Shonda Rhimes' Shondaland Breaks Free From Its Television Constraints

Shonda Rhimes started Shondaland in 2005 as her production company for her first series, Grey’s Anatomy, and soon spread its wings to include shows created by others, like How to Get Away With Murder. But as the creator’s own interests and ambitions continued to grow, so did her vision for Shondaland. “The more I looked at us as a storytelling company, and not as a TV company,” Rhimes—Adweek’s Media Visionary—says in this week’s cover story, “the more I could see the opportunities that were available to us.” As a result, Shondaland has evolved to become much more just than the production home for all her ABC and Netflix shows. It is now a full-fledged media company, encompassing podcasts, a daily editorial website, merchandising and brand partnerships. And there’s even more to come: Rhimes’ recent contract extension with Netflix broadens its partnership with Shondaland to include film, gaming, VR and live events like the Bridgerton-inspired Queens Ball installation that will tour the U.S. and Canada next year. (A similar experiential event is set for the U.K.) Early on, Shondaland’s appeal came “from a desire to broaden our range and hear from more voices,” says Shondaland creative partner Betsy Beers, who has been producing alongside Rhimes since Grey’s. That included writers they were already working with on Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice who had “amazing ideas and really interesting points of view.” Beers says Netflix was a logical home from Shondaland when Rhimes signed her deal with the streaming company in 2017 because it offered “a gigantic opportunity to tell different stories”—and not just in scripted TV. Shondaland’s first Netflix program was technically not Bridgerton but Dance Dreams, a documentary on Debbie Allen that debuted a month earlier, in November 2020. “It boils down to the fact that because we never want to repeat ourselves, we were at a place where they’re incredibly encouraging for us to be exploring as many worlds and in as many genres as we could possibly wish for,” says Beers. Growing beyond television Meanwhile, Rhimes had hired Sandie Bailey, who worked in Scandal’s set decoration department, to grow the company “outside of TV, the Shondaland that people knew,” says Bailey, the company’s chief design and digital media officer who oversees everything outside of the streaming and broadcast shows. Bailey was the ninth Shondaland employee at the time; the company now has 50 staffers. Its latest addition: Megha Tolia, who joined last week from SC Johnson as Shondaland's first president and COO. Daily editorial website Shondaland.com debuted in 2017. One of Bailey’s first projects was the Shondaland.com website, created in partnership with Hearst, that debuted in September 2017. A podcast division—Shondaland Audio, created with iHeartMedia—followed two years later. “Thursday night programming was fantastic, of course, but we realized that people have lives outside of Thursday night, and how can we speak to them and meet them where they are?” says Bailey. “Whether that’s a few minutes on Saturday reading an article or doing something else.” Dylan Brown wrote, produced and directed Shondaland's first scripted podcast, #Matter. Now, the digital half of the company is as important as the higher-profile streaming half. And that means if Beers hears a pitch for a riveting story that doesn’t seem best suited as a streaming series or movie, she can suggest it as a podcast or a story for Shondaland.com—or vice versa. (Shondaland’s first scripted podcast, #Matter, arrives in January.) “There’s reciprocity on both sides,” Beers says. “It’s exciting to have all that opportunity.” Working with the right brands There are also opportunities for brand partnerships at Shondaland. Its most successful, with Dove, is entering its fourth year, with Rhimes serving as creative director for the brand’s empowerment and self-esteem-based initiatives. But only a select few are the right fit for Shondaland. “We are very aware of the brand we created. I think our audience is very aware and savvy and understands our brand and can sift through anything that’s not authentic in two seconds. So there are things we will say no to that people would be shocked by, because everybody else would say yes,” says Chris DiIorio, chief strategy and business development officer, who had previously worked as Rhimes’ publicist. Rhimes is creative director for Dove's empowerment and self-esteem-based initiatives. But at the same time, the company is sometimes excited about brand opportunities that others might dismiss as “a waste of time, or something that doesn’t have huge financial implications,” says DiIorio. This year’s Peloton partnership, Year of Yes, inspired by Rhimes’ 2015 book, was an example of what DiIorio calls a “completely unexpected” partnership that connected with fans. It was also an example of “that full 360 approach where they can touch all areas of the company.” For Peloton, that included written and video content pieces on Shondaland.com and the company’s social channels. Some involved Rhimes herself, but others featured Peloton instructors, “and those were some of our biggest, most well-read pieces on the site this year,” says Bailey. This year's Peloton partnership, Year of Yes, was inspired by Rhimes’ 2015 book. Building out Bridgerton It’s the same way Shondaland built its strategy around Bridgerton. “We thought, what’s the audio plan? What’s the merchandise plan?” says DiIorio, who pointed out that unlike in broadcast where audiences were used to shows ending their seasons in May and returning in September, they needed to rethink marketing and develop a “between-season plan” to keep viewers engaged as they wait more than a year for Bridgerton’s return. “Internally, we call it the extension of the joy of the program. People are going to enjoy and be entertained by what they’re seeing, but how can they continue to enjoy it outside of those moments?” says Bailey. The company started working on it as soon as Bridgerton production began—putting up stop-motion cameras to capture set construction, hiring a videographer to film behind-the-scenes content. Shondaland began releasing that content the day Bridgerton debuted and continued through March, when the podcast began. It also forged merchandise collaborations with Phenomenal and Hill House Home—another with shoe brand Malone Souliers is coming in early 2022 and just last week the company announced a beauty collaboration with Pat McGrath Labs—with other partnerships in the works for Season 2. Next year will also see Bridgerton experiential events in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Shondaland compiled behind-the-scenes content during Bridgerton's first season. On the streaming side, Bridgerton's enormous success hasn’t upended Shondaland’s scripted development process. “It was an incredible thing to be a part of, but that doesn’t make us any less interested in any of the other stories that we’re telling, or doesn’t make us feel like we have to pivot in some way,” says Beers, who has six other shows in development at Netflix (including Bridgerton spinoff Queen Charlotte, which will be written by Rhimes). One challenge for the Shondaland team is making the most of their time with their CEO, especially when Rhimes is deep in the process of creating, writing or editing a show, like her upcoming Inventing Anna. For Beers, the secret is to “figure out how to use her time most wisely. When is her brain best and most constructively used during the process?” Sometimes it’s at the inception of an idea; in other instances, Beers will ask her to improve an existing draft. That said, “we are able to really have her attention when we need it, which is maybe not the case in a lot of companies,” says Bailey. As Shondaland explands, “we’re really thinking in ways of, how can we provide something interesting, entertaining and different?” says Bailey. “And that’s really a big key for us as we decide where we’re going to head next.” It is those future opportunities—including VR and gaming—that most excite Rhimes and her team. While Shondaland still might be best known for its ABC and Netflix shows, says DiIorio, “there’s just so much runway there to create content that I’m really excited for people to see.”