John Landgraf solidified FX’s reputation as one of basic cable’s go-to destinations for groundbreaking original series by giving showrunners creative freedom to do what they do best.

​

Landgraf encourages original thinking by fostering trust among his team and the producers, writers, and creative minds they work with. That philosophy has led to critically-acclaimed and award-winning series including “Atlanta,” “Louie,” “The Americans” “Archer,” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” and paved the way for hit anthology series with “American Horror Story” and “Fargo.” During his tenure, FX’s ratings hit all-time highs; he also launched a comedy-focused network, FXX, in 2013.

​

Dubbed the “mayor of TV,” Landgraf has spoken out about the importance of diversity, especially among directors, and the impact digital streaming services are having on episodic storytelling. He also isn’t afraid to confront issues plaguing the industry, such as his vocal stance on the peak TV phenomenon.

​

He’s also made diversity and inclusion an important part of his mission at the networks he runs. “It is much easier on some level when the people in the path to give you opportunities share your gender or your sexual orientation or your ethnicity. I think it’s one of the reasons I’ve become much more conscious personally and through the organization that I run now of really, really trying to reach out to and give opportunities to women and people of color,” he told Variety in 2017.