Year of Yes (Rhimes) - Author Bio

Author Bio
• Birth—January 13, 1970
• Where— Chicago, Illinois, USA
• Education—B.A., Dartmouth College; M.F.A., University of Southern California
• Currently—lives in Los Angeles, California


Shonda Lynn Rhimes is a television producer and writer. Rhimes is the creator, head writer, executive producer, and showrunner of the medical drama television series Grey's Anatomy, its spin-off Private Practice and the political thriller series Scandal.

She is  also executive producer of ABC's legal series How to Get Away with Murder, which debuted in September, 2014, and The Catch which debuted in March, 2016. In May 2007, Rhimes was named one of Time magazine's 100 People Who Help Shape The World. She lives in Los Angeles, California, with her three daughters.

Early life
Rhimes was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Vera P. Cain, a university administrator, and Ilee Rhimes, Jr., a college professor. Her mother attended college while raising six children and earned a PhD in educational administration in 1991; her father, who holds an MBA, was the chief information officer at the University of Southern California until 2013.

Rhimes lived in Park Forest South (now University Park, Illinois), with two older brothers and three older sisters. She has said she exhibited an early affinity for storytelling and that her time spent as a hospital volunteer while in high school sparked an interest in hospital environments.

Rhimes attended Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, Illinois, before enrolling at Dartmouth College, where she majored in English and film studies and earned her bachelor's degree in 1991. At Dartmouth, she joined the Black Underground Theater Association and divided her time between directing and performing in student productions and fiction. She also wrote for the college newspaper.

After college, Rhimes relocated to San Francisco with an older sibling and worked in advertising at McCann Erickson. She subsequently relocated to Los Angeles to attend the University of Southern California (USC) to study screenwriting, winninf a Gary Rosenberg Writing Fellowship. She obtained her M.F.A from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, ranking at the topof her class.

While at USC Rhimes was hired by Debra Martin Chase as an intern. Rhimes credits her early success in part to mentors like a prominent African-American producer, who hired her as an intern at Denzel Washington's production company Mundy Lane Entertainment. Chase would later serve as a mentor to Rhimes and they would work together on The Princess Diaries 2.

Career: 1995–2004
After graduation, Rhimes found herself an unemployed scriptwriter in Hollywood. To make ends meet, Rhimes worked at a variety of day jobs, including an office administrator, and then a counselor at a job center that taught mentally ill and homeless people job skills. During this period, Rhimes worked as research director on the 1995 Peabody Award-winning documentary, Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream (1995).

In 1998 Rhimes made a short film, Blossoms and Veils, starring Jada Pinkett-Smith and Jeffrey Wright—her only credit as director. A feature script she wrote was purchased by New Line Cinema, which was soon followed by an assignment to co-write the acclaimed 1999 HBO movie Introducing Dorothy Dandridge. The film earned numerous awards for its star, Halle Berry.

In 2001, Rhimes wrote Crossroads, the debut film of pop singer Britney Spears. Although panned by critics, the film grossed over $60 million worldwide. Rhimes then moved on to Disney’s sequel to its popular 2001 movie The Princess Diaries. While the 2004 sequel—The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement—was not the box office hit of the original, Rhimes later said later she treasured the experience for the opportunity of working with Julie Andrews.

Career: 2005–present
Rhimes is the creator and currently executive producer and head writer of Grey's Anatomy. The series debuted as a midseason replacement in March, 2005. The series focuses on the surgical staff at the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital (later to be named Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital), in Seattle, Washington. The series features an ensemble cast with Ellen Pompeo serving as titular character Meredith Grey, who provides narration for a majority of the series' episodes. On May 16, 2006, ABC announced plans to relocate Grey's Anatomy from Sunday evenings to Thursdays to anchor the network's Thursday evening programming, by airing Thursdays at 9 p.m.

Rhimes created and produced the Grey's Anatomy spin-off series Private Practice, which debuted in September, 2007, on ABC. The show chronicled the life of Dr. Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) as she left Seattle Grace Hospital for Los Angeles to join a private practice. The series featured an ensemble cast, including Tim Daly, Amy Brenneman, Audra McDonald and Taye Diggs among others. The first season was shortened because of a writers' strike and consists of only nine episodes. In May 2012, ABC picked up Private Practice for the 2012-13 television season with 13 episodes. The series finale was aired January 22, 2013.

In 2011, Rhimes served as executive producer for the medical drama, Off the Map, which was created by Grey's Anatomy writer, Jenna Bans. It focused on a group of doctors who practice medicine at a remote clinic in the Amazon. The series was officially cancelled by the ABC network on in May, 2011.

That same month ABC ordered Rhimes's pilot script Scandal to series. Kerry Washington stars as Olivia Pope, a political crisis management expert who is partially based on former Bush administration press aide Judy Smith. The series debut aired in April, 2012.

In December 2013, it was announced that ABC had ordered to pilot the ShondaLand production How to Get Away with Murder. Actress Viola Davis joined the cast as the lead character in February, 2014. It was officially picked up to series in May, 2014. Rhimes appeared as herself in the 5th episode of Season 3 of The Mindy Project, which aired October 14, 2014.

In 2015, Rhimes developed a pilot called The Catch, based on the Kate Atkinson novel, which columnist Cindy Elavsky described as a "thriller...about a woman who is about to get married...and about to get conned. Mireille Enos stars. The show got picked up by ABC and premiered Thursday March 24, 2016, at 10 pm, taking over How to Get Away with Murder's time-slot after the show ended its second season.

In March 2016, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder. and Grey's Anatomy were respectively picked up for their sixth, third and thirteenth seasons, and will air during the 2016-2017 season.

ShondaLand
ShondaLand is the name of Rhimes's production company. ShondaLand and its logo also refer to the shows that Rhimes has created, and to Rhimes herself. Shows which are included in ShondaLand are

    Grey's Anatomy (2005–present)
    Private Practice (2007–2013)
    Off the Map (2011)
    Scandal (2012–present)
    How to Get Away with Murder (2014–present)
    The Catch (2016–present)

Personal life
Rhimes adopted her first daughter in June 2002 and adopted another girl in February 2012. In September 2013, Rhimes welcomed her third daughter via gestational surrogacy.

In 2014, Rhimes spoke at her alma mater Dartmouth College's commencement and received an honorary doctorate.

In September 2015, Rhimes revealed she had lost 117 pounds via exercise and dieting. She is an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. (Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 7/22/2016 .)