul El Camino X-Files (writer)
★ Multiple Emmy wins • WGA • DGA • PGA
David Chase
American • Creator, The Sopranos
Created The Sopranos and thereby founded the prestige TV era as we know it. Chase’s achievement was proving that long-form television could sustain novelistic ambiguity, moral complexity, and a refusal to resolve — culminating in the cut to black that is still debated two decades later. Chase came from a film background and brought a cinematic sensibility to HBO drama that changed the medium permanently.
The Sopranos Northern Exposure The Rockford Files
★ 5 Emmy wins • WGA • PGA • Peabody Award
David Simon
American • Creator, The Wire
A former Baltimore Sun reporter who turned investigative journalism into television’s most forensic portrait of American institutional failure. The Wire is the critic’s consensus greatest show ever made — five seasons examining the drug trade, docks, school system, city government, and press. Simon’s journalistic method — sourcing characters from real life, casting non-professionals, refusing easy resolution — produced television unlike anything before or since.
The Wire The Deuce Treme We Own This City
★ Emmy wins • Peabody Awards • WGA
Jesse Armstrong
British • Creator, Succession
Created and ran Succession across four seasons, winning four consecutive Emmys for Outstanding Drama Series. Armstrong’s achievement — a Shakespearean family tragedy set in a fictional American media conglomerate — proved that British writing sensibility could define American prestige TV. His decision to end Succession after four seasons, rather than extending it commercially, was praised as the creative integrity that defined the show.
Succession Peep Show Four Lions (film) The Thick of It
★ 4 Emmy wins (Drama) • WGA • PGA • BAFTA
Kathleen Kennedy
American • President, Lucasfilm
One of the most powerful producers in Hollywood history and the steward of the Star Wars franchise since 2012. Kennedy’s three-decade partnership with Steven Spielberg produced some of the most commercially and critically successful films of the era. As president of Lucasfilm and a co-founder of Amblin Entertainment, her producing range spans E.T. and Schindler’s List to Indiana Jones and The Last of Us.
E.T. Schindler’s List Jurassic Park Lincoln Star Wars (2015–present)
★ 3 Best Picture Oscars • AFI Life Achievement • Irving G. Thalberg Award
Shonda Rhimes
American • Founder, Shondaland
The most commercially dominant showrunner of the network TV era and a trailblazer for diverse storytelling. Rhimes built an ABC empire — Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder — that defined Thursday nights for a decade. Her move to Netflix and the creation of Bridgerton extended her influence into the streaming era and proved her ability to build franchises across platforms.
Grey’s Anatomy Scandal Bridgerton Queen Charlotte Inventing Anna
★ Emmy wins • WGA • NAACP Image Awards • Peabody