Shonda Rhimes says she would be ‘afraid’ if she were starting her writing career today

Liam Mathews
·2 min read
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Shonda Rhimes is worried about the future of television. 

In an interview with Variety, the powerful writer-producer expressed concern about the “uncertain” nature of TV writing as a career going forward, as Hollywood contracts, studios avoid taking risks, and attention spans shrink. 

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“It’s a completely different landscape, a completely different landscape,” the “Bridgerton” executive producer said. “And I feel like when I look forward, I have no idea. It’s very clear to me that my children only want to watch things that are this long because of YouTube or whatever. [She measures an inch with her fingers.] Sitting down and watching a movie is very rare for them. It’s not the same as it was for us. Everything’s changing. I think there will always be storytelling; I just don’t know what form it’s going to take.”

Rhimes noted that the business now is very different than the one she entered. “I feel like if I was a television writer coming out right now, I would be a little bit more afraid,” she said. “When I came out, it was the boom – it was the year the boom started. Now we’re in the place where the bust is starting. So who knows?” (Rhimes has been around for boom years at several different companies – at HBO in 1999 with “Introducing Dorothy Dandridge”, at ABC in 2005 with “Grey’s Anatomy,” and at Netflix in 2017 with her nine-figure production deal.) 

In the interview, Rhimes also stumps for Joe Biden, says that she didn’t like “Barbie” (“I think that people wanted it to be sort of this feminist manifesto that it doesn’t need to be”), and reveals that she’s gotten very into golf, which she finds “peaceful” and “meditative” and she’s also “pretty good at.”

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