Shonda Rhimes

Creator, Showrunner

Shonda Rhimes is an award-winning television creator, producer and New York Times best-selling author. She is also the CEO of Shondaland, the global media company that encompasses storytelling through brand partnerships, merchandise, and content for film, streaming, audio, digital and editorial. In her career, Rhimes’ work has earned numerous awards and changed the face of television. In 2017, Rhimes shifted the entertainment industry’s business model when she left network television and brokered an unprecedented agreement for Shondaland to produce streaming content exclusively in partnership with Netflix. Shondaland’s first series “Bridgerton,” most watched series debut in Netflix history. Rhimes first scripted creation, “Inventing Anna,” will be next on the company’s slate.

Rhimes is the first woman to create three television dramas that have achieved the 100 episode milestone. Those shows, “Grey's Anatomy,” the longest-running medical drama in history, its spinoff “Private Practice,” and the groundbreaking series “Scandal” for ABC, changed the face of television by proving that series which feature characters of color are more financially powerful in terms of advertising dollars and audiences than all white series. This business model is now the norm for all of network TV. Shondaland continued to make history with “How to Get Away with Murder” for which star Viola Davis became the first black woman to receive a Best Actress in a Drama Emmy. For five TV seasons, Shondaland shows occupied ABC’s entire Thursday night schedule, creating a powerful brand well-known to fans and advertisers as TGIT.

Rhimes is the recipient of numerous awards including the Peabody Award, career achievement awards from the Writers Guild of America, Producers Guild of America and Director’s Guild of America, several AFI Awards for Television Program of the Year and NAACP Image Awards as well as champion awards from Planned Parenthood, Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD and The Feminist Majority as well as the Harvard Medal. In 2018, Rhimes was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.