With Disney leaving to start it’s own streaming service, Netflix needed a big win, and it got one. Shonda Rhimes, the writer and producer behind such big hits as Grey’s Anatomy, How to Get Away with Murder and Scandal, will be bring her Shondaland production team to the service under a multi-year contract to make new shows exclusively for Netflix.
In a joint press release, Rhimes discussed how the partnership with Netflix would mean some more creative freedom for her latest projects:
“Shondaland’s move to Netflix is the result of a shared plan Ted Sarandos and I built based on my vision for myself as a storyteller and for the evolution of my company. Ted provides a clear, fearless space for creators at Netflix. He understood what I was looking for — the opportunity to build a vibrant new storytelling home for writers with the unique creative freedom and instantaneous global reach provided by Netflix’s singular sense of innovation. The future of Shondaland at Netflix has limitless possibilities.”
All of the current shows on ABC will continue their run on the channel and have the full backing of Shondaland. Still, one can’t help but feel like this might be a bit of a dig at Disney. After all, ABC is owned by the company, and as mentioned before, Rhimes has created three of the channel’s biggest hits in the last decade. It is more than likely that this deal was in the works long before Disney decided to pull their content, but the timing couldn’t be better for Netflix.
There’s no news as to what these new projects will be or when they’ll come out, but knowing Shonda Rhimes and her work like I do, they’ll have use reaching for the Ben & Jerry’s while we ugly cry in no time at all.
