Showrunners on Strike Say There’s No Debate: Producing is Writing

variety.com:

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large During the early days of the 2007-08 writers strike, even after pens went down, many showrunners were still at work.

They weren’t writing, but they were handling other aspects of production as cameras continued to roll on preexisting scripts.

Eventually, they realized that showrunners might take themselves out of writing, but there’s no way to take writing out of showrunner duties. “It’s obviously part of the storytelling process, because you need a showrunner to keep a sense of the overall story,” says one high-profile writer-producer. “Every decision you’re making, from a craft servicesdecision to a costume decision, is something only you can make because you’re putting it into a whole story.

There’s no part of my job that isn’t storytelling.” The studios disagree. As the current writers strike began, showrunners began receiving letters warning them that they must continue to provide services such as “non-writing production and post-production work.” But the WGA says those so-called “(a) through (h) services” — including bridging material necessitated by cutting for time, changes in technical or stage directions and changes needed to obtain continuity acceptance or legal clearance — are still considered writing. “I think it’s outrageous,” Kari Lizer, whose credits include showrunning ABC’s “Call Your Mother,” tells Variety. “Writing is writing.