Shonda Rhimes facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Shonda Rhimes
Rhimes in 2016
Born	Shonda Lynn Rhimes (1970-01-13) January 13, 1970 (age 54) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Alma mater	Dartmouth College University of Southern California
Occupation	Television producer screenwriter
Years active	1995–present
Children	3

Shonda Lynn Rhimes (born January 13, 1970) is an American television producer and screenwriter, and founder of the production company Shondaland. As of 2023, she is one of the richest women entertainers in America, with a net worth of $250 million.

Rhimes became known as the showrunner—creator, head writer, and executive producer—of the medical drama Grey's Anatomy (2005–present) and the political thriller Scandal (2012–2018), both for ABC. She has also served as the executive producer of the ABC thriller series How to Get Away with Murder (2014–2020), and the Netflix period series Bridgerton (2020–present) and Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (2023), and drama Inventing Anna (2022).

In 2007, 2013 and 2021, Rhimes was named by Time on the Time 100, their annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2015, she published her first book, a memoir, Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun, and Be Your Own Person.

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. Her mother attended college while raising their six children and earned a PhD in educational administration in 1991. Her father, who holds an MBA, became chief information officer (CIO) at the University of Southern California, serving until 2013.

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

Raised Catholic, Rhimes attended Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, Illinois. At Dartmouth College, she majored in English and film studies and earned her bachelor's degree in 1991. At Dartmouth, she joined the Black Underground Theater Association. She divided her time between directing and performing in student productions, and writing fiction.

She also wrote for the college newspaper. After college, she relocated to San Francisco with an older sibling and worked in advertising at McCann Erickson. She subsequently moved to Los Angeles to attend the University of Southern California and study screenwriting. Ranked at the top of her USC class, Rhimes earned the Gary Rosenberg Writing Fellowship. She obtained a Master of Fine Arts degree from the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

While at USC, Rhimes was hired as an intern by Debra Martin Chase. Rhimes credits her early success, in part, to mentors such as Chase, a prominent African-American producer. She also worked at Denzel Washington's company, Mundy Lane Entertainment. Chase served as a mentor to Rhimes: they worked together on The Princess Diaries 2.

Career

Career beginnings: 1995–2004

After graduation, Rhimes was an unemployed scriptwriter in Hollywood. To make ends meet, Rhimes worked at a variety of day jobs, including as an office administrator and then a counselor at a job center that taught job skills to people with housing instability and mental illness. During this period, Rhimes worked as research director on the documentary Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream (1995), which won the 1995 Peabody Award. In 1998 Rhimes made a short film, Blossoms and Veils, starring Jada Pinkett-Smith and Jeffrey Wright, which is her only credit as a film director. New Line Cinema purchased a feature script of hers. Rhimes received an assignment to co-write the HBO movie Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999). It earned numerous awards for its star, Halle Berry.

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

Rhimes next worked on writing Disney's sequel to its popular movie The Princess Diaries (2001). Although The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004) did not score as well at the box office, Rhimes later said that she treasured the experience, if only for the opportunity to work with its star, Julie Andrews. In 2003, Rhimes wrote her first TV pilot for ABC about young female war correspondents, but the network turned it down.

Netflix deal

On August 14, 2017, Netflix announced that it had entered into an exclusive multi-year development deal with Rhimes, under which all of her future productions will be Netflix Original series. The service already had purchased U.S. streaming rights to past episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Scandal. Chief content officer Ted Sarandos described Rhimes as being a "true Netflixer at heart" since "she loves TV and films, she cares passionately about her work, and she delivers for her audience".

Of the deal, Rhimes said that

[Sarandos] understood what I was looking for—the opportunity to build a vibrant new storytelling home for writers with the unique creative freedom and instantaneous global reach provided by Netflix's singular sense of innovation. The future of Shondaland at Netflix has limitless possibilities.

The deal was considered to be a coup for Netflix due to Rhimes' prominence at ABC; it was also considered to be a counter toward the effort by Disney, ABC's parent company, to reduce the availability of their content on Netflix in favor of a planned subscription streaming service of their own.

As of October 2020 she was working on more than 12 projects for Netflix, including the period drama Bridgerton.

Personal life

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

In 2014, Rhimes gave a commencement address at her alma mater, Dartmouth College, where she received an honorary doctorate.

In September 2015, Rhimes revealed she had lost 117 pounds (53 kg) via exercise and dieting.

Activism

In 2017, Rhimes and Katie McGrath co-founded Time's Up, and both of them donated the funds to hire its first seven employees.

In 2019 Shonda Rhimes joined the organization When We All Vote as a co-chair. This organization was founded to get out the vote prior to the 2020 general election.

Shondaland

Shondaland is the name of Rhimes's production company. Shondaland and its logo also refer to the shows Rhimes has produced and to Rhimes herself. Shows included in Shondaland are:

• Grey's Anatomy (2005–present)
• Private Practice (2007–2013)
• Off the Map (2011)
• Scandal (2012–2018)
• How to Get Away with Murder (2014–2020)
• The Catch (2016–2017)
• Still Star-Crossed (2017)
• For the People (2018–2019)
• Station 19 (2018–present)
• Bridgerton (2020–present)
• Inventing Anna (2022)

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Shonda Rhimes has won a Golden Globe Award and been nominated for four Emmy Awards. She has also won awards from the Writers Guild of America, Producers Guild of America, and Directors Guild of America. Below is a more complete list.

Banff Television Festival

Black Reel Award

Directors Guild of America Award

GLAAD Media Awards

Primetime Emmy Award

NAACP Image Award

Producers Guild of America Awards

Writers Guild of America Award

See also

In Spanish: Shonda Rhimes para niños