Throughout her career, Shonda Rhimes has been praised for her shows’ inclusivity and diversity. Unlike many other offerings on TV, series like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal” do not feature only white men’s stories. Instead, Rhimes’ work reflects the real world: Characters of various race, background, and sexual orientation appear onscreen. So it seems only natural that Rhimes is partnering with Dove for the company’s Real Beauty Productions project.
As reported by Hollywood’s Black Renaissance, Rhimes will help Dove celebrate its 60th anniversary by developing and producing “consumers’ stories as films” for Real Beauty. She is the first big-name to sign onto the project, with other celebrity producers expected to join in the future.
According to the source, Real Beauty is an effort to address the disparity between women in the real world and the women portrayed onscreen. It “is a companion piece to Dove’s recent pledge to only use ‘real women,’ not models in ads, to name them in the ads wherever possible, to eschew digital retouching of their images, and to give them review rights on their images before they are distributed.”
The length of Real Beauty films will depend on the stories consumers’ pitch, Dove vp production Nick Soukas says. Dove has started reaching out to its customers for stories through its websites and social media. Rhimes has also been seeking stories via her own social media.
“Shonda has had a fondness for the Dove brand that preceded this project together, and a joint philosophy with the brand about storytelling and the realness that needs to come from it,” Soukas said. “Telling real people’s stories is a perfect fit with the Dove business.”
Rhimes is “a supporter of the Association of National Advertisers’ #SeeHer initiative to portray women in leadership, science, and technology roles in advertising,” HBR writes. The mogul recently donated an undisclosed fund to LA’s IAMA Theatre Company and joined the board of Planned Parenthood. She is also teaching a MasterClass on TV writing.
Next up, Rhimes plans to adapt Luvvie Ajayi’s first book, “I’m Judging You: The Do Better Manual,” into a comedy series for cable TV. Her newest series, “Still Star-Crossed,” is a continuation of “Romeo and Juliet” and is expected to premiere sometime this year. In January ABC ordered her untitled legal drama to pilot.
Rhimes’ “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal” as well as the Shondaland shows “How to Get Away with Murder” and “The Catch” air Thursdays on ABC.
