Positive Energy/Prayers/Wishes/Vibes

Way2, you can cast some of us! We'd work cheap until the ship comes in!!!!

@Way2Old - If you sell the idea for the series, where does that leave you? Can you still stay on board as producer or head writer if someone picks it up? It would be a shame if you developed the project and couldn't see it through.

It depends on what's negotiated between the parties. In my case, I'd be selling more than idea (I have an entire first season written), so there is some leverage for participation as a producer and certainly a 'created by' credit. If I were pitching a concept only, I'd also have to negotiate to even be the writer; once it's bought, the rights belong to the new owner, and they can do whatever they want with the project, including bring in another writer.

Way2Old - Would you want to stay with the project as a producer or as a writer if someone bought the series?

Oh, definitely. My goal is to be a writer/producer. Not a showrunner (for TV or cable), but a writer with executive-level control -- albeit shared -- over the project. With movies, I've actually negotiated co-producer participation on screenplays I optioned to other producers, but unfortunately those projects didn't get past pre-production, for various frustrating reasons out of my control.

  Fingers crossed that this is the one that makes it!

BTW, what exactly is a showrunner? I've heard the term a million tmes, but I'm not sure what it means.

Showrunner

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search


In the United States television industry, a showrunner is a person who is responsible for the day-to-day operation of a television series—although such persons are credited as executive producers.[1] The showrunner is at the opposite end of the staff hierarchy from runners, who are the most junior members of the production team, though sometimes showrunners are called runners for short. The term is also occasionally applied to people in the television industries of other countries. The duties of a showrunner often combine those traditionally assigned to the writer, executive producer and script editor. Unlike films, where directors are in creative control of a production, in episodic television, the showrunner outranks the director.[2]

Thanks, Mel! Wikipedia. Now, why didn't I think of that?  

That about covers it. I'm too damn old and intolerant of others' 'writing process' to be a showrunner. Plus, I like creating something and then moving on to the next thing.