{"id":97456,"date":"2018-11-30T19:25:00","date_gmt":"2018-12-01T00:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=97456"},"modified":"2023-03-03T09:08:16","modified_gmt":"2023-03-03T14:08:16","slug":"running-the-show","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/magazine\/articles\/2018\/running-the-show\/","title":{"rendered":"Running the Show"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin magazine-block-editorial-leadin is-style-text-over-image has-media has-box has-media-focus-center-top has-text-position-x-center has-quaternary-theme\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1095\" height=\"900\" src=\"\/cfa\/files\/2023\/01\/Saracho-Vernoff.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2023\/01\/Saracho-Vernoff.jpg 1095w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2023\/01\/Saracho-Vernoff-636x523.jpg 636w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2023\/01\/Saracho-Vernoff-1024x842.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2023\/01\/Saracho-Vernoff-768x631.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1095px) 100vw, 1095px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\">By Abigail Cain. Photos by Larsen and Talbert\/Getty Images Portrait, Corey Nickols\/Getty Images<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">Theatre<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRunning the Show\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">In an industry dominated by men, women are changing the culture<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar magazine-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">November 30, 2018<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-introparagraph magazine-block-editorial-introparagraph is-style-dropcap-boxed has-dropcap has-dropcap-color-quaternary\"><div class=\"wp-block-editorial-introparagraph-content\"><p>Tanya Saracho&nbsp;was not even an hour into her first day writing for the Lifetime show&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mylifetime.com\/shows\/devious-maids\">Devious Maids<\/a><\/em>&nbsp;when a male coworker looked down at her and said, \u201cYou know you\u2019re the diversity hire, right?\u201d<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm2571374\/\">Saracho<\/a>&nbsp;(\u201998) had no idea what he was talking about. She called her agent, who explained: most major broadcast networks subsidize one entry-level writer of color for each scripted show. Although it\u2019s meant to foster inclusion in writers\u2019 rooms that are overwhelmingly white and male, these \u201cdiversity hires\u201d are rarely hired permanently; showrunners will trade them out for another subsidized writer the next season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-bu-pullquote is-style-modern has-image has-image-focus-center-top has-quaternary-theme\"><div class=\"wp-block-bu-pullquote-inner\"><blockquote><div class=\"container-lockup\"><div class=\"container-icon-outer\"><div class=\"container-icon-inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"558\" height=\"900\" class=\"bu-blocks-background wp-image-97458\" src=\"\/cfa\/files\/2023\/01\/Tanya-Saracho2-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2023\/01\/Tanya-Saracho2-1.jpeg 558w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2023\/01\/Tanya-Saracho2-1-394x636.jpeg 394w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 558px) 100vw, 558px\" \/><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container-text\"><hr\/><div class=\"quote-sizing\">Everyone I hire, I hire with an eye for them to run their own show. I\u2019m nurturing showrunners.<\/div><footer class=\"caption\"><br\/>TANYA SARACHO (\u201998)<\/footer><hr\/><\/div><\/div><\/blockquote><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFor the rest of the year that tainted how I spoke, how I pitched, how I had agency in that room,\u201d says Saracho, who was born in Mexico and raised along the Texas border. Although the show followed the lives of four Latina maids in Beverly Hills, Saracho was initially the only Latina writer and one of two women in the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Saracho was ready to throw in the towel after&nbsp;<em>Devious Maids<\/em>, but she agreed to one more meeting, for the HBO series&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hbo.com\/looking\">Looking<\/a><\/em>, which first aired in 2014. There, she found herself surrounded by other writers still new to television; the experience was so supportive that \u201cI was like, wait, maybe I do want to do this,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since then, she\u2019s risen rapidly through the writers\u2019 room to become the creator and showrunner of Starz\u2019s breakout hit&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.starz.com\/series\/vida\/episodes\">Vida<\/a><\/em>. Following two Mexican American sisters who return to their Los Angeles neighborhood after their mother\u2019s unexpected death, the show deftly and frankly interweaves themes of class, race, and sexuality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"responsive-video responsive-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Vida | Extended Trailer | STARZ\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/k0Ha20Njsf0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption>Saracho\u2019s breakout hit,&nbsp;<em>Vida<\/em>, follows Mexican American sisters Emma (Mishel Prada) and Lyn (Melissa Barrera) back to Los Angeles after their mother\u2019s death.