The Spin-off
Betsy Beers on Executive Producing in Shondaland
Betsy Beers is Shonda Rhimes' producing partner and the executive producer of Grey's Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder. She tells us how she transitioned from acting, to movie development to producing for television and the myriad hats she wears within Shondaland. *Note: This podcast contains explicit language.
By Michael Schneider • • 44m ListenBetsy Beers is the executive producer of some shows you may have heard ofGrey's Anatomy, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, and the forthcoming The Catch. Along with her partner Shonda Rhimes, Betsy oversees one of the consistently best reviewed and best rated blocks of television -- Thursday nights on ABC. Or as she described it in a speech at a Marie Claire event last year: "Two chicks - three time slots!"
Beers tells us about her career evolution--she was an actress who moved to LA with hopes of getting cast as a "wacky next door neighbor" in a sitcom. When that didn't pan out, she started reading scripts and got into film development. Beers says she has always been a secret lover of television, but growing up, TV was always viewed as the lesser industry compared to film. Then, she met Shonda Rhimes. The two hit it off immediately, and 12 seasons of Grey's Anatomy later, they haven't looked back.
Photo: Betsy Beers, executive producer of Grey's Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder
