Shonda Rhimes will receive the inaugural Edinburgh Fellowship, awarded by the Edinburgh TV Festival, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
Presented by Screen Scotland, the annual event for the television industry has invited “the internationally acclaimed, multi-award winning writer, producer, and author, and creator of iconic TV shows such as Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, Private Practice, Inventing Anna, Queen Charlotte and executive producer of Bridgerton, How to Get Away with Murder and The Residence,” as its guest of honor for the 2025 edition.
“To mark this significant milestone, the festival is launching the ‘Edinburgh Fellowship’ which honors an individual whose work has had significant cultural and creative impact and recognizes their influence on both the international industry and television as an art form,” the festival said on Monday. “Rhimes will be the inaugural recipient of the Edinburgh Fellowship in recognition of her long-standing, ground-breaking and hugely influential contribution to the TV industry.”
She will also take part in an “In Conversation” event at the fest to discuss her 30-year career and “where the industry is heading as it finds itself in a moment of flux both culturally, economically and creatively,” Edinburgh organizers said.
Rhimes is known as a TV creator, producer and author, as well as the CEO of media company Shondaland, which is this year celebrating its 20th anniversary. “She is also the first woman to have created three television dramas (Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, and Scandal) that have achieved the 100-episode milestone,” Edinburgh organizers highlighted. In 2017, she left network television to exclusively produce content in partnership with Netflix.
Said Rowan Woods, creative director of the Edinburgh TV Festival: “This year the festival celebrates an incredible 50 years of agenda-setting thought leadership across the international TV industry. We’re delighted to mark this milestone with the creation of the Edinburgh Fellowship, which recognizes significant creative and cultural achievement in television, and we can’t think of anyone more fitting to receive this inaugural honour than Shonda Rhimes, one of the international industry’s most respected creative powerhouses and someone whose global cultural impact cannot be understated. As we celebrate the rich legacy of the past 50 years and look towards the future, Shonda remains an inspirational figure and guiding light for us all.”