Shonda Rhimes
Shonda Rhimes is an award-winning television creator, producer and author, as well as the CEO of the global media company Shondaland. Rhimes is the first woman to create three television dramas — “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Private Practice” and “Scandal” — that have achieved the 100 episode milestone. For five TV seasons, award-winning Shondaland shows “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal” and “How to Get Away with Murder” occupied ABC’s entire Thursday night schedule, creating a powerful brand well-known to fans and advertisers as TGIT.
In 2017, Rhimes shifted the entertainment industry’s business model when she left network television to exclusively produce streaming content in partnership with Netflix. “Bridgerton,” Shondaland’s first scripted series with the streamer, has become a worldwide franchise. Seasons of “Bridgerton” currently hold three of the 10 top spots among English language programming for Netflix. Rhimes also scripted the popular “Bridgerton” prequel series, “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story”; and limited series “Inventing Anna,” based on the popular New York Magazine article about the fake German heiress, Anna Delvey. Rhimes also executive produced Netflix’s recent “The Residence” starring Emmy® Award winner Uzo Aduba, as well as documentaries “Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker,” highlighting the legendary choreographer Debbie Allen, and “Black Barbie,” which chronicles the creation of the first-ever black Barbie doll.
Shonda Rhimes is a New York Times bestselling author for her memoir “Year of Yes” and has built multiplatform partnerships with such leading brands as Dove, Peloton, St. John, Masterclass, Microsoft and Mattel.
Rhimes is also the founder of The Rhimes Foundation, whose mission is to support arts, education and activism. She serves on the boards of several nonprofit organizations — including the American Film Institute, the Debbie Allen Dance Academy, Dartmouth College, Lincoln Center and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. In addition, Rhimes is on special committees for the USC Film Council and the Obama Foundation.
Rhimes’ has three times been included in the TIME 100 list of most influential people and has been appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her service to U.S./UK relations. Her work has been celebrated with numerous awards including induction into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.