<em>&nbsp;Starz<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Vida<\/em>&nbsp;wrapped up its first season in May to enthusiastic reviews (\u201cLife may be too short, but&nbsp;<em>Vida<\/em>&nbsp;is just right,\u201d&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/05\/02\/arts\/television\/vida-starz-review.html\">wrote the&nbsp;<em>New York Times<\/em><\/a>) and was renewed for a second season. Saracho also signed a three-year deal with Starz to develop new projects\u2014and she\u2019s bringing other women with her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"wp-block-editorial-aside magazine-block-editorial-aside alignright has-quaternary-background\">\n<h3>Tanya Saracho<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>2018\u20132019:&nbsp;Creator, executive producer, and writer for&nbsp;<em>Vida<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2015:&nbsp;Coproducer and writer for&nbsp;<em>How to Get Away with Murder<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2014\u20132015:&nbsp;Coproducer and writer for&nbsp;<em>Looking<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2013:&nbsp;Writer for&nbsp;<em>Devious Maids<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2010:&nbsp;Named Best New Playwright by&nbsp;<em>Chicago Magazine<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2010:&nbsp;Awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2000:&nbsp;Founder of Teatro Luna theater company in Chicago, Ill.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n\n\n\n<p>During the 2016\u201317 television season, only 19 percent of showrunners were women; AMC, TBS, and TNT had no women at all running their shows. Industry pioneers like Saracho and fellow CFA alums&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0894628\/\">Krista Vernoff<\/a>&nbsp;(\u201993), showrunner of&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/abc.go.com\/shows\/greys-anatomy\">Grey\u2019s Anatomy<\/a><\/em>, and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm1597450\/\">Nina Tassler<\/a>&nbsp;(\u201979, Hon.\u201916), founder of PatMa Productions, are changing the way women are represented\u2014both onscreen and off\u2014to ensure that Hollywood is no longer a white man\u2019s world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>What\u2019s a Showrunner, Anyway?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Before moving to Los Angeles, Saracho hardly watched TV. She was busy working as a playwright in Chicago, where, in 2010, she was&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagomag.com\/Chicago-Magazine\/August-2010\/Best-of-Chicago-2010-Theatre\/\">named \u201cBest New Playwright\u201d<\/a>&nbsp;by&nbsp;<em>Chicago Magazine<\/em>&nbsp;and awarded a grant from the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.arts.gov\/\">National Endowment for the Arts<\/a>. So, when an agent took her out to lunch in 2011 and suggested she\u2019d be a natural television writer, it took her by surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She wasn\u2019t quite sold on the idea, but took a few meetings in Los Angeles, and \u201c<em>Devious Maids<\/em>&nbsp;just sort of happened,\u201d she says.&nbsp;<em>Looking<\/em>&nbsp;came next, followed by&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hbo.com\/girls\">Girls<\/a><\/em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/abc.go.com\/shows\/how-to-get-away-with-murder\">How to Get Away with Murder<\/a><\/em>. In 2016, Starz put out a call for showrunners for a series about \u201cgentefication,\u201d the gentrification of a neighborhood by wealthier Latinx people. Saracho, whose plays tackled racial and socioeconomic divides, was uniquely suited for the subject matter. She answered the call, and&nbsp;<em>Vida<\/em>&nbsp;was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Showrunning may have been new to Saracho, but the term has been in the television lexicon since the early 1990s to describe a particular breed of supercharged executive producer. Previously, creative direction had been controlled by the studios, which hired contract writers to flesh out ideas handed down by higher-ups. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, shows began offering writers more creative freedom\u2014laying the foundation for the visionary writers\/producers who would become the showrunner vanguard:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0920274\/\">John Wells<\/a>&nbsp;of&nbsp;<em>ER<\/em>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0800108\/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1\">David Simon<\/a>&nbsp;of&nbsp;<em>The Wire<\/em>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0153740\/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1\">David Chase<\/a>&nbsp;of&nbsp;<em>The Sopranos<\/em>, and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0586965\/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1\">David Milch<\/a>&nbsp;of&nbsp;<em>NYPD Blue<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Showrunners are now some of the most formidable figures in entertainment, commanding contracts and industry clout to rival those of powerhouse movie directors.