Private Practice  (Wednesdays, 9:00-10:00 p.m., ET)

SHONDA RHIMES, creator and executive producer

Shonda Rhimes is the creator of the hit ABC series "Grey's Anatomy," which chronicles the personal and professional lives of surgical residents in Seattle, and "Private Practice," which follows Addison Montgomery as she begins a new life in Los Angeles working with her friends at Oceanside Wellness Group.

Entering its fifth season, "Grey's Anatomy" continues to be hailed by audiences and critics alike. For her work on the series, Rhimes received the 2007 Television Producer ofthe Year by the Producers Guild of America, the 2007 Golden Globe for Outstanding Television Drama, the 2007 Lucy Award for Excellence in Television from Women in Film, the 2007 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series, the 2006 Writers Guild Award for Best New Series, in addition to Emmy nominations for Outstanding Drama Series and Writing for a Drama Series.

Aside from her success with network television, Rhimes wrote the feature film "Princess Diaries 2: A Royal Engagement," released in August 2004 by Disney. Additionally, her original script, "Crossroads," was released in 2002 by Paramount. She also co-wrote "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge," produced by HBO and nominated for numerous awards, and for which Halle Berry won a Golden Globe and an Emmy for Best Actress in a miniseries for her portrayal of Dandridge.

Rhimes worked as research director on the Tollin-Robbins/Mundy Lane documentary "Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream." It was nominated for an Emmy Award and an Academy Award and won the Peabody Award, as well as the NAACP Image Award. She has been a guest speaker at the USC School of Cinema-Television, where she taught a course in scene writing.

Rhimes holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College in English Literature with Creative Writing. As director of Dartmouth's Black Underground Theatre and Arts Association, her work earned her numerous awards for excellence. She received her M.F.A. from the U.S.C. School of Cinema-Television, where she was awarded the prestigious Gary Rosenberg Writing Fellowship.

The child of educators, Rhimes blames her parents for her rampant addiction to books. The youngest of six, she was born and raised outside of Chicago, IL, and now resides in Los Angeles.

BETSY BEERS, executive producer

Prior to exclusively serving as an executive producer on "Grey's Anatomy" and "Private Practice," Betsy Beers was president of the Mark Gordon Company. While there, she oversaw the development and production of their feature film and television projects. She produced "Casanova," starring the late Heath Ledger and directed by Lasse Hallstrom, for the Walt Disney Company, as well as the Miramax feature "The Hoax," starring Richard Gere.

Previously Beers was president of director Mike Newell's Dogstar Films, where she produced the films "200 Cigarettes" and "Best Laid Plans," as well as developed such films as "High Fidelity" and "Pushing Tin." She also served as executive producer on the movies "Safe Passage" and "Witchhunt" with producer Gale Ann Hurd.

For her work on "Grey's Anatomy," Beers and her fellow producers were awarded the 2007 Producer of the Year Award from the Producers Guild of America, the 2007 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series Drama, and received a 2006 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Drama Series.

MARTI NOXON, executive producer

Marti Noxon, executive producer on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Grey's Anatomy," has also written a number of feature films for Warner Brothers, Universal and Sam Raimi's company, Ghosthouse. Noxon, a graduate of the theater department of UC Santa Cruz, currently lives in Hollywood with her husband and two children.

MARK GORDON, executive producer

Mark Gordon has over 60 motion pictures and television programs to his credit. Beginning with the start of the Fall '07 season, he has had five series on the air, including "Grey's Anatomy" and "Private Practice" for ABC, and "Criminal Minds," "Army Wives" and "Reaper" through ABC Studios.

Gordon's recent motion picture releases include "10,000 BC," "Talk to Me," starring Don Cheadle, "The Hoax," starring Richard Gere, and "The Painted Veil," starring Edward Norton and Naomi Watts. Among Other motion picture credits are such international blockbusters as "The Day After Tomorrow," "The Patriot," "Speed" and the multi award-winning "Saving Private Ryan."

