He does all of that while still himself directing, as he did on Season 1 of “Bridgerton,” and will again fill that role in Season 2. He also acts as a liaison for talent and new showrunners and heads up all elements involving directing, including scouting new directing talent, building out Shondaland’s director roster and overseeing anything involving mentorship of directors.
In his current role at Shondaland, Verica monitors narrative development and supervises production for all the company’s TV series and films. And really, after we talked it out, I think she knew it before I knew it.” In the end, I really saw an opportunity, which she provided, to have creativity on all these levels. She couldn’t have been more supportive of wanting to hear what my fears were. I didn’t want to be imprisoned in an office and just sort of distilling advice on things.
“‘Executive’ was kind of a scary word to me because I felt in some way it would take away from the creative side and wanting to be in the trenches, directing and acting. “I had trepidations, because I feared I would become an executive,” Verica says. Credit: Dilorio: Katie Osborn Bailey, Verica: Jay Goldmanĭilorio: Katie Osborn Bailey, Verica: Jay Goldman
He supervises the day-to-day work on the company’s TV series and films. Tom Verica, tapped to direct episodes of “Grey’s Anatomy” in 2007, was named Shondaland’s senior creative production advisor in February. Sandie Bailey, a member of the setdesign department on “Scandal,” joined the company in 2016 and oversees as well as the podcast division and merchandise and experiences. He works to expand the company’s storytelling beyond television and streaming. Right to left: Chris Dilorio joined Shondaland in 2016 as VP of strategy and development. He first met Rhimes when he was hired to direct episodes of “Grey’s Anatomy” during the hit ABC medical drama’s third season and co-starred in “How to Get Away With Murder.” Over time and continued collaborations, Rhimes asked him to join the team permanently. Or take Tom Verica, Shondaland’s senior creative production advisor. Dilorio, for example, worked with Rhimes for years through his job at top PR firm PMK*BNC before Rhimes offered him the chance to work for her directly. They are experts in those areas to oversee those specific divisions, and then also identifying where it makes sense for us to go and partner with outside companies or people to create the best work possible.”ĭilorio is one of several Shondaland executives who spoke with Variety, but all of those who did had similar stories: They began working with Rhimes in one capacity or another independently before she approached them about coming in-house at Shondaland and helping her grow the business. And you know, Shonda has done a really good job of bringing in new people, some of whom she’s worked with for years. “So on a day-to-day basis, there are executives that are overseeing each of those different verticals. And then there’s the digital side of the company that is handling our podcasts, our website and a lot of our products and merchandise. “There is the half that is creating streaming content for Netflix and doing the ABC shows. “There’s two halves of the company now, really,” Dilorio says. She has built herself a team from the ground up capable of executing her vision for the brand and taking it to new heights.Ĭhris Dilorio, Shondaland’s chief strategy and business development officer, oversees the planning and execution of Shondaland’s industry initiatives as well as brand partnerships that further expand the company’s storytelling beyond television and streaming. But even a powerhouse like Rhimes cannot do all this alone. It really has exploded,” she says.Īmong the new initiatives driving the growth of Shondaland are its podcast division (launched in 2019) and digital content on the Shondaland website (launched in 2017). “We made all the behind-the-scenes footage from ‘Bridgerton,’ and we did a bunch of other stuff that goes on the website. With digital content, the two sides of Shondaland can feed one another, Rhimes says - as was evident during “Bridgerton” mania. In Rhimes’ renewed pact, the bullet points specify that Shondaland will now be, as Rhimes puts it, a “one-stop shopping” source for Netflix for movies as well as a wide variety of other types of content. Shondaland, formed in 2005, is under the umbrella of Rhimes’ nine-figure deal at Netflix, which began in 2017 and was renewed earlier this year - the first of the streamer’s talent megadeals to merit a second term. As the company grows, she’d like her own significance within it to lessen over time, she says: “My goal is that 25 years from now, people go, ‘There was a Shonda Rhimes?’”