Netflix Reveals First Slate of Shondaland Series

Netflix and Shondaland have set the first slate of series being developed by Shonda Rhimes, Betsy Beers and their team.

Among the series is an “Untitled Shonda Rhimes Project,” based on the New York Magazine article “How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People” by Jessica Pressler. Rhimes will create the series.

An “Untitled Bridgerton Project” will be based on Julia Quinn’s best-selling series of novels. The 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 will adapt and showrun the series.

The Warmth of Other Suns is based on Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson’s book of the same name. The 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. Anna Deavere Smith is set to adapt.

Set in the 1840s against the surreal and sensual backdrop of the then-Mexican state of California, Pico & Sepulveda tracks the end of an idyllic era there as American forces threaten brutality and war at the border to claim this land for its own.

Netflix and Shondaland have acquired the rights to Ellen Pao’s memoir Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change, 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 presaged the Time’s Up movement.

Netflix and Shondaland have also acquired the rights to Kate Andersen Brower’s nonfiction book The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House, which offers an 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.

Writer/actress Jill Alexander will be working on Sunshine Scouts, a darkly comedic half-hour series about an apocalyptic disaster that 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.

Hot Chocolate Nutcracker is a documentary that 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 features an inclusive cast of all ages and blend of dance traditions. Oliver Bokelberg will serve as director, cinematographer and producer.

“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. “Ted and Cindy and everyone at Netflix have been incredible partners in making that happen. This is Shondaland 2.0.”

“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,” said Beers. “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!”

“It’s been thrilling to begin this journey with Shonda, Betsy and their team and watch them embrace the full range of creative freedom possible at Netflix,” said Cindy Holland, VP of original content at Netflix. “Infused with Shonda’s sensibility, the Shondaland slate is shaping up to be something truly special that we know will delight our members around the world.”