Shonda Rhimes On The Differences Between Working On ABC Versus Netflix; Reveals If Fans Affect Storytelling
deadline.comShonda Rhimes, the creator of Grey’s Anatomy and Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, is opening up about the differences between working for a network like ABC and a streaming platform like Netflix. “They’re completely different engines,” Rhimes told Vulture in an interview. “ABC was a very powerful, very storied institution.
There’s a ton of bureaucracy. The process was you get answered ‘no’ initially and then you have to find your way.” Rhimes continued, “Even getting Scandal to start what was live-tweeting, they were like, ‘Why would anybody do that?
No.’ And then they came around to a ‘yes,’ but we just did it on our own until they saw it. We accomplished a lot in terms of exploring a woman’s right to choose, stuff I thought was just storytelling but turned out to be a real sort of quiet battle on my part to make happen on TV.” The Shondaland production company founder signed a multi-million deal with Netflix back in 2017, which she extended in 2021 to cover films, gaming and VR content, in addition to TV.
As opposed to network television, Rhimes said that “Netflix was a baby in this business” when she started working with them. “They start with ‘yes’ and then figure out how to make something happen.
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