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0722274\/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1\">Shonda Rhimes<\/a>, who helms several small-screen blockbusters including&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/abc.go.com\/shows\/scandal\">Scandal<\/a><\/em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>How to Get Away with Murder<\/em>, signed an estimated&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/live-feed\/shonda-rhimes-netflix-deal-ups-stakes-hollywoods-battle-ownership-1029850\">$100 million deal with Netflix<\/a>&nbsp;in 2017. In February 2018,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0614682\/\">Ryan Murphy<\/a>\u2014of&nbsp;<em>Nip\/Tuck<\/em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>American Horror Story<\/em>\u2014followed suit when he inked a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/features\/tvs-first-300m-man-inside-netflixs-blockbuster-ryan-murphy-deal-1099145\">$300 million contract<\/a>&nbsp;with the streaming giant, in what\u2019s believed to be the biggest deal in TV history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the industry prominence of showrunners, most people outside of Hollywood have only a hazy idea of what they do. In short, they are the boss, with the final say on all creative and managerial decisions concerning a television series. Depending on the project, a showrunner\u2019s responsibilities could include developing the concept for a show, hiring cast and crew members, steering a writers\u2019 room, counseling directors, dealing with studio and network executives, and balancing the budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cShowrunning, in a way, is a bit like when I was running&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/teatroluna.org\/\">Teatro Luna<\/a>,\u201d Saracho says of the all-Latina theater company she founded and led for a decade in Chicago, \u201cexcept with higher Hollywood stakes.\u201d Rather than Teatro Luna\u2019s $150,000 yearly operating budget, she says, there are \u201cmillions of dollars on the line.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For all its power and prestige, showrunning is a punishing profession. \u201cIt is an extremely difficult job. It is extremely time-consuming in a way that I wasn\u2019t quite prepared for,\u201d says Krista Vernoff, showrunner of the hit ABC medical drama&nbsp;<em>Grey\u2019s Anatomy<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As an acting major, Vernoff took a playwriting course with&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/bostonia\/summer11\/lipsky\/\">Jon Lipsky<\/a>, a much-loved professor of playwriting and acting at CFA who passed away in 2011. She found she had a talent not only for performing dialogue, but for writing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the spring of 1998, she moved to Los Angeles with several sample scripts in hand, and was promptly told, \u201cYour writing is really strong, your character work is really strong, but it\u2019s not funny enough.\u201d She realized she was better suited for hour-long dramedies\u2014which fuse elements of comedy and drama into a single show\u2014than half-hour sitcoms and went on to write for&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbc.com\/law-order\">Law &amp; Order<\/a><\/em>, the short-lived&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0361256\/\">Wonderfalls<\/a><\/em>, and&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/title\/70155629\">Charmed<\/a><\/em>. In 2005, she was hired by Rhimes, at the time a fledgling showrunner, to write for the first season of&nbsp;<em>Grey\u2019s Anatomy<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vernoff went on to write for seven seasons of&nbsp;<em>Grey\u2019s<\/em>, penning season two\u2019s Emmy-nominated episode&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0592910\/\">\u201cInto You Like a Train.\u201d<\/a>&nbsp;Although she was credited as \u201cco-showrunner\u201d during that time, she says her role more closely resembled that of a head writer since Rhimes was the one with ultimate creative control. She left ABC in 2011, working as an executive producer for Showtime\u2019s&nbsp;<em>Shameless<\/em>&nbsp;and serving as showrunner for five pilots that didn\u2019t make it to series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"wp-block-editorial-aside magazine-block-editorial-aside alignleft has-tertiary-background\">\n<h3>Krista Vernoff<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>2018:&nbsp;Executive producer and writer for&nbsp;<em>Grey\u2019s Anatomy<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2013\u20132017:&nbsp;Executive producer and writer for&nbsp;<em>Shameless<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2012\u20132013:&nbsp;Consulting producer and writer for&nbsp;<em>Private Practice<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2005\u20132006:&nbsp;Co-executive producer and writer for&nbsp;<em>Grey\u2019s Anatomy<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2004:&nbsp;Producer and writer for&nbsp;<em>Wonderfalls<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2003:&nbsp;Coproducer and writer for&nbsp;<em>Charmed<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2000:&nbsp;Writer for&nbsp;<em>Time of Your Life<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1999:&nbsp;Writer for&nbsp;<em>Law &amp; Order<\/em><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n\n\n\n<p>Then, in 2017, Rhimes handed Vernoff the reins for season 14 of&nbsp;<em>Grey\u2019s<\/em>. It was her first time showrunning an active show, and she worked 80-hour weeks for months on end. One day, she was so physically worn out that she woke up and couldn\u2019t stand; a doctor had to come to her house and hydrate her with an IV. Vernoff even called up&nbsp;<em>ER<\/em>\u2019s Wells to make sure she wasn\u2019t doing something wrong.