There was once a time when the only people that could understand the trials and tribulations of running a TV series were other showrunners. However, in television’s new age of transparency, that’s all changing, and one of the first steps is Des Doyle’s new documentary, Showrunners: The Art of Running a TV Show. After three years of work, the new film held its Los Angeles debut at the TV Academy, which was followed by a highly entertaining Q&A with subjects Hart Hanson, Mike Royce, Steven DeKnight, as well as others. However, the only way to have seen it was to be in attendance the night of the premiere… that is, until now:

At the moment, Showrunners is currently scoring big on the iTunes charts, ranking #1 in the documentary category and top 30 over the weekend. As it turns out, people are highly interested in learning how their favorite shows are made, if for no other reason than to gain a deeper appreciation for the work that goes into the likes of Spartacus, Bones and Battlestar Galactica. But in addition to the documentary, videos like these also give us an insight into the kinds of personalities that control our entertainment.

What comes through most of all in the new film and this panel is how level-headed everyone seems. They work really hard, they’re all very passionate, but they’re all (appear) sane individuals. What they care most about is the audience and making sure they get everything they came to see. When you’re dealing with that kind of passion, anything’s possible.

Showrunners is now available on Amazon, iTunes and all other VOD platforms.

Want to know more? Check out the Showrunners gang on their episode of the Nerdist Writers Panel podcast.