Shondaland’s massive empire continues to grow. Netflix has announced the first slate of series being developed by TV titans Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers and their Shondaland team. “Scandal” and “Grey’s Anatomy” creator Rhimes signed a multi-year deal with the streamer last August after a longstanding partnership with ABC.
Projects in the works include “Sunshine Scouts,” a dark comedy set in the aftermath of an apocalyptic disaster that follows teen girls at sleepaway camp who must fight for humanity’s survival. Writer-actress Jill Alexander (“The Donors”) is credited as creator. An adaptation of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson’s “The Warmth of Other Suns” is also being developed. Adapted by MacArthur Genius Grant recipient and two-time Drama Desk-winning playwright Anna Deavere Smith, the drama follows the “decades-long migration of African-Americans fleeing the Jim Crow South in search of a better life in the North and the West between 1916 and 1970,” according to its synopsis. Rhimes herself will exec produce an untitled series based on famed New York City con woman Anna Delvey.
“I wanted the new Shondaland to be a place where we expand the types of stories we tell, where my fellow talented creatives could thrive and make their best work, and where we as a team come to the office each day filled with excitement,” said Rhimes. The three-time Emmy nominee proclaimed, “This is Shondaland 2.0.”
Beers added, “From the world of Regency England all the way to present day Manhattan, we at Shondaland have a wonderful opportunity to explore new worlds and tell these stories in many different ways. We are fortunate to be working with such an inspiring group of talent, including our amazing creative team at Netflix. I could not be more thrilled!”
Rhimes was inducted into the TV Academy Hall of Fame last year.
For an exhaustive list of all the projects Shondaland is developing at Netflix (so far!) have a look below. Info comes courtesy of Netflix.
The projects include the following series (all titles are working titles):
Untitled Shonda Rhimes Project
Based on the New York Magazine article How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People by Jessica Pressler. Manhattan makes a new friend like no other. But is she the stuff American dreams are made of or is she New York’s biggest con woman? Is it a con if you enjoy being taken?
* Shonda Rhimes (EP) will create the series.
Untitled Bridgerton Project
Based on Julia Quinn’s best-selling series of novels, this smart feminist take on Regency England romance unveils the glittering, wealthy, sexual, painful, funny and sometimes lonely lives of the women and men in London’s high society marriage mart as told through the eyes of the powerful Bridgerton family.
* Scandal veteran Chris Van Dusen (EP) will adapt and showrun the series.
The Warmth of Other Suns
Based on Pulitzer-Prize winning author Isabel Wilkerson’s award-winning book of the same name, this powerful groundbreaking series tracks the decades-long migration of African-Americans fleeing the Jim Crow South in search of a better life in the North and the West between 1916 and 1970.
*National Humanities Medal recipient, MacArthur Genius Grant recipient and 2-time Drama Desk winning playwright Anna Deavere Smith (EP) is set to adapt.
Pico & Sepulveda
Set in the 1840s against the surreal and sensual backdrop of the then-Mexican state of California, the series tracks the end of an idyllic era there as American forces threaten brutality and war at the border to claim this breathtaking land for its own.
*Emmy-award writer Janet Leahy (EP) will create the series.
Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change
Netflix and Shondaland have acquired the rights to Ellen Pao’s groundbreaking memoir detailing her life and career, including the lawsuit she brought against her former employer that sparked intense media scrutiny, shook Silicon Valley to its boys’ club core and pre-saged the Time’s Up movement.
The Residence
Netflix and Shondaland have acquired the rights to Kate Andersen Brower’s brilliant nonfiction book The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House, which offers a vividly accurate insider’s account of White House residence staffers and the upstairs downstairs lives they share with the First Families at one of the most famous homes in history.
Sunshine Scouts
In this darkly comedic half-hour series, an apocalyptic disaster spares a rag-tag group of teenage girls at sleepaway camp who must then summon their moxie and survival skills to weather the fallout and ensure all that remains of humanity abides by the Sunshine Scout Law.
*Writer/actress Jill Alexander (Co-EP) will create the series.
Hot Chocolate Nutcracker
This documentary offers a behind-the-scenes look at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy’s award-winning reimagining of the classic ballet, The Nutcracker. This staged contemporization – with its inclusive cast of all ages and its blend of dance traditions – has further cemented Debbie Allen’s legacy as one of the greatest forces for good in dance.
*Oliver Bokelberg (DP/Director Scandal) will serve as director, cinematographer and producer.
