Roadmap for Showrunner: How to Make a Successful Series

TV series have long become more popular than feature films! But creating a truly quality series that lasts more than one season, like «The Walking Dead» — is quite a task!
Neil Landau talked to the most successful showrunners in... Hollywood and learned their methods of work and professional secrets. 29 top producers and screenwriters share how beloved series around the world came to be.

• How does the producer and screenwriter of «House, M.D.» work?
• Where did the characters of «How I Met Your Mother» come from?
• Why are Shonda Rhimes' series so popular? («Grey's Anatomy», «Scandal»).
• How did Vince Gilligan come up with «Breaking Bad»?
• Where does the plot start for the screenwriter and producer of «Dexter»?

Neil Landau is an American producer, screenwriter, playwright, director, and consultant. Among his films and television works are the teen comedy «Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead», «Melrose Place», «The Magnificent Seven», «Doogie Howser, M.D.», «The Secret World of Alex Mack», and «Undressed» from MTV and the animated film «Finnegan».

«Neil's book must be read by anyone serious about the art of writing television scripts. The author's analysis of fundamental truths is very clear, precise, and interesting. But the real treasure of this book is the one-on-one interviews with showrunners experiencing the peak of their careers: the reader feels as if they are watching through a hidden camera at the best specialists in the field». — Channing Dungey, Executive Vice President for Drama Series at ABC Entertainment Group