J.J. Abrams, Joss Whedon Featured in New ‘Showrunners’ Documentary Trailer (Video)

DIGITAL: Joss Whedon

Joss Whedon

Ever wonder what goes on inside the minds of TV's greatest minds?

A new trailer for the in-the-works full-length documentary Showrunners answers just that with interviews featuring heavyweights like J.J. Abrams, Joss Whedon and Shawn Ryan.

Everything from what was studied in college and how they got into showrunning to 100 percent burnout rates and doing the job right is touched on. Others included in the film are Terence Winter, Jane Espenson, Andrew Marlowe, Leverage's Chris Downey and John Rogers, Bill Prady, Hart Hanson, Matthew Carnahan, Mike Kelley, Dee Johnson, Ronald D. Moore, Jonathan Nolan and Ali LeRoi.

The first trailer, released back in June 2011, featured interviews with Kurt Sutter, David Shore, Steven S. DeKnight and Mike Royce. And it's DeKnight, who brings up the importance of Comic-Con, calling it an "important" moment when "writers are out in the forefront now just like actors and directors." "This is a little bit like a rock concert for a showrunner," adds DeKnight.

Some other soundbites:

  • Revenge's Kelley: "I try not to get caught up in ratings, but I do read other people's ratings."
  • Whedon: "I've probably spoken out against the networks three times in my career and yet now I find that I'm this hothead maverick, which is amazing because I'm afraid of 4-year-olds."

Des Doyle directs, with John Wallace and Ryan Patrick McGuffey producing. A Kickstarter campaign was recently launched to help fund the project.

Watch the new trailer below:

E-mail: Philiana.Ng@thr.com
Twitter: @insidethetube

Philiana Ng