&nbsp;<em>Nope<\/em>, Wells answered,&nbsp;<em>sounds like a first-year show<\/em>\u2014which, in some ways, it was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Breaking Up the Boys\u2019 Club<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Before landing at&nbsp;<em>Grey\u2019s<\/em>, Vernoff spent three years working for WB\u2019s&nbsp;<em>Charmed<\/em>, where her boss once told her \u201cI bet you\u2019re good in bed\u201d in front of the rest of the writers\u2019 room. She left, despite a major raise, because \u201cthe show had gone from being a girl power show to being a \u2018How do we get the girls naked this week?\u2019 show. And I as a feminist was really struggling. I have always said I left&nbsp;<em>Charmed<\/em>&nbsp;because I came in pitching fairies, and I left pitching stripper demons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Historically, the writers\u2019 room has often been a deeply uncomfortable place for nonwhite, nonmale writers. According to studies conducted by UCLA and San Diego State University, 67 percent of writers in the 2016\u201317 television season were men; 86 percent were white. And these trends are even more pronounced among those leading the shows\u2014during the same season, 81 percent of showrunners were men, and 90 percent were white.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The lack of diversity is due in part to a closed feedback loop. Showrunners typically work their way up through a series of writers\u2019 rooms before finally helming their own show. They then tend to hire people who look and sound like them or those they\u2019ve worked with before, and that\u2019s almost always white men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During an interview with a potential writer, Vernoff says, showrunners have already reviewed the candidate\u2019s r\u00e9sum\u00e9 and writing samples. What they want to find out during the interview is \u201cif you\u2019re someone they can hang with for 10 hours a day,\u201d she says. More often than not, that translates to someone who makes them comfortable, who has shared life experiences. \u201cOne of the things that we\u2019re all talking about now is that we have to be willing to be uncomfortable,\u201d Vernoff says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Research shows programs with at least one female creator also hire far more women than other shows, and&nbsp;<em>Grey\u2019s<\/em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>Vida<\/em>&nbsp;are no exception. Saracho\u2019s writers\u2019 room is staffed with seven women and one man, while Vernoff made a point to hire a male writer last season when her blind read turned up 14 scripts written by women. She also hired people of color for the three open writer slots for season 15, since she\u2019d \u201cinherited a lot of writers who were white,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At&nbsp;<em>Vida<\/em>, Saracho\u2019s all-Latinx writers\u2019 room includes Puerto Ricans, Salvadorians, Dominicans, Mexican Americans, and LGTBQ writers. No one is a diversity hire, she says, and no one person is expected to speak for an entire country or culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-bu-pullquote is-style-modern has-image has-image-focus-center-middle has-tertiary-theme\"><div class=\"wp-block-bu-pullquote-inner\"><blockquote><div class=\"container-lockup\"><div class=\"container-icon-outer\"><div class=\"container-icon-inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"537\" height=\"900\" class=\"bu-blocks-background wp-image-97459\" src=\"\/cfa\/files\/2023\/01\/Krista-Vernoff3.jpeg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2023\/01\/Krista-Vernoff3.jpeg 537w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2023\/01\/Krista-Vernoff3-379x636.jpeg 379w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 537px) 100vw, 537px\" \/><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container-text\"><hr\/><div class=\"quote-sizing\">\u201cHollywood has admitted that there is a major gender problem and that it\u2019s unmanageable. We\u2019ve named it. We\u2019re talking about it, and now we have the power to begin to change it.\u201d<\/div><footer class=\"caption\"><br\/>KRISTA VERNOFF (\u201993)<\/footer><hr\/><\/div><\/div><\/blockquote><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3>A New Frontier<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Since&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Harvey_Weinstein_sexual_abuse_allegations\">Harvey Weinstein\u2019s alleged sexual abuse<\/a>&nbsp;went public in 2017, Hollywood has become a hub for conversations about power and representation and a locus for the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/metoomvmt.org\/\">#MeToo<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesupnow.com\/\">Time\u2019s Up<\/a>&nbsp;movements. More than 1,000 women in the entertainment industry\u2014including&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm2499064\/\">Uzo Aduba<\/a>&nbsp;(\u201905),&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0000133\/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1\">Geena Davis<\/a>&nbsp;(\u201979, Hon.\u201999),&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0000194\/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1\">Julianne Moore<\/a>&nbsp;(\u201983),&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0000673\/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1\">Marisa Tomei<\/a>&nbsp;(\u201986, Hon.\u201902), and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0005569\/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1\">Alfre Woodard<\/a>&nbsp;(\u201974, Hon.