The brutal battle for streaming content just got epic.
After 15 years, Shonda Rhimes, creator of Grey's Anatomy, Scandal and How To Get Away With Murder, is leaving ABC and has signed an exclusive multi-year contract with Netflix.
Rhimes will also be bringing her production company ShondaLand to Netflix, moving away from Walt Disney with production partner Betsy Beers, in an effort to become less reliant on Hollywood studios, according to the Wall Street Journal.
She will remain involved in current ABC projects while she starts this new venture.
“Shondaland.com is not about the shows,” says Shonda Rhimes. “It's about the community of people who watch the shows.”
Rhimes' contract with ABC was ending in 2018, and she'd already let them know she was leaving for new adventures, to which she was offered an early out to the contract, according to Variety.
While the financial details have not been released, the deal has to be more than Rhimes' $10 million ABC contract.
Netflix's chief content officer Ted Sarandos said of Rhimes, “Her work is gripping, inventive, pulse-pounding, heart-stopping, taboo-breaking television at its best. I’ve gotten the chance to know Shonda and she’s a true Netflixer at heart -- she loves TV and films, she cares passionately about her work, and she delivers for her audience. We’re so excited to welcome her to Netflix.”
The deal comes on the heals of Disney's announcement that they would not be renewing Netflix's streaming rights in favor of starting their own streaming services.