At Göteborg’s TV Drama Vision, Katharina Eyssen, creator and showrunner of the Netflix period-drama series The Empress, shared insights into the challenges and rewards of showrunning in Europe, highlighting how the role demands both creative vision and leadership in increasingly complex productions. The discussion was moderated by Marike Muselaers.

Eyssen began by reflecting on her early career as a writer in Germany. “Before I had my first show on Netflix, I was solely a writer. […] I tried to write stuff for German television and cinema, which was hard because the industry wasn’t diversified,” she explained. Eyssen described a landscape divided between formulaic television, commercial feature films and auteur-driven projects dominated by directors who wrote their own material. Feeling constrained, she considered leaving the industry altogether.

Her breakthrough came with Netflix, which offered her a first project as both writer and showrunner. “Netflix came along at first. […] They saved my career because they opened the door to doing something that is commercially relevant and reaches a huge audience, but which could still be layered and interesting,” she said. Eyssen described this first mini-series as a kind of traineeship, noting, “Netflix was smart by giving us this small project to test us out and see if we could cope.” It allowed her to develop leadership skills while overseeing a manageable budget and crew. “The hardest thing about going from a writer to a showrunner is leadership. […]Creating a show or making a movie is not a democracy. It’s a team, but not a democracy,” she emphasised.

Eyssen discussed the challenges of working with directors and balancing creative authority with collaboration. Some helmers thrived in the showrunner system, while others struggled. “I’ve said a million times, ‘Unfortunately, I’m the boss.’ […] Then, when we are immersed in the process, it’s still hard for them,” she admitted. She also highlighted negotiating with Netflix as part of her learning curve: “You cannot bullshit them. […] Find a common ground – otherwise, it will all explode in the editing room.”

The transition from Holiday Secrets, her first mini-series, to The Empress, a large-scale historical drama, further broadened her responsibilities. Eyssen shared how she adapted her vision to the realities of streaming audiences: “It was more slow-paced in my first vision, very raw and grey, and I learned to hide that or at least to find the right dosage. […] If you’re not really connected to a character in the story after five minutes, people just switch off.” She also pushed for creative choices such as lead casting: “It was a big fight, but I got my way,” illustrating her assertiveness in protecting the show’s identity.

Eyssen detailed her method for managing production and scripts. She prepares all scripts six weeks before shooting begins, conducts rehearsals with actors and directors, and then delegates on set. “I try to be very strict with this system. […] I don’t talk to the actors on set. I talk to directors, of course, but I’m behind the monitors,” she said. She stressed the importance of defending her team’s work: “I’m very protective of the whole thing. […] Even if I have yelled at the directors or the DoPs, I will defend it fiercely in front of Netflix.” Budgeting and scheduling were additional challenges, particularly for historical productions, and Eyssen admitted, “I’m not good with budgets, obviously, but we have good people. […] It’s a give and take.”

Over multiple seasons, her role evolved as she learned diplomacy, conflict management and delegation. Reflecting on the experience, she described showrunning as intensive but highly rewarding: “Creating a show and working on it for a couple of years feels like moviemaking on good drugs. […] The writing feels like writing a novel. It’s a long story that you can tell this way or that way.” She also shared a vivid anecdote from production: “I was running between the two studios, so now I know why they call it showrunning,” thus demonstrating the physical and mental demands of her role. Eyssen encouraged aspiring showrunners to embrace the challenge despite the workload: “Go for it because it’s so rewarding. […] It is a lot, besides the writing; it’s a 20-hour day.”

Chief executive director of ifs and director of the European Showrunner Programme Nadja Radojevic later joined her on stage and noted that Eyssen’s path reflects broader trends in Europe, where a showrunner model is slowly taking shape. While European systems differ from the US studio model – most notably in the close collaboration with producers – the principle of maintaining a creator’s voice across a production remains central. “There is a European showrunner system emerging. […] It is a proven concept that will make our TV shows better and enable them to remain competitive,” Radojevic concluded, underlining some of the findings of the new Showrunning in Europe report (see the news).