Showrunners Danny Strong and Lee Daniels: Crafting 'Empire' TV Series - Essay Sample

Introduction

A showrunner has complete authority over the production of a TV series. These leading producers use different film styles to ensure the series has succeeded in attracting the audience. The showrunners of Empire were Danny Strong and Lee Daniels. The showrunners created a story of an African American family life experience through the hip-hop world. The TV series is one of the most influential TV drama series. Danny Strong and Lee Daniels acted as the writers and the executive producers for the TV series. Lee Daniels is considered a great producer recognized through various nominations and awards, including Oscars. Lee has a history in the entertainment industry and has worked even with politicians and musicians, especially in works that uplifted the people of color. Danny Strong started has an actor and participated in various works, including The Vampire slayer. Strong later transitioned into screenwriting and making him a prolific film producer and director. Lee Daniels and Danny Strong together executively produced the Empire.

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The Empire is a TV series producer differently from other TV series. Lee and Danny used reality and mixed it with hip hop culture to influence the viewers and make the series interesting (Seale). The series includes some of the reality experienced by Lee Daniels in his life. The storyline relates to the people and culture creation through hip hop. The showrunners directed the series to connect their audience with the reality behind every American family. The family behind the storyline includes a husband trying to create a music industry with four conflicting sons and an ex-wife. The directing of the activities that happen in the series is unique and relatable to reality.

The style of directing and the show marched the showrunner's beats. Lee Daniels knew about hip hop, and they just needed to connect the struggles of their lives with musical development to come up with the shows. The show also included involving the viewers in identifying the homophobia that exists in the black community (Smith-Frigerio 398). Lee advocated for the characters and the story to reflect the African-American society and to show the efforts of individuals to become successful. The use of actual artistes and songs made the shows exciting and entertaining. These styles were successful since both the showrunners had experience in the entertainment industry. They understood the needs and knew how to get the audience engaged by the planning of episodes and the directing of characters. Showrunners aimed at making the series a game-changer in the film and TV production.

The entertainment industry needed shifts in the method they applied to present drama. The use of police, hospital wards were becoming predictable to the audience. Using a record label to show family, conflicts, fashion, and entertainment is a major force in allowing the showrunners to show their series. From their first time they teamed up to produce the civil rights film, The Butler, the two have gained great influence in producing good shows (Julious). The shows of Lee Daniels and Danny Strong got aired because they came in a time when the entertainment industry sought shows that would educate the viewers. Society, especially in America, was facing racial injustice, especially through the African-American as victims. Hip-Hip, as a form of entertainment, was associated with gangster life and criminals. The show sought to end racism and homophobia by showing how cool hip hop was. The industry at the time was facing challenges in accessing good characters that would make shows incredible (Ristau). Lee and Danny sought the best casts and writers to come up with the best storyline. The characters of Empire, such as Terrence and Taraji, made the shows incredible and attracted many producers. Inside the industry, many TV shows had become diverse n the kind of stories and shows they presented. For instance, The Orange Is The New Black; the show included female cast that hit every sexual, economic, and ethnic base. Lee and Danny's show focused on influencing other aspects of the society that were facing discrimination.

The show shown by Lee and Danny, such as Empire, was aired by Fox. The show got jointly produced by Imagine Television and 20th Century Fox Television. Fox provided the showrunners to air their shows since diversity was among the factors being advocate by many broadcasts (Ristau). The channel enabled the drama to top the charts with overnight rating indication strong performance from the characters and the showrunners. Within the first two episodes, the drama series had acquired great viewers and built a large rating, becoming the first drama series to hit a rating of 4 (Deggans). The streamer played a huge role in giving the drama series a platform to express the effects of racism and to influence diversification.

The themes of Lee and Danny's show focused on social change. There first show together, The Butler, focused on civil rights. The Empire focused on racism, especially on the people of color. The showrunners focused on showing the world the beauty of the African-American society through their cultural practices and especially through music (Andreeva). The showrunners used the entertainment platform to bring change to society. These showrunners have experience in these realities, and their works show the negative effects of vices in society even when other agencies in society are not willing to express such views.

The showrunners are important in the film industry. They present unique styles that can be used in the entertainment sector to influence change in society. Lee Daniels has a history of influencing change through entertainment. He worked with Bill Clinton in commercial advertisements to uplift the young individual, especially from the people of color, to act responsibly in political matters (Ristau). Lee has also connected different artists politically to nature, a society with responsible individuals. Alicia Keys is one of the artistes he used during the Bill Clinton projects. The two showrunners influence the role of television in society. The society is a platform for social change and a medium to educate the society. The showrunners show how the film industry can participate in an entertaining and educating the society on diversity and their rights (Andreeva). The work of Lee and Danny influences the Dynasty soap opera in the Empire. The series includes modernization of 1980 soap of wealthy American families and the conflicts in controlling the wealth. The show has adopted the trending issues in the society to match the factors expressed through Lee and Danny's Empire drama series.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Lee Daniels and Danny Strong effectively produced and directed the TV drama series uniquely to influence the viewer's perceptions of the African-American community and hip-hop. Their use of real-time conflicts and relatable family conflicts march the needs of the viewer's expectations and differentiates them from other showrunners. The two showrunners show a great knowledge of how the shows should run to influence society to become better.

Work Cited

Andreeva, Nellie. "To Build ‘Empire’: The Campaign That Helped Fox Drama Become Breakout Hit". Deadline, 2015, https://deadline.com/2015/01/Empire-marketing-campaign-vod-fox-1201351402/. Accessed 2 June 2020.

Deggans, Eric. "The Success Of Fox's 'Empire' Reveals A Few Do's And Don'ts For TV". NPR, 2015, https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2015/02/01/382891110/the-success-of-foxs-Empire-reveals-a-few-dos-and-donts-for-tv. Accessed 2 June 2020.

Julious, Britt. "'The Empire Economy': How The Hit Fox Show Is Making Chicago Swing". The Guardian, 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/feb/06/Empire-economy-fox-drama-chicago. Accessed 2 June 2020.

Ristau, Reece. "‘Empire’ Creators Lee Daniels, Danny Strong Talk Fighting Racism, Homophobia". Variety.Com, 2015, https://variety.com/2015/tv/news/Empire-creators-lee-daniels-danny-strong-talk-fighting-racism-homophobia-1201509074/. Accessed 2 June 2020.

Seale, Jack. "Empire: Behind TV's Biggest Drama In A Decade". The Guardian, 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/apr/25/lee-daniels-taraji-p-henson-Empire. Accessed 2 June 2020.

Smith-Frigerio, Sarah. "Intersectionality of Race, Class and Gender: The Complex Representation of Bipolar Disorder on Fox Network's Empire." Howard Journal of Communications 29.4 (2018): 387-402. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10646175.2017.1407720. Accessed 2 June 2020.