Hello From Shondaland: Why Shonda Rhimes Is Today's TV Titan

You know her shows. But did you know the creator of “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal” has revolutionized Hollywood power?

Greetings From Shondaland: 16 Reasons Shonda Rhimes is the TV Titan of Our Times

Shonda Rhimes TV Titan — Shonda Rhimes has created some of the strongest and most colorful characters in television history.

She’s been called TV’s savior. She once described herself as a titan. Her production company is an entire land, graced by her name.

It would all seem a little exaggerated, if it were not true.

Shonda Rhimes is a force in Hollywood. She’s created not one but multiple money-making, trailblazing TV shows that double as cultural phenomenons.

Her imagination has given birth to some of the strongest and most colorful characters in television history, in turn, gifting actors roles of a lifetime. Kerry Washington as Olivia Pope in “Scandal.” Viola Davis as Annalise Keating in “How to Get Away with Murder.” Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Grey and Patrick Dempsey as McDreamy in “Grey’s Anatomy.”

How did this titan capture her kingdom? Follow the footsteps of her hero’s journey.

She Wanted to Be the Next Toni Morrison

Shonda Rhimes didn’t set out to create salacious and scandalous TV shows. She wanted to be a serious novelist.

It wasn’t quite working out as she’d hoped.

She was a struggling writer, living in her sister’s basement, when she gave herself a challenge: get accepted into the extremely competitive film school at University of Southern California.

She did — and she graduated at the top of her class.

While at USC, she put her dreams of becoming Toni Morrison to bed, and woke up to a newfound passion for television writing.

Her First Pitch Was Rejected

shonda rhimes princess diaries 2 writer — After film school, Rhimes wrote several projects, including "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement." Anne Hathaway and Chris Pine starred.

Rhimes struggled after film school, working random writing and producing jobs with a measure of success. She didn’t hit any home runs.

She made a short film with Jada Pinkett Smith, and wrote “The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement“ and “Crossroads,” which starred Britney Spears.

When she pitched her first show to Disney about a group of female war correspondents, she got a swift rejection. Executives didn’t want to do the show while American troops were fighting in Afghanistan.

She didn’t quit. And her next pitch would make her career.

The Working Title of “Grey’s Anatomy” was “Sex and Surgery”

Grey's anatomy cast — In "Grey's Anatomy," Rhimes created complex, strong female characters who were as competitive and passionate as their male counterparts.

Rhimes, a self-described homebody introvert, recalls mumbling into her papers while pitching the show that would be “Grey’s Anatomy.”

At the time, she had yet to conquer her fear of speaking in public. She made up for her lack of bravado with a script full of sizzle.

Building a universe within Seattle Grace Hospital, Rhimes said her intention was to create complex, strong female characters who were every bit as competitive and passionate as their male counterparts.

ABC gave her pilot a green light in 2005.

“Grey’s Anatomy” Is One of the Most Successful Shows in TV History

grey's anatomy award — Shonda Rhimes accepts the award for best outstanding drama series for "Grey's Anatomy" at the 39th NAACP Image Awards in 2008.

“Scandal” Isn’t Just a Hit. It’s a Meme Machine.

When “Scandal” wraps its final season this year, it will do so having left behind a bright, blazing trail.

Kerry Washington, playing Olivia Pope, was the first African American female to lead a prime time drama in 40 years. After seven salacious seasons and more than 120 episodes, her white hat, her giant glass of wine and her Pope-isms are now entrenched in pop culture.

The show about a Washington, D.C. fixer and her team of enforcers was also one of the first to truly capitalize on social media to bring its stories and characters to life. From viral memes to #gladiator threads on Twitter, Scandal’s plotlines have been diligently dissected and parodied by a committed group of fans who kept the show going well beyond the small screen.

If a bossgirl was ever at a loss for words to express how she’s handling a project, she just had to Google an Olivia Pope meme to get her point across: It’s handled.

Her Shows Attract Rabid Fans

Scandal gladiators twitter — By the time the final episode of "Scandal" aired, the show had well over a million followers on its official Twitter channel, and countless more on fans' accounts.

Whether it’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal” or “How To Get Away with Murder,” fans aren’t satisfied just watching their favorite Rhimes shows. They hunger to discuss, dissect and mock every aspect of it on social media.

Her shows combined have millions of Twitter followers, not to mention unofficial fan-created accounts.

She Owned Thursday Nights

Shonda Rhimes with Oprah Winfrey — Rhimes's efforts resulted in her induction into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2017. Yes, that Oprah Winfrey behind her on stage.

There’s a reason media executives hailed Rhimes as television’s savior.

Before her shows, the great era of sitcoms was coming to an end with the finales of “Friends” and “Seinfeld” — with nothing in sight to replace them.

In a TED talk, Rhimes estimated that, at her peak at ABC, she was running four television programs, 70 hours of content and 3-4 productions at a time with a total budget of $350 million dollars. She is one of the few showrunners to have created three shows that topped 100 episodes each.

Rhimes was also the first African American to do it, and the first female showrunner to have three shows running on network TV at the same time.

Her Reach Is Global

shonda rhimes global reach — Rhimes arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in 2018. Just like the Oscars, her shows are known around the world.

In her book “The Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person,” Rhimes describes turning soup cans into a parade of personalities dancing in an epic tale concocted by her youthful imagination.

It’s not exactly the kind of thing that would make you popular. But, decades later, it has paid off.

Her shows aren’t just juggernauts in America. They’ve aired in 256 territories in 67 different languages for an audience of millions around the world.

Not bad for a shy kid with an odd hobby.

Her Rules, Her Shondaland

Rhimes founded her production company, Shondaland, in 2005, with “Grey’s Anatomy” as its first offering. She has since produced or created — sometimes both — eight more shows for ABC.

Shondaland is also a lifestyle website with the tagline: “You are never alone in Shondaland. It’s where all the badasses live.”

To no one’s surprise, Shondaland is steeped in its founder’s values and philosophy, famously among them, a “no assholes” policy.

Rhimes has been known to fire anyone who causes trouble in her shows, including a well-known beef with actress Katherine Heigl who was killed off in “Grey’s Anatomy.”

She’s a Leader in the #MeToo Movement

Shonda Rhimes supports women — Rhimes has joined Ava DuVernay, Meryl Streep, Reese Witherspoon and other women in support of the #MeToo movement.

When Hollywood’s most powerful women got behind the #MeToo movement, they created Time’s Up, with a mission to fight systemic sexual harassment in Hollywood and in workplaces nationwide.

Joining women like Ava DuVernay, Meryl Streep and Reese Witherspoon, Rhimes and others have raised millions of dollars for a legal defense fund.

Recently, Rhimes was part of a committee for women of color within the organization that called for a boycott of musician R. Kelly. The R&B singer has been the subject of consistent and multiple allegations of sexual harassment.

She’s a Political Power Player

shonda rhimes politics — Rhimes (far right), a supporter of Hillary Clinton's presidential bid in 2016, appeared during a Get Out the Vote concert in Philadelphia that year.

It’s no surprise that the creator of shows that mimic real-life political drama would be involved in politics herself.

She was behind a short film that introduced Hillary Clinton at the 2016 Democratic National Convention convention. She has also donated $1 million dollars to the Obama Foundation.

In 2016, she established the Rhimes Family Foundation. It supports arts, education and activism, with a focus on fighting inequality and creating cultural inclusion. The foundation has also donated millions to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

She’s a Best-Selling Author

Shonda Rhimes Year of Yes — Rhimes's New York Times bestseller, in which she says "yes" to everything for a year, is part-memoir, part-inspirational book.

In 2016, Rhimes’s book “The Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person” became a New York Times bestseller.

Part-memoir, part-inspirational book, Rhimes details her process to fight her introvert tendencies by saying “yes” to everything for an entire year.

Page after page reveals deeply personal revelations. Rhimes talks about her decision to say yes to herself by saying no to marriage, her weight loss journey and her search for balance in life. In between confessions, she also reveals her intense ambitions and gruelling work ethic.

“I am not lucky,” she writes. “You know what I am? I am smart, I am talented, I take advantage of the opportunities that come my way and I work really, really hard. Don’t call me lucky. Call me a badass.”

A true bossgirl book, if ever there was one.

She’s Wrestled With Writer’s Block

Shonda Rhimes writer's block — Rhimes's bout with writer's block didn't hold her back. Here she is at the 2015 Writers Guild Awards.

Rhimes has described her writing flow as an addictive hum that happens in her brain when she’s hitting her groove. The hum propelled one hit episode after another.

But, one day, the hum disappeared. In the midst of doing her dream job, it became all job.

She credits her children for getting her out of her rut. As part of her say “yes” challenge, she said she began to play with her children more, instead of scurrying to the next work obligation. In doing so, she learned to play again and find joy in the simple things.

Slowly, the hum returned.

She Has One Thing in Common With a Couple of American Icons

Shonda Rhimes Dartmouth — Rhimes, Robert Frost and Mr. Rogers are the only Dartmouth College (pictured) grads to ever come back to give the commencement address.

In 1991, after graduating from Dartmouth, Rhimes claims her parents had to drag her kicking and crying from her college dorm. More than two decades later, she was on stage giving an inspirational commencement address at the school.

Rhimes urged the new grads to stop dreaming and start doing. She asked them to get off their social media soapbox and actually do something to make the world “suck a little less.” She handed down a reality check about having a family and a career, and the difficulty of excelling in all areas of life.

Rhimes is one of the few Dartmouth grads to ever come back to give the commencement address. The only others: Robert Frost and Mr. Rogers.

She’s Adopted Three Kids

Shonda Rhimes children — Rhimes want to raise her children as citizens of the world, not as her best friends.

Rhimes has been clear and unapologetic about her lack of interest in marriage, but she has been extremely outspoken about the importance of motherhood in her life.

In 2002, she adopted her first daughter, and adopted another girl in 2012. In 2013, she had another daughter via surrogacy.

Rhimes has waxed poetic about making sure her daughters understand that she is a successful, working parent. She has set up play areas for her girls in her Shondaland offices.

She describes her parenting style as one centred on raising great citizens of the world rather than coddling them into being her best friends. Rhimes has often credited her own parents for being wonderful role models.

Her father, a college professor, once signed a check to pay for her education with the directive, “Just don’t be a housewife.”

She Left ABC for a Mega-Deal With Netflix

Shonda Rhimes Netflix — Rhimes and her company Shondaland will produce new series and context for the streaming service Netflix. Her current shows will continue to air on ABC.

Netflix lured Rhimes from her 15-year run at ABC with a reported $100 million dollar contract. It’s considered a coup for the streaming giant.

The four-year deal will have the hitmaker creating programs exclusively for Netflix under the banner of Shondaland. Rhimes says she will continue to be a part of her ABC-run shows while developing new ones for Netflix, where episodes of her creations already live.

The move was a signal to Hollywood that Netflix is not only willing to use their deep pockets to buy content, but also to steal TV’s top talent.

Rhimes, of course, is one of TV’s best.