If you’re an avid tv watcher, you are very familiar with ShondaLand. The production company founded by showrunner, creator and writer extraordinaire Shonda Rhimes. ShondaLand currently produces some of the most popular shows on network television, including: Grey’s Anatomy, How to Get Away With Murder, Scandal and The Catch. Rhimes is often credited as the most powerful showrunner in the business, television’s savior and she is at the top of her game riding a tremendous hot streak. No small feat for a black woman in a traditionally white male dominated industry.
Rhimes is hoping to transfer the success she has in network television to Hollywood and the big screen. According to an article in The Hollywood Reporter, Rhimes is in negotiations for the life rights to a group of Detroit women known as the Dare Divas. These four black women have gained a cult following, turning tragedy to triumph, and Rhimes wants to tell their story.
Shonda began her career writing for movies, including: Crossroads and Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. When she moved to television her writing expanded to include more diversity among women protagonists. Rhimes’ television shows have been a hit and Viola Davis and Kerry Washington are household names as the leads of two of the most popular television shows. Shonda believes in telling the stories not traditionally seen or heard by the mainstream.
When asked about gender and race she said:
I find race and gender to be terribly important; they’re terribly important to who I am. But there’s something about the need for everybody else to spend time talking about it … that pisses me off.
Something tells me Shonda will find success on the Hollywood big screen as well.