✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Ireland, United States · 2014
1h 28m
Director Des Doyle
Starring Joss Whedon, J.J. Abrams, Steven S. DeKnight, Ronald D. Moore
Genre Documentary
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For the first time ever, a feature length documentary follows showrunners--the forces that bring TV shows and series to life. Standing at the intersection between art and commerce, showrunners play a crucial role in the development and production process of a show, balancing its creative, logistical, and financial aspects.
The producers, obviously, are good storytellers, and there is something to be said — touched on here — about their shifting roles as TV has embraced an auteur quality. Still, the resulting doc finally feels like less than the sum of its anecdotes.
Village Voice by Chris Packham
Unstudied to the point of utilitarianism, the film nonetheless has wide scope, and Doyle effectively gets his arms around this huge, nebulous, weird job.
The Hollywood Reporter by Jordan Mintzer
Doyle overstuffs some of the content, jumping through dozens of interviews without allowing us enough time to process them. Still, the director and editor John Murphy manage to give all the material a solid through-line, making the many voices echo into one underlying argument: Showrunning sucks, but it may be the greatest job in entertainment today.
Los Angeles Times by Sheri Linden
For wannabe, seasoned pro and curious observer alike, these tales from the creative front lines are, like good TV, as insightful as they are entertaining.
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