A conductor’s role is to make sure the orchestra plays together and is well balanced. A great conductor, together with the orchestra makes music. And that’s really what a show runner’s job is — to make sure everyone in his or her ‘orchestra’ plays together and creates compelling television people want to watch. Achieving that goal can be compared to the various styles of great conductors.
The Happy Happy Style
The show runner is cheery creating an atmosphere of autonomy amongst all the individual members of the production team. However, if everyone is in charge, and no one is the leader, it tends to create an atmosphere where mistakes are made and it takes twice as long to make a decision.
The Do It My Way or Die Style
Here the show runner has no time for anyone’s input or creative viewpoint. It’s solely about his vision — there’s the door, don’t trip over the carpet while you’re leaving. This is the atmosphere we all dread. This is the job where you count the days until the wrap party.
The Read My Mind Style
You’re never sure what the show runner is thinking. All notes are vague and ethereal. This creates an atmosphere of frustration and long days of constant re-writes, revisions and re-edits.
The Open Space Style
Here you receive clear direction but are also free to contribute your creative viewpoint to the production process. This is the job you wake up early for.
Which style is right? I’ve seen variations on all themes. In the end, it’s about creating a show that gets ratings. Personally, I’m also the type that feels the process needs to be just as creative and enjoyable as the final product.
Below is a terrific talk given by Israel conductor Itay Talgam comparing the conducting styles of Carlos Kleiber , Riccardo Muti, Herbert von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein and how they relate to leadership. While this video is 20 minutes long, I encourage you to watch because Mr. Talgam gives an absolutely delightful, funny and enlightening presentation that can be used in any leadership role. Enjoy!
Give me the “Open Space” show runner EVERY time. I’ve been through many shows (names are being withheld to protect the innocent)where the Show Runner or exec prod was all about ‘do it my way or die’ and I have to tell you, those are the shows that weren’t all that successful.
Leadership is a hard role to fill and there are a hundred thousand ways to lead people in a creative endeavor while getting a product you can be proud of. I say, a good show runner stays true to their creative vision while allowing their mind to be open to the other creative voices around them. That is no easy feat and takes a person who truly believes in their vision and is not intimidated by other creative people. A person who can stand their ground and also bend a bit when the situation calls for it. Like I said, it’s not easy but to borrow your example, when done well it is like listening to a great symphony played by a world class orchestra.
What a great post. I think we all strive to be the Open Space show runner. To be honest, that works as long a we’re very careful with who we hire. Finding the right people is difficult in any business, especially showbiz where personality and ego are such a big part of things. When you hire people, if you’re smart, you do so with one goal in mind: find people who are better than you. I’ve been editing for years. My goal is to find 9 editors on Scream Queens who are better than me.
The same holds true for every position on set. If everyone’s better than you, you can conduct your orchestra and let flutists and the violinists do their thing. But, the world is rarely so perfect, and when a ship starts sinking because someone can’t pull their weight, I won’t lie: Do it my way or die can take over. At the end of the day, I think communication is key, and if drastic measures are necessary, make sure everyone knows it’s not personal, and strive to do better next time.
Biagio – you’re absolutely right. I always try to hire an ‘expert’ for every position I need to fill on a show.
In the end, it is the Show Runner’s responsibility to get the show delivered. As Joanie who commented said, you need “A person who can stand their ground and also bend a bit when the situation calls for it.”