Article: Pastors are like TV showrunners. They need training.

Recently Vanity Fair released an excerpt from Burn It Down, a new book by the media columnist Maureen Ryan, describing in detail the horrible experiences that the cast and crew of the TV show “Lost” experienced at the hands of their showrunners, Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof. The show is one of many that Ryan considers as she explores the thesis that the problems in Hollywood are not about “one bad man” but about the bigger structures through which television shows are currently produced.

In her book, Ryan interviewed Lindelof himself. And he accepted much of the criticism, saying he was completely in over his head as a first-time showrunner at “Lost” and made a ton of mistakes. For over a decade now, networks have refused to allow writers to come to the set and help produce the episodes they have written, because it would mean paying them more. As a result writers have no experience at leading shows when they eventually get that chance. It is a recipe for disaster. And on “Lost” (and so many other shows), disaster is exactly what has happened.

Life in the Catholic Church may seem a far cry from all that, but America Media explores what the Catholic Church and its pastors can learn from the showrunner of Hollywood and other professions. Like other leaders, pastors also need proper leadership formation in order to effectively manage their staff and parishes. 

Read the full America Media article here: Pastors are like TV showrunners. They need training.