Producing : How Shonda Rhimes became a billion-dollar asset for streamers by Jack Binder

Thought this was a great breakdown & overview from Christian Grace at the European Observatory.

Both producer and writer takeaways, tips, and advice.

In 2020-24 Shondaland shows brought in $2.4bn in subscription and advertising revenue for streamers globally, according to Parrot Analytics, a data firm.

Her 20-year career in hashtag#TV embodies the upheavals of the industry. She has adapted to the displacement of linear weekly dramas by bingeable, high-budget streaming shows. In 2017 Netflix paid an estimated $100m-150m to lure her from ABC in an exclusive deal (reportedly renewed in 2021 for $300m-400m).

The first lesson is to shoot for the spectacular. When Ms Rhimes was writing for network TV, stories were circumscribed by hashtag#advertising breaks; she had to make the viewer “want to come back”, she says.

Even though hashtag#streaming shows mostly do not contain adverts, Ms Rhimes says her rule for scripts still involves having an exciting development “every ten pages”.

The second lesson is to learn quickly from failure. Not all risks pay off, on screen or on court

The third lesson is to time your moves well. In the early 2000s Ms Rhimes worked in film, but felt that tv was becoming the home of character-driven storytelling, with shows such as “The Wire” and “Lost”. She pitched “Grey’s Anatomy” just as TV was becoming more ambitious. A decade later Ms Rhimes says she realised that streaming “was where the future of television was going to be” and that an arms race for content was beginning. Netflix, determined to stock its arsenal, doubled its annual content budget to around $12bn from 2017-18.

Ms Rhimes’s programmes often feel fresh and norm-breaking, but in many ways her firm is not. Its structure “harks back to the very traditional, old-fashioned studio model”, says Alice Thorpe of Ampere Analysis, a research firm, whereby a single person oversees a roster of trusted directors, producers and writers.

She is also expanding in directions other media firms have ventured before. The Walt Disney Company, for example, has used its popular hashtag#films and TV series to sell toys and trinkets for children; Shondaland is mimicking that model, just for adults.

“We stopped just storytelling and started world-building,” Ms Rhimes explains. Whenever a script comes in, executives think up ancillary offerings, from tie-in podcasts to products. They are also investing in live experiences, including “Bridgerton” balls, where fans come to dances in fancy dress. This is a broader trend in TV: Netflix is launching immersive experiences, including a restaurant in Las Vegas where patrons can eat food from their favourite shows. In the streaming age, when there is so much choice—and a long lag between lavishly produced seasons—such offerings keep shows relevant.

Broadcasters and streamers are no doubt eager to find the next Shonda. But that will prove more challenging than, say, getting away with murder. With network TV declining, broadcasters are unwilling to gamble on rookies.

Article: (paywall)

https://www.economist.com/culture/2025/03/27/how-shonda-rhimes-became-a-...

Good luck in filmmaking, Jack