TRANSITION; PRODUCER RESEARCH

As part of my research for being a producer, i thought i would look into a specific producer and their work to try and inform mine. I have chosen Steven Moffat, mainly because whilst he is a producer, he is a writer as well, and on many shows has acted as this new role of a 'Showrunner', i thought this would be best for me to look at.

Steven Moffat is a Scottish television writer and producer, perhaps he is best known for his role as a showrunner on extremely popular shows 'Doctor Who' and 'Sherlock'. Whilst he began his career as a writer on many shows, he eventually began producing as well and he started to combine the role of producer and writer together. For example, he with Doctor Who, he was made executive producer in 2007 but he was also a writer. The way his role worked on the show, was that he was also head writer, Moffat alongside a team would devise the narrative for each series as a whole, and Moffat would write the beginning and ending episodes of each series. Other writers would then write the other episodes with Moffat as the executive producer.

As a producer, he is someone who likes to do right by the shows he is working on, and make bold and daring decisions. Back in 2015, there was a high call for a female doctor from critics and viewers. However, Moffat believed at the time that it was 'too early' to be casting a women in the role as he had become 'obsessed with Peter in the Tardis' (the current doctor).

The type of producer that Steven Moffat is, is more about creative control and freedom, rather than the organisitional roles like production schedules and call sheets. You can find that on big budget productions there will be production managers and assistants that take on these more 'admin' roles and the producers focus more on the creative side, something Moffat definitely does in his shows.