Shonda Rhimes

At 54 years old, Shonda Rhimes has this physical status:

Shonda Lynn Rhimes (born January 13, 1970) is an American television producer, television, and film writer as well as an author.

She is best known as the showrunner, producer, and executive producer of Grey's Anatomy, its spin-off Private Practice, and the political thriller series Scandal.

Rhimes has also served as the executive producer of ABC's Off the Map, How to Get Away With Murder, and The Catch. In 2007, Rhimes was named one of TIME magazine's 100 People Who Change the World.

Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun, and Be Your Own Person was published in 2015 by the author.

In 2017, Netflix announced that it had signed a multi-year development agreement with Rhimes, in which all of the company's future films would be Netflix Original series.

Anatomy and Scandal's bingesome episodes had already been purchased by Netflix.

Early life and education

Rhimes was born in Chicago, Illinois, as the youngest of six children of Vera P. (née Cain), a college professor, and Ilee Rhimes, Jr., a university administrator. She mother attended college while raising their six children and earned a PhD in educational administration in 1991. She father, who has an MBA, was appointed chief information officer (CIO) at the University of Southern California and served until 2013.

Rhimes and her two older brothers and three older sisters lived in Park Forest South (now University Park, Illinois). She has said she had an early affinity for storytelling. She worked as a hospital volunteer while high school, which ignited an interest in hospital environments.

Rhimes attended Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, Illinois. She earned her bachelor's degree in 1991 at Dartmouth College, concentrating on English and film studies. She performed at Dartmouth for the Black Underground Theater Association. She divided her time between teaching and performing in student productions and writing fiction.

She has also written for the college newspaper. She and her older sibling, Emily, moved to San Francisco and spent time in advertising at McCann Erickson after college. She then moved to Los Angeles to study screenwriting at the University of Southern California. Rhimes received the Gary Rosenberg Writing Fellowship after being ranked at the top of her USC class. She earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of California's School of Cinematic Arts.

Rhimes was hired as an intern by Debra Martin Chase while in Washington, D.C. Rhimes attributes her early success, in part, to mentors such as Chase, a well-known African-American producer. Mundy Lane Entertainment, Denzel Washington's company, also worked at Mundy Lane Entertainment. Chase served as a mentor to Rhimes while working together on The Princess Diaries 2.

Personal life

Rhimes adopted her first daughter in June 2002 and then adopted another child in February 2012. Rhimes welcomed her third daughter via gestational surrogacy in September 2013.

Rhimes delivered a commencement address at Dartmouth College, where she received an honorary doctorate in 2014.

Rhimes revealed in September 2015 that she had shed 117 pounds through diet and dieting.

Rhimes joined Planned Parenthood's national board in April 2017.

Shonda Rhimes joined the group When We All Vote as a co-chair in 2019. This group was created to get out the vote ahead of the 2020 general election.

Source

Career

Rhimes was an unemployed scriptwriter in Hollywood after graduation. Rhimes served in a variety of day jobs, from an office administrator to a career center that taught job skills to people with housing instability and mental illness, before and after. Rhimes served as research director on Hank Aaron's "Chrising the Dream (1995), which received the 1995 Peabody Award. Rhimes produced Blossoms and Veils, starring Jada Pinkett-Smith and Jeffrey Wright, which is her only film director work. A feature script of New Line Cinema was purchased. In 1998, Rhimes was given the opportunity to co-write the HBO film Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999). It has been nominated for its actor, Halle Berry.

Rhimes wrote Crossroads, the debut film of pop singer Britney Spears in 2001. Despite being mocked by critics, the film earned more than $60 million worldwide.

Rhimes delves into the writing of Disney's sequel to its well-known movie The Princess Diaries (2001). Despite the fact that The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004) did not do well at the box office, Rhimes later said she loved the experience, if only for the opportunity to work with its actor, Julie Andrews. Rhimes wrote her first television pilot about young female war correspondents for ABC in 2003, but the network turned it down.

Rhimes is the creator and current executive producer and head writer of Grey's Anatomy. On March 27, 2005, the series debuted as a mid-season replacement. The series follows the surgical staff at Seattle Grace Hospital (later to be called Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital) in Seattle, Washington. Ellen Pompeo plays titular character Meredith Grey, who provides narration for the majority of the series' episodes.

Rhimes developed and produced the Grey's Anatomy spin-off series Private Practice, which premiered on ABC on September 26, 2007. Dr. Addison Montgomery's (Kate Walsh) died in Seattle, Los Angeles, as she left Seattle Grace Hospital to begin a private practice. Tim Daly, Amy Brenneman, Audra McDonald, and Taye Diggs were among the cast members of the series. Because of a writers' strike, the first season was cut short; it has nine episodes. ABC selected Private Practice for the 2012–13 television season in May 2012, with 13 episodes. The series's finale was broadcast on January 22, 2013.

Rhimes developed Inside the Box, a female-centric ensemble drama set in a Washington, D.C. network news bureau, in 2010. Catherine, the lead actress, was an innovative female news producer who and her coworkers went "the tale" at all costs, juggling their personal animosities and conscience crises. It was not detected by the network and was not visible.

Rhimes served as executive producer for the Grey's Anatomy writer Jenna Bans' book Off the Map in 2011. It was focusing on a group of doctors who practice medicine at a rural clinic in the Amazon jungle. The ABC network had officially cancelled the series on May 13, 2011.

ABC ordered Rhimes' pilot script Scandal to be broadcast in May 2011. Olivia Pope, a political crisis management specialist, appears in Kerry Washington. Judy Smith, a former Bush administration press aide, is partially based on former Bush administration press aide Judy Smith's biography. On April 5, 2012, the series's debut aired.

Rhimes produced a pilot for a period drama called Gilded Lilys in 2012, but it was not picked up for a series.

How to Get Away with Murder, ABC's December 2013 ordered a pilot for a new Rhimes series. In February 2014, actress Viola Davis joined the cast as the lead character. On May 8, 2014, it was officially launched as a series.

In March 2016, ABC premiered The Catch, a comedy-drama directed by Rhimes based on a British author Kate Atkinson's treatment. Mireille Enos and Peter Krause appeared in the film. Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, and Grey's Anatomy were all selected for their sixth, third, and 13th seasons earlier this month. Scandal would conclude after its forthcoming seventh season, the following year, it was announced that it would be cancelled after its second season.

Netflix revealed on August 14, 2017 that it had signed an exclusive multi-year development contract with Rhimes, under which all of its future projects will be Netflix Original Series. Anatomy and Scandal's former episodes had already been purchased in the United States via Netflix. Rhimes is a "true Netflixer at heart" since "she loves television and films, she cares passionately about her work, and she delivers for her audience, according to Chief content officer Ted Sarandos.

Of the deal, Rhimes said that

Because of Rhimes' fame at ABC, the deal was seen as a blow for Netflix; it was also a backlash against ABC's attempt to reduce the availability of their content on Netflix in favour of a planned subscription service of their own.

She was currently working on more than 12 projects for Netflix, including the period drama Bridgerton.

Source