I was given a copy of this book by Titan Books in exchange for an honest review, which in no way affects my opinions expressed here.

Showrunners: The Art of Running a TV Show is the companion book to the documentary film of the same name. Written by Tara Bennett, it allows readers to go further into the showrunner’s lives as they head the TV shows that we all know and some of us love.Showrunners by Tara Bennett

The book goes through a slew of topics, ranging from the birth of a showrunner, to scripts, and women in showrunning. Each chapter provides an in-depth look into one of the chapter’s topics, which I found fascinating. The in-depth sub-chapters include topics such as the WGA Showrunners Training program, Women and Minority showrunners, and How Lost Changed Showrunning, among others.

The only issue with the book I came across was in the editing. The content was fascinating, especially for a budding writer, but the poorly edited commentary from showrunners and executives was distracting. That didn’t take away from what I learned from it, though. It’s just something to know about going in!

Catch the film if you can, but definitely grab this book! If you’re interested at all in the brains behind the TV screen, this book gives you a glimpse into the world of the showrunners. There are even some interviews with network executives included!

Des Doyle, the film’s director, has been busy running the media circuit for the film, which is slated for a limited October 31 release. Between panels at New York Comic Con, he was able to answer some of my questions.

ASHLEY DARLING: Can you describe the process you followed for choosing the featured showrunners in the documentary?

DES DOYLE: I basically selected people whose work I was a fan of myself and tried to make that selection cross genres and the different broadcasting strata, i.e. I wanted showrunners that came from broadcast, cable and premium cable as each of those experiences is quite different for a Showrunner. I drew up a wish list of ten names and we got 8 of those people in the finished film. But we also got to meet a number of fascinating people along the way too who are also in the film.

What was the biggest obstacle the documentary faced? How did you overcome it?

There were a number of obstacles. Budget was a primary one – as a very low budget indie you have to be very careful what you’re spending money on. There was a lot of pressure as a result of that in terms of how much time we could spend shooting, editing, etc.

Also just getting access to the guys was challenging and took quite some time to accomplish – especially when we were trying to clear filming on set or in writers rooms. Overcoming these things is basically a case of thinking on your feet as much as you can and problem solving – filmmaking is primarily made up of problem solving!

Showrunners-posterDescribe the most interesting day you had on a set for the documentary. Where were you?

It’s hard to pick just one. Filming with JJ Abrams at Bad Robot and getting to see their offices there was very cool. Also Bill Prady invited us to watch the filming of an episode of Big Bang Theory which was extremely interesting. Spending a day with Hart at work on Bones too – there were a lot of interesting days when I stop to think about it!!

What was your favorite or most memorable interview?

Again it’s very hard to pick one, because I truly enjoyed speaking with everyone, but the interview we did with Damon Lindelof (Lost, The Leftovers) meant a great deal as I was such a huge fan of that show. Damon taking part really helped open some doors for us. Also my niece Grace was born the day we did that interview so it’s a day I will always remember.

How about the most interesting interview?

All of them. Honestly everybody we interviewed had fascinating things to say and stories to tell. I have been constantly amazed by how candid people have been with us in interviews and that for me is one of the main reasons people should see the film and read the book. The guys discuss the realities of the business – it’s not a PR exercise and I’m very grateful to them for that.

Were there any showrunners you wished you had been able to interview and include in the documentary?

Yes unfortunately not everyone said yes – I would have loved to include Shonda Rhimes (Greys Anatomy) but that wasn’t possible. Even worse was when people said yes to doing it, but we just couldn’t make the schedules work, which is what happened with Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad) – maybe in Showrunners 2 lol!!

Describe the atmosphere of the writer’s room. How is it different sitting in there in person versus what we see in the documentary?

It’s quite an electric atmosphere in a writers room – there’s literally a creative charge in the air that you can feel. We tried very hard to be as inconspicuous as possible in the rooms with our cameras so after awhile the guys in the room started to forget we were filming and it became a real story session for them – that was great to see and to capture on camera. Plus there’s lots of candy everywhere!! Writers diets are generally not good!!

How was interviewing network executives different than the showrunners themselves?

It’s a completely different perspective they’re coming from which is what I was trying to get a sense of in the film. For them the bottom line to a great extent is ratings and how a show is performing for their network. But they also have a creative input that can get missed sometimes which is crucial to how the Showrunner/Exec dynamic is going to work. Not all Execs are a force for evil hidden away in a tower somewhere!!

But again they were willing to speak quite candidly with us for which I’m very grateful as it can be a difficult thing for people in their positions to do.

Which did you prefer (exes or showrunners)?

Well I made a film about Showrunners (but the Execs were really nice to us too).

You mention some of your current favorite shows in the companion book. Do you see any promising upcoming shows?

The one that I am most excited about right now is the return of Twin Peaks in 2015 with David Lynch and Mark Frost running the show again. It’s set 20 years after the original story and as Twin Peaks is one of my all time favourite TV series, it’s return is much anticipated!

Showrunners hits limited release October 31. Check your local theater to see if it’s playing!

In the meantime, watch the trailer!