| Shonda Rhimes | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 13, 1970 Chicago, Illinois, USA |
| Occupation | producer, screenwriter, and director. |
Shonda Rhimes is an American screenwriter, director and producer. She is best known as the creator, head writer, and executive producer of television series Grey's Anatomy and its spin-off Private Practice. In May 2007, she was named one of Time magazine's 100 Time 100 people who help shape the world [1].
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Biography
Growing up with her mother (professor), father (university administrator) and five siblings in Park Forest South, Illinois (Now, University Park, IL), Shonda Rhimes exhibited an early affinity toward storytelling. [2]. Rhimes has said that her time spent as a candy striper while in high school sparked an interest in hospital environments [3].
Rhimes attended Marian Catholic High School, Dartmouth College and earned a bachelor's degree. At Dartmouth College she divided her time between fiction and directing and performing in plays. As a Dartmouth alumna, Rhimes often peppers the scripts with references to the college. After college, she relocated to San Francisco, CA with an older sibling and took a job in advertising to pay the bills. But her desire to create overtook her need for financial stability, and she headed for Los Angeles to attend USC and study screenwriting [2]. There, she quickly rose to the top of her class and earned the prestigious Gary Rosenberg Writing Fellowship Award [2].. She earned a master of fine arts from the University of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television [2].
Career
After graduation, she found herself swimming in the teeming pool of unemployed scriptwriters in Hollywood [2]. To make ends meet, she worked at a variety of day jobs, including as an office administrator; and then as a counselor at a job center that taught mentally ill and homeless people job skills. During this period, Rhimes also worked as research director on the 1995 Peabody Award-winning documentary, “Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream” (1995) [2]. She made her directorial debut in 1998 with the short film “Blossoms and Veils” starring Jada Pinkett-Smith and Jeffrey Wright [2].
A feature script she wrote was purchased by New Line Cinema. This was soon followed by an assignment to write the acclaimed 1999 HBO movie “Introducing Dorothy Dandridge”. It earned numerous awards for its star, Halle Berry. Rhimes followed this film with a theatrical project that could not have been further from Dorothy Dandridge –2002's Crossroads – the movie debut of pop singer Britney Spears. Rhimes survived that film’s predicted flameout and moved on to Disney’s sequel to its popular 2001 movie The Princess Diaries. Though 2004's The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004) did not score at the box office like its predecessor, Rhimes later said that she treasured the experience if for nothing else – the opportunity to work with its star, Julie Andrews[2].
While spending time at home, Rhimes found herself hooked on shows like the WB's 1997-2003 drama “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and HBO's “The Sopranos”; as well as medical documentary series on The Discovery Channel. Rhimes decided to try her hand at creating a television series, but her initial offering – about war correspondents – was turned down, due to the rapidly escalating conflict in Iraq. After getting wind that ABC was in the market for a medical series, she penned the “Grey’s Anatomy” pilot in late 2003, and received the green light to commence with the project in 2004.
Rhimes won the Best Drama TV Series Golden Globe award in 2007 for Grey's Anatomy.
Grey's Anatomy
Shonda Rhimes is the creator and executive producer of Grey's Anatomy, as well as one of the show's many writers. The ABC series debuted as a midseason replacement on March 27, 2005. The show revolves around Dr. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), a surgical intern at the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital in Seattle, Washington. The show features an ensemble cast, but Meredith is featured as the main character, with a voice-over narration at the beginning and end of most episodes.
On May 16, 2006 the morning following the close of the second season, ABC announced plans for a third season of Grey's Anatomy to anchor the network's Thursday evening programming,[4] by airing Thursdays at 9 p.m. EST. As Thursday has historically been the most competitive programming night among American broadcast networks, the announced schedule change for the series has been viewed by media analysts as another vote of confidence in the series from ABC.
The sixth season premiered September 24, 2009 in the primetime block on ABC.
Private Practice
Shonda Rhimes is also the creator and executive producer of Grey's Anatomy spin-off series Private Practice. She is also one of the show's writers. The series debuted on September 26, 2007 on ABC. The show chronicles the life of Dr. Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) as she leaves Seattle Grace Hospital for Los Angeles in order to join a private practice. The show features an ensemble cast, including Tim Daly, Amy Brenneman, Audra McDonald and Taye Diggs among others.
The first season was shortened due to writers' strike and consists of only 9 episodes.
On April 23, 2009, ABC picked up Private Practice for the 2009-10 television season. The third season premiered on October 1, 2009 on ABC.
Other Projects
Inside the Box: Ensemble female-centric drama set in a Washington, D.C. network news bureau. It centers on Catherine, an ambitious female news producer, and her colleagues pursuing "the story" at all costs while juggling their personal animosities and crises of conscience. Martin Henderson will play that male heartthrob on "Box," named Jake. Jake is Catherine's right hand—charismatic, with a great sense of humor and great chemistry with her. [1]
Awards/Nominations
Trivia
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Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (September 2007) |
- Rhimes has said that of all of the Grey's Anatomy characters, her own personality is best represented by the character of Meredith; however, she also draws some similarities with the no-nonsense natures of Cristina Yang [5].
- Rhimes has said in several interviews that she already has the "bible" of Grey's Anatomy mapped out, and has planned the arc of each season.
- Shonda Rhimes has the same birthday as Grey's Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey. Dempsey is four years older than Rhimes making his birthday the 13th of January 1966, while Rhimes was born on that date in 1970.
References
- ^ Oh, Sandra. "The TIME 100, ARTISTS & ENTERTAINERS". TIME. http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/time100/article/0,28804,1595326_1595332_1616813,00.html. Retrieved 2007-05-05.
- ^ a b c d e f g h http://www.hollywood.com/celebrity/Shonda_Rhimes/1610017 Shonda Rhimes hollywood.com Bio
- ^ Maureen, Ryan (2005-12-21). "Shonda Rhimes, creator of 'Grey's Anatomy' and a Chicagoan of the Year". The Watcher. http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2005/12/shonda_rhimes_a.html. Retrieved 2008-01-21.
- ^ "ABC Fall 2006 Schedule". Zap2it. 2006-07-11. http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-abc-upfront-grid,0,7505738.story. Retrieved 2006-10-25.
- ^ Johnson, Pamela K. (2005), Written By (2005-09), 2005-09, http://www.wga.org/writtenby/writtenbysub.aspx?id=883, retrieved 2006-08-02.
External links
- Shonda Rhimes at the Internet Movie Database
- 'Grey Matter' Writer's Blog on ABC.com
- Interview with Shonda Rhimes on the Tavis Smiley show
- Writer's Guild of America profile
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