The TV Showrunner's Roadmap: 21 Navigational Tips for Screenwriters to Create and Sustain a Hit TV Series

DISCLAIMER: This review will most likely be biased as my dream is to be a show-runner either in the UK or the US.This book is amazing! (I wasn’t kidding with the disclaimer) The TV Showrunner’s Roadmap is a chapter-by-chapter reference guide on 21 pivotal ingredients that culminate in the creation of a successful and sustainable television series. Landau is a professor in the MFA in Screenwriting and Producing Programs at UCLA School of Film, Television and Digital Media, (a course I very much wish I had the sense to apply to in my final year of school) describing himself as a pilot junkie and avid TV watcher, who offers invaluable advice to budding TV writers by describing the conventions of popular television shows and using examples of shows that adopt said conventions. Each chapter, except one or two, ends with an interview with a show-runner wherein Landau asks the fundamental questions of what it means to have that job title. The show-runners that provide insight include my personal favourites; Damon Lindelof (co-creator/producer/writer Lost, co-creator/executive producer/writer The Leftovers), Vince Gilligan (creator/writer/executive producer/director Breaking Bad), and Shonda Rhimes (creator/writer/executive producer Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal (whom infuriates me at the same time)). Their documentation of their time as show-runners are unbelievably fascinating and eye-opening, which also provides another dimension to your favourite television series once you have peaked behind the proverbial curtain.The varied topics and aspects of the television business are all mentioned within the pages of Laundau’s work, from the difference between broadcast networks and cable networks to which shows subscribe to which act structures. You leave each chapter feeling both terrified and exhilarated by the hard work that goes into being a show-runner and how little time there is to sleep between each task. Some of the interviews do read a little slowly and you long to get to the next chapter before the interviewee ruins the magic of being a show-runner due to the fact that they’re in the middle of crafting a season at the time they gave the interview. With that aside, the knowledge attainable from these 21 navigational tips is unparalleled and priceless to anyone that wishes to work in television; even if you know certain aspects prior to reading this book, the benefits of revisiting said aspects are incredibly useful under the framework in which Landau presents his advice.All in all, this book has been of immense use and insight to me as an aspiring show-runner. Even if you do not have any ambition in this area, you can still revel in the knowledge of how your favourite show came to be.5 out of 5 stars.

Really interesting read for anyone interested in a career in continuing drama.

Truly excellent roadmap for screenwriters or novelists alike.