Nominated for an Academy Award, Gordon is the recipient of multiple Emmy, Golden Globe, BAFTA and Producers Guild of America Awards. He serves on the boards of the Producers Guild of America, the Virginia Film Festival, Teach for America, Los Angeles and Seeds Elementary school at U.C.L.A. He is a graduate of New York University Film School.

MARK TINKER, executive producer

After graduating from Syracuse University in 1973, Mark Tinker began a two-year stint as a production assistant at Lorimar Productions working on shows including "The Waltons" and "Apple's Way." His next opportunity was as an associate producer at MTM Productions on various programs, including "The Bob Newhart Show," where he was given his first shot at directing. In 1978 Bruce Paltrow offered Tinker the job of producer on "The White Shadow." That pairing led to a decade-long relationship, highlighted by the long-running medical drama, "St. Elsewhere." Tinker wrote and directed episodes for both series.

Rounding out a fifteen-year run at MTM, he produced and directed David Milch's newspaper themed "Capital News," then moved on to direct several pilots and movies-of-the-week before landing at 20th Century Fox as executive producer for Steven Bochco's acclaimed divorce attorney series, "Civil Wars." Next Tinker executive-produced the final season of "L.A. Law" before rejoining Milch as executive producer of "NYPD Blue." After "Blue" concluded its 12-year run, Tinker was executive producer and a director on HBO's "Deadwood" and also helmed a pair of

season finale episodes of "Grey's Anatomy." Subsequently he executive-produced and directed the pilot and episodes for Milch's quirky HBO drama "John From Cincinnati." Currently Tinker is both executive producer and director for ABC's "Private Practice."

During a 35-year career in television, Tinker has been nominated for 16 Emmy Awards, taking home four -- one for producing ("NYPD Blue," 1995) and three for directing ("St. Elsewhere," 1993, "NYPD Blue," 1997 and "Brooklyn South," 1998). Additionally, he has two George Foster Peabody Awards and has been nominated for seven Directors Guild of America Awards.

Tinker has a son, Jake, 28, and is married to actress Chandra West.

MARK WILDING, executive producer

Mark Wilding has been writing for television and the movies for 16 years. He worked on a number of sitcoms for nine years, including "Ellen," "Dave's World," "The Naked Truth," "Caroline In The City," "The Tony Danza Show," "Working," "Jesse" and "Becker." He has worked on dramas for the last seven years. Previous credits include "Charmed" and "Jake 2.0." He is currently an executive producer on "Grey's Anatomy." Wilding has recently sold two movies - one to Universal entitled "Party Boys" and the other to 20th Century Fox entitled "Family Time." He won the 2007 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Individual Episode for "Where The Boys Are."

Three years ago, the New York Times called his sitcom pilot "The Cell" the funniest unproduced script in Hollywood.

JON COWAN, executive producer

Along with producing/writing partner Robert Rovner, Jon Cowan served as executive producer on the hit series "Crossing Jordan," as well as recently serving as a consulting producer on "Bionic Woman." Other writing and producing credits include "Summerland," "The Lyon's Den" and "American Dreams." He executive-produced the ABC made-for-television movie "Princess of Thieves," starring Keira Knightley, and the highly-rated "Take Me Home: The John Denver Story" for CBS. Cowan co-produced over 20 movies for television, including the acclaimed "Riot" for Showtime.

ROBERT ROVNER, executive producer

Along with producing/writing partner Jon Cowan, Robert Rovner served as executive producer on the hit series "Crossing Jordan," as well as recently serving as a consulting producer on "Bionic Woman." Other writing and producing credits include "Summerland," "The Lyon's Den" and "American Dreams." Rovner executive-produced the ABC made-for-television movie "Princess of Thieves," starring Keira Knightley, and the highly-rated "Take Me Home: The John Denver Story" for CBS.