Drawn (to) independence: female showrunners in contemporary American TV animation

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article focuses on three showrunners: Natasha Allegri (Bee and PuppyCat), Shadi Petosky (Danger & Eggs, co-created with Mike Owens), and Rebecca Sugar (Steven Universe). It outlines the ways in which these women—who share a background in independent comics and online art—have taken advantage of emergent online distribution and funding models and the rising influence of fragmented audiences and online fan communities in the post-network era in order to make space for diverse, feminist, and LGBTQ-inclusive narratives and aesthetics. Combining an industry studies approach to the three showrunners’ career trajectories with close analysis of their shows, this article offers insight into a distinctive form of independent female production that thrives at the intersection of twenty-first century television marketing, funding, and distribution strategies and contemporary online fan discourses and practices.