In 2012, the ratio of men working on films to women was 5:1. Less than 20% of the writers and executive producers in Hollywood are female and the percentage is even lower for directors. It’s even harder to find successful people of color in the industry. In the last twenty years, winners in the Best Director of a Comedy Series at the Emmy Awards were 100% white. But somehow amidst all of this, Shonda Rhimes was able to arise as an accomplished writer and producer.
Much like Mindy Kaling (another writer and producer), Shonda Rhimes attended Dartmouth University. She would later obtain a Master’s Degree from USC and was ranked at the top of her class. By 2004 Rhimes would direct her own film, pen the acting debut of Britney Spears (Crossroads) and write the sequel to The Princess Diaries. It wasn’t until 2005 that Rhimes’ career really took off. She would come to be known as the creator, executive producer and headwriter of Grey’s Anatomy, a show that is still airing. Rhimes would also write and produce the 2012 hit show Scandal.
As of 2014, Rhimes has won a Golden Globe, five Image Awards, a WGA Award, a PGA Award and has been nominated for 3 Emmy Awards. She even has her onw production company, called Shondaland where she oversees 550 actors, writers, crew members and producers. With several new projects on the way, it’s hard to believe that Rhimes could go anywhere but up. Channing Dungey, executive vice president of the Drama Department at ABC, describes Rhimes as “incredibly important […]If she came in tomorrow and said, ‘I have a great idea,’ I would jump at it.”
You can find Shonda Rhimes on Twitter. Grey’s Anatomy airs on Thursday nights at 9/8c on ABC.
To learn more about gender inequality in film, click here. To learn more about race inequality click here and here.