Netflix unveils first 8 Shonda Rhimes projects for platform
Scandal and Grey's Anatomy creator will base several new shows on bestselling books
Shonda Rhimes's first slate of shows for Netflix includes a look at the migration of African-Americans from the Jim Crow South, romance among wealthy 19th century Londoners and a documentary on Debbie Allen's reimagining of The Nutcracker.
The streaming service on Friday announced eight shows Rhimes and her collaborators at Shondaland are developing.
The show about African-American life will be based on Isabel Wilkerson's award-winning book The Warmth of Other Sons, while the show about London aristocrats is based on Julia Quinn's bestselling romance novels set in Regency England.
Other projects include a show based on tech investor Ellen Pao's memoir, a series on California on the eve of the Mexican-American War, and a dark comedy about a troop of teenage girls who survive the apocalypse and want humanity to live by their Sunshine Scouts rules.
Pao in 2015 lost a high-profile sex discrimination lawsuit against Silicon Valley venture-capital firm where she had been a partner. Netflix said Pao's experiences "presaged the Time's Up movement."
Rhimes, the creator of hit shows such as Grey's Anatomy and Scandal, signed a multiyear deal to produce Netflix shows last August.