CarterMatt Awards 2015: Bryan Fuller, Andrew Kreisberg, John Wirth, Marlene King up for Showrunner prize

What does it take to be a showrunner? Quite a bit! This is one of the most challenging jobs in television, since you are basically having to manage and map out scripts, oversee production, and ensure that everything is happening in the way in which you plan for it to. It’s incredibly time-consuming as well, which is why there are plenty of showrunners out there who may be nameless to casual viewers. They are often the humble sort, and rarely want to take credit for the accomplishments of many.

Well, this is the chance to give them credit in our CarterMatt Awards. The Favorite Showrunner award is designed not only to recognize great work, but also people in this position who take that next step in showing that they love their shows just as much as the viewers do watching them. These people are often active on social media, are willing to discuss their work, and handle questions and comments with ease.

Past winners – Bryan Fuller, “Hannibal” (2014), Julie Plec, “The Vampire Diaries” (2013).

Jon Bokenkamp, “The Blacklist” (NBC) – What we admire about Bokenkamp’s work and dedication is his frequent desire to circumvent what traditional networks to perceive the show to be. It has elements of the standard police procedural, but he’s over time added in everything from a political thriller to even some comic-book elements. He’s shown not only an immense amount of creativity, but also an openness to discuss his work that we don’t often seen.

Bryan Fuller, “Hannibal” (NBC) – We’ve come to an age at this point where good live-tweeters have been taken for granted. You get the sense that some networks mandate it, and that leads to people apathetically creating accounts and posting when they’d rather be doing something else. With Fuller, however, you have a showrunner who went all-in to making Twitter an extension of the fantastic show he created. He interacted with fans, shared behind-the-scenes images, gave additional insight into even specific song choices, and seemed to go through the effort of even preparing in advance. If you were a “Hannibal” viewer on social media, we don’t know how you watched an episode without seeing some of his insight along the way. Oh, and as we mentioned, he’s the reigning champ.

Marlene King, “Pretty Little Liars” (ABC Family) – Every showrunner has a challenge in trying to create the best work possible year after year. For King, that challenge is amplified. Not only does she have the pressure of adapting popular source material, but also pleasing some of the most opinionated and devoted fans out there. She tackles every challenge head-on, continues to find ways to create shocking and buzzworthy twists, and is there along the way to answer fan questions and be involved in the community. She basically puts her all into making sure that this audience loves the show and the fandom surrounding it.

Andrew Kreisberg, “The Flash” (The CW) – Kreisberg is a busy man, and one of the current godfathers of superhero TV to go along with Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim. In addition to running “The Flash” with Gabrielle Stanton, he also is an executive producer on the two other DC – CW superhero shows in “Arrow” and “Legends of Tomorrow”; meanwhile, he also holds the same EP title on “Supergirl” for CBS. He’s one of the most noteworthy names in a contingent that is responsible for delivering what we’re willing to say is the most entertaining and accurate comic-book adaptations to ever appear on television. He’s also very active online and celebrates the work like a true fan would.

Warren Leight, “Law & Order: SVU” (NBC) – Leight has been one of the architects in many ways behind helping to keep “SVU” as a cultural phenomenon in the social-media age, and continuing to allow the series and the stories to evolve. He and the show’s writers / producers have created an interactive experience online through Twitter where you can hear more about production, see script pages, or watch tiny sneak peeks via Vine in advance. Given that you are dealing with such heavy and serious subject matter with this show from time to time, it’d be understandable if the work itself was so consuming that there wasn’t time in the day for anything else. For Leight, he consistently goes the extra mile for #SVUDiehards, and that should be commended.

John Wirth, “Hell on Wheels” (AMC) – Wirth has been tremendously kind to us over the years, speaking to us multiple times about the show and offering up his insight on what happens both onscreen and off. He’s also been very active with the general fan base in general online, sharing set photos, discussing experiences, and helping to create an interactive culture behind what we feel is one of the most under-appreciated shows of our time. The fact that he has continued with these efforts even after finishing production (there are still seven episodes to air in summer 2016) is a further gesture of his commitment, since it is certainly at this point not something that he has to do.

(Photo: NBC)