Showrunning 101
Wednesday, November 4, 2026 | 5-6:30 PM PT | Online

Showrunning can sometimes be a staff writer’s ultimate career goal. But what does it actually mean to be a showrunner? We’ll ask TV showrunners about their roles both in the writers room and on set, and the leadership and other skills it takes to be a successful one.

Greg Daniels

Greg Daniels is a five-time Emmy-award-winning writer, showrunner, and director, responsible for several of the most iconic series and characters in television history.

Daniels developed The Office for American television, and created Upload, the number one half-hour show on Prime Video, which just wrapped its fourth season. He co-created Parks and Recreation, Space Force, the long-running animated hit King of the Hill, and the reality format My Mom, Your Dad, which has been produced in 11 countries. He directed the pilots of Parks and Recreation, Upload, The Paper, People of Earth, and over a dozen episodes of The Office.

Recently he teamed back up with Mike Judge to start Bandera Entertainment, which is making animated shows for Hulu, Peacock, Netflix, Freeform, Comedy Central, and Adult Swim.

Early in his career, Daniels wrote for Saturday Night Live, Seinfeld, and The Simpsons, where he wrote 3 of the 10 most popular episodes according to a TV Guide poll. For several years, between The Office and Parks and Recreation, he was responsible for about 10 percent of all viewing on Netflix.

Michael Koman

Michael Koman is the Co-Creator of Peacock's new series set in The Office universe. Previously, Michael was an Executive Producer on How To with John Wilson for HBO, an Executive Producer and Co-Creator of Comedy Central’s Nathan for You, a Co-Executive Producer on GIRLS5EVA at Peacock and a Writer on Saturday Night Live and Late Night with Conan O’Brien. He also Co-Created and was the Co-Showrunner of Eagleheart, starring Chris Elliott, which ran for three seasons on Adult Swim.

J.J. Philbin

J.J. Philbin currently serves as co-showrunner and Executive Producer of the upcoming comedy Dig. She co-created the ABC comedy Single Parents and has written and produced series including Only Murders in the Building, New Girl, and The O.C. J.J. began her career as a writer on Saturday Night Live.

Michael Schur

Michael Schur created the critically acclaimed comedies The Good Place and A Man On The Inside, and co-created Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn 99, and the upcoming Dig with Amy Poehler. He has also served as Executive Producer on shows like Hacks and Master of None. Prior to Parks, Michael began his career on Saturday Night Live, and then spent four years as a writer-producer on the Emmy Award-winning NBC hit The Office.

Sonja Warfield

Sonja Warfield is a television writer/producer and author. Currently, she’s the Emmy-nominated Co-Showrunner and Executive Producer for HBO’s highly awarded drama, The Gilded Age. Season four premieres on November 1. Some of her other credits include her work on the Emmy Award-winning NBC sitcom Will & Grace as well as BET’s hit comedy The Game.

Over the course of her 20+ year career, Sonja’s also earned credits from a diverse range of television shows including Disney Channel’s popular Liv and Maddie; BET’s Zoe Ever After, which featured pop star Brandy; the animated series She-Ra for Dreamworks/Netflix, where she also penned an original song; and the ABC comedy Jake in Progress. She’s developed and written pilots/projects for ABC, NBC, Netflix, Amazon, Nickelodeon, Lifetime, Universal TV, Sony Pictures Television, and HBO.

Sonja is the mother of an artist; the daughter of an NFL Hall of Fame football player, and she’s a former debutante (but don’t hold that against her). Sonja is a part-time stand-up comedian. She’s performed at The Comedy Store, The Laugh Factory, and The Ice House. These days, though, she performs mostly in her kitchen.

She has a B.A. in Cinema/Television-Critical Studies from the University of Southern California where she has taught television writing.

Sonja is represented by Anonymous Content and Myman Greenspan Fox Rosenberg Mobasser Younger & White.

Jeanie Bergen

Jeanie Bergen is a graduate of the Writers Guild of America 2026 Showrunner Training Program. She sold her original half-hour pilot, Sorry Your Dad Sucks, to Netflix, where she is now under a blind deal. Jeanie’s credits include Vladimir, Dave, Kings of America, Mr. Corman, and One Mississippi. She sold her autobiographical comedy, E Is for Edie, about her experience becoming her sister’s guardian in 2018, which was also featured on Aaron Sorkin’s Masterclass. Prior to writing for television, she was a three-time Emmy award-winning journalist. She has studied improv and sketch comedy at The Groundlings and is the creator of the live storytelling show, Happy Holidays! Our Parents are Dead. Jeanie is a graduate of USC’s MFA Writing for Screen & Television program where she now teaches screenwriting.