Rodney Barnes

Last updated
Barnes at the 2023 San Diego Comic-Con Rodney Barnes by Gage Skidmore.jpg
Barnes at the 2023 San Diego Comic-Con

Rodney Barnes is an American screenwriter and producer. Barnes has written and produced The Boondocks , My Wife and Kids , Everybody Hates Chris , Those Who Can't , Marvel's Runaways , American Gods, Wu-Tang: An American Saga , and was an executive producer/writer/actor on HBO's Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty . [1]

Contents

He has also earned top honors for his work from the Peabody Awards, American Film Institute, Writers Guild of America, BET Comedy Awards, and NAACP Image Awards.

Early life

Rodney Barnes [2] was born September 19 in Annapolis, Maryland. During his childhood he quickly gravitated to comic books, primarily superhero style, horror and science fiction. He attended Howard University in Washington, DC. In 1995, Barnes decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of screenwriting. [3]

Career

Barnes was a producer and writer for the Damon Wayans show My Wife and Kids , from 2001 to 2005. He was then a co-executive producer and writer of Chris Rock’s TV series Everybody Hates Chris , from 2005 to 2009. He was also the co-executive producer of 'Til Death in 2010, and a consulting producer of Brothers in 2009.

After completing 4 seasons of the critically acclaimed animated comedy The Boondocks , [4] where he served as executive producer and head writer from 2005 to 2014, [5] he was a consulting producer on the TruTV sitcom Those Who Can't , co-executive producer for the