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in the past five years especially, i have received an ever-expanding number of requests to "become attached as a showrunner" to a number of projects.
when that request comes from a writer - especially one who is starting out - and not a production company executive or a network executive, the red flags go up immediately.
if you are a writer and are told by a creative executive to "come back with a showrunner" my experience has usually been that this is a way for the executive to give a soft pass without having to give bad news to your face.
why? two reasons. 1. it is the JOB of a creative exec to find and attach talent. 2. it is their JOB to know agents, talent, who is available, and make those calls: preferably with the support of their own higher ups who have presumably been informed and want to do the project.
so for a creative executive to ask YOU to do that - when your job is to create and write, and theirs is to put together the winning package - is an abdication. makes me wonder "are they serious or do they just not want to break my heart for trying to get me out of their office?"
there's also this, a showrunner attachment seldom "moves the needle."
the showrunners whose involvement actually gets shows made - that actually "moves the needle" - is a small and rarefied group: you know their names - rimes, ryan, abrams, lindelof, lorre, welles, apatow, peele, the russos...
if the showrunner's name is not a household name, chances are that the best that person's attachment will do is get you into a slightly better studio or network room to pitch to. a good package is great: bulletproof creative supported by all parties is by far better.
household names aside, other people who may "move the needle" include flavor-of-the-month indie directors, and feature directors who have made more than 200 million for their studios in franchise projects.
but here's the thing about people who "move the needle" - their attachment doesn't mean they will actually run your show, you are still going to need what they call a "day to day guy"... which means, you know, a showrunner.
(by the by, that is the job that a guy like me would most likely be hired for)
so, bottom line, when someone tells you "come back to us with a showrunner" you should answer "how is THAT my fucking job?" only nicely... like "well, you're the executive, who do you have in mind and can you call their agent?"
that or take with a huge grain of salt the possibility that they may not be telling you the entire truth because they can't just look you in the face and say "no" (or that maybe they don't know their job too well, in which case you shouldn't be in business with them anyway).
here endeth the lesson. sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