\u201904)\u2014signed the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/01\/01\/movies\/times-up-hollywood-women-sexual-harassment.html\">Time\u2019s Up open letter<\/a>&nbsp;published by the&nbsp;<em>New York Times<\/em>&nbsp;in January 2018, which called attention to the misogynist work environments faced by women in all walks of life. Vernoff herself has written several articles for the&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/\">Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/em>, speaking out about her experiences in the television industry, including the sexist behavior she encountered while working on&nbsp;<em>Charmed<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Women showrunners are not just waiting for change to come from the top down\u2014they\u2019re changing the culture from the inside. \u201cEveryone I hire, I hire with an eye for them to run their own show,\u201d Saracho says. \u201cI\u2019m nurturing showrunners.\u201d There are eight Latinx showrunners across the entire television industry, she says, and \u201cthat\u2019s not enough. That\u2019s not even one percent. We have to make more.\u201d To bring her writers up the ladder along with her, she often recruits them to participate in projects outside the writers\u2019 room, like interviewing script coordinators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nina Tassler is thinking even bigger. As the head of CBS Entertainment for 11 years, she made it her mission to provide more opportunities to women in television, both as executives and as showrunners. But it shouldn\u2019t stop there, she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s important that you encourage women to be not only showrunners, but also to be in an overseeing capacity, to have multiple projects on the air at one time,\u201d says Tassler, who left CBS in 2015 to start her own company, PatMa Productions, which employs women and people of color, specifically. \u201cCan we find more opportunities for women directors? Can we find more opportunities for women casting directors? Can we find more opportunities for female line producers?\u201d she asks. \u201cWe\u2019re looking to populate as much of our work as possible with female voices, leadership, creators, storytellers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-end-of-article\">For her part, Vernoff is optimistic. \u201cWe are becoming more and more comfortable telling the truth,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd until you\u2019ve named a problem and spoken the truth you cannot fix it. Hollywood has admitted that there is a major gender problem and that it\u2019s unmanageable. We\u2019ve named it. We\u2019re talking about it, and now we have the power to begin to change it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories is-style-card has-three magazine-block-editorial-relatedstories\">\n\t\t<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-title\">Related<\/h3>\n\t\t<ul class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2508\" height=\"2373\" src=\"\/cfa\/files\/2022\/10\/Geena-Davis-1.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/10\/Geena-Davis-1.jpeg 2508w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/10\/Geena-Davis-1-636x602.jpeg 636w, 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class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"600\" height=\"400\" src=\"\/cfa\/files\/2021\/06\/Raver-thumbnail.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Kim Raver\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2021\/06\/Raver-thumbnail.jpg 600w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2021\/06\/Raver-thumbnail-450x300.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-category\"><span>Theatre<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/magazine\/articles\/2021\/true-life-drama\/\" class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title-link\">True Life Drama<\/a><\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-date\">June 8, 2021<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Saracho&nbsp;(\u201998) had no idea what he was talking about. She called her agent, who explained: most major broadcast networks subsidize one entry-level writer of color for each scripted show. Although it\u2019s meant to foster inclusion in writers\u2019 rooms that are overwhelmingly white and male, these \u201cdiversity hires\u201d are rarely hired permanently; showrunners will trade them [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6310,"featured_media":97608,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[],"bu-publication":[191],"magazine-article-category":[372,378],"magazine-topic":[],"news-article-category":[],"news-topic":[],"bu_edition":[388],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/97456"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6310"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97456"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/97456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97610,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/97456\/revisions\/97610"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97456"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=97456"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-article-category?post=97456"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-topic?post=97456"},{"taxonomy":"news-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-article-category?post=97456"},{"taxonomy":"news-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-topic?post=97456"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=97456"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=97456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}