Shonda Rhimes

Infobox Celebrity
name = Shonda Rhimes


birth_date = birth date and age|1970|1|13
birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, USA
birth_name =
death_date =
death_place =
occupation = producer, screenwriter, and director.

Shonda Rhimes is a screenwriter, director and producer. She is best known as the creator and executive producer of television series "Grey's Anatomy" and its spin-off "Private Practice". In May 2007, she was named as one of the Time 100 people who help shape the world. [cite web | last=Oh | first=Sandra | title=The TIME 100, ARTISTS & ENTERTAINERS | work=TIME | publisher= | url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/time100/article/0,28804,1595326_1595332_1616813,00.html | accessdate=2007-05-05]

Personal life

Rhimes attended Marian Catholic High School, Dartmouth College and earned a bachelor's degree. She earned a master of fine arts from the University of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television.

Career

Rhimes initially struggled to find a writing or production gig after graduation. For a time, she lived with her sister in San Francisco and worked in advertising. Later, she worked as an office administrator, and then as a counselor at a job center that taught mentally ill and homeless people job skills.

Eventually, Rhimes began to break into the market, and sold several scripts.

Rhimes received first position credit for the HBO movie "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge". When that movie was a critical and commercial success, she was hired to write "Crossroads" and "".

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, [cite web | title=ABC Fall 2006 Schedule | date=2006-07-11 | url=http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-abc-upfront-grid,0,7505738.story | work=Zap2it | accessdate=2006-10-25] 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 fifth season premiered September 25, 2008 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 February 11, 2008, ABC picked up "Private Practice" for the 2008-09 television season. The second season premiered on October 1, 2008 on ABC.

Trivia

* As a Dartmouth alumna, Rhimes often peppers the scripts with references to the college.
* 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. [Citation | last=Johnson | first=Pamela K. | author-link= | publication-date=2005-09 | year=2005 | titl=The Cutting Edge. Shonda Rhimes dissects Grey's Anatomy. | periodical=Written By | series= | publication-place= | place= | publisher= | volume= | issue=2005-09 | pages= | url=http://www.wga.org/writtenby/writtenbysub.aspx?id=883 | issn= | doi= | oclc= | accessdate=2006-08-02.]
* Rhimes has said that her time spent as a candy striper while in high school sparked an interest in hospital environments. [cite web | last=Maureen | first=Ryan | title=Shonda Rhimes, creator of 'Grey's Anatomy' and a Chicagoan of the Year | work=The Watcher | date=2005-12-21 | url=http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2005/12/shonda_rhimes_a.html | accessdate=2008-01-21 ]
* 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.

References

External links

*
* [http://www.greyswriters.com/ 'Grey Matter' Writer's Blog on ABC.com]
* Interview with [http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200503/20050328.html Shonda Rhimes] on the Tavis Smiley show
* [http://www.wga.org/writtenby/writtenbysub.aspx?id=883 Writer's Guild of America profile]