Shonda Rhimes ’91

On making it in Hollywood with Grey's Anatomy

"Even though 1 did creative writing and a lot of theater at Dartmouth, I thought I'd do something responsible and sensible like go to medical school or law school."

"Hollywood may not be thenicest town in the world. Our shows 'no asshole policy' when we were casting was really important to assure the kind of work environment I wanted. I like all our actors, which ultimately makes it easier to write for them."

"You can't anticipate beinga Top 10 network hit. I was just hoping to make a good show that everyone would want to watch."

"Writing for television entails sitting in a room with 10 other people and making them see your vision, which is harder than it seems. As a movie writer you're a little territorial. Everything stays in your head, and everything is written by you.

"Everyone I talk to asks when I'm going to get Derek and Meredith back together or has a real strong opinion about what should happen between them. I know where every, last one of my characters is going; I know where the series is ending—but I'm not telling."

"When we were starting to work on the pilot showing Meredith in a Dartmouth T-shirt, the College was really wonderful. They said Okay, not knowing what to expect. Being a Dartmouth woman is part of who Meredith is. It adds to her personality. Anyone who went to Dartmouth certainly gets it."

"I don't think Meredith is promiscuous; she's a modem woman. I don't think she drinks too much; she has a very hard job." "All my characters, in their own weirdways, have aspects of my personality, Alex has the competitiveness; Izzie, the optimism; Cristina, the lack of a filter; George always says the wrong thing at the wrong time; Bailey doesn't suffer fools. Meredith is the calm in their center. As for doctors Burke and Shepherd—hey, I'm single, I'm looking its more about things I'd like to find in a guy."

"When I wrote Princess Diaries 21 wanted to make a movie about a girl who figured out that she didn't need a man to run a country. I love the movies that are out there for teen girls that are empowering and not movies where the girl is the love interest or the hot chick or the ugly duckling."

"Under no circumstances would I ever want to be in front of the camera. What I love about my job is that I get to write lines and really attractive, interesting people get to say them and I get to sit home in my pajamas and watch them."

"There's always a cycle in which they say movies are dead, movies are dying. They said it when television came out, when cable came out. The movie industry is going to be fine."

"My advice to screenwriters trying to make it or to Dartmouthkids who e-mail me is the same: If you can think of anything you like to do better than to write movies, go and do it. It's definitely not as glamorous as it seems. Then again, I stand on a stage and watch actors say my lines and it is wonderful."

"Film is a director's medium; television is a writer's medium. Every time you write a movie, you think to yourself, 'I can't believe they did that to my script. I've learned to let it go. The great thing about the show is that it's always what's in my head."

"There are a lot of people who say, 'I only watch cable; I onlywatch HBO.' They're kind of snooty about it. I think television is pretty good. It will take me a long time to get over the cancellation of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Six Feet Under was brilliant. I m a huge fan of Lost and am constantly trying to get people to tell me what really is going on. I also like Project Runway and anything CSI."

"I've been absurdly naive sinceI got to Hollywood. Everything seems to have worked out just fine, probably because I assumed it would. I'm not looking for things to go wrong. I'm incredibly lucky. I love what I do. It's like getting to run your own small country."

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS: Creator of Nielsen Top-io rated ABC-TV drama Grey's Anatomy, whose lead character is surgical intern and Dartmouth alum Meredith Grey; writing credits include Princess Diaries 2 (2004), which starred Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews, and HBO's Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999), starring Halle Berry; has three movies yet to be made, two scripts in progress FIRST JOB: Billing coordinator, McCann- Erickson, San Francisco, 1991-92 FAVORITE MOVIES: The Godfather, TheBreakfast Club, Citizen Kane, The ColorPurple EDUCATION: AB, English literature with creative writing; M.RA., screenwriting, University of Southern California, 1994 FAMILY: Daughter Harper, 3