Updated 19-April-2023
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Showrunner is the unofficial title given to the top-level creative decision maker and manager overseeing all episodes of an individual season of a television/episodic series. The showrunner is usually credited as an executive producer, producer and/or writer.
They are ultimately responsible for the overall tone and creative direction of an entire season, overseeing the work of the various directors and/or department heads who contribute to individual episodes. In some cases they may also be the head writer for that season.
A head writer is the title (sometimes unofficial) given to the top-level writer who oversees the team of writers working on an individual season of a television/episodic series.
The head writer is usually credited as an executive producer, producer and/or writer. In some cases they may also be the showrunner for that season.
Showrunners and head writers are very rarely listed in a titles end credit sequence - therefore, listing them is a rare exclusions to our policy of:
"Listing all information on IMDb based on a titles end credit sequence."
Please follow the below guidelines to make sure the information is added correctly:
To do this, use the Edit page button at the bottom of either an episode page or name page to add a new Producer or Writer credit with the attribute "(showrunner)" or "(head writer)" depending on the type of show (detailed in guidelines above).
Instructions on how to add new credits to single or multiple episodes is available on our episodic credit page.