Shonda Rhimes Sets Anna Delvey Series as First Netflix Project
Nearly a year after leaving ABC Studios for Netflix, Shonda Rhimes has found her first project.
The uber producer has acquired the rights to the New York Magazine story “How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People” by Jessica Pressler. The article centers on the real-life tale of a woman who conned high society people with her lavish lifestyle.
Rhimes is attached to write the series, which is particularly interesting given how long it has been since the showrunner penned a pilot. (The last one to air, for those keeping track, was Scandal in 2012.)
The project comes roughly 10 months after Rhimes inked a nine-figure deal with the streaming giant last August. The five-year mega-deal saw her leave her 15-year home at ABC Studios, where she created Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal. While the latter drama wrapped up just this year after seven seasons on the air, Rhimes will continue to be involved in her slate of ongoing ABC shows, which includes Grey‘s, spinoff Station 19, How to Get Away With Murder and middling newcomer For the People.
The Anna Delvey project marks the first series since Scandal that Rhimes has created as her more recent Shondaland shows have been made by other creators. The viral article — which tracks how Delvey became an “it” girl in the New York social scene and almost launched a Soho House-esque club — had been hotly pursued by producers after it was published on May 28. Gersh repped Pressler and the article for the sale.