ABSTRACT
The digital television revolution has completely up-ended business as usual. Given the role of social media and crowdfunding, and the efficiency and low cost of shooting video on our own, everything now sits in a more level playing field. Increasingly, visionary first-time series creators are circumventing the lower rungs of the staff writer ladder and leap-frogging straight to the upper ranks of co-executive producer, and even showrunner. Sam Esmail, the creator/showrunner of Mr. Robot, is represented by the powerful Creative Artists Agency and the influential management company Anonymous Content. Creative entrepreneurship is more than just creating superior content; it is about creating superior content and then connecting to an audience. Marta Kauffman, the co-creator and showrunner of NBC's long-running, Emmy Award-winning series Friends, and currently of Grace and Frankie on Netflix, will be the first to admit that she's never been a joke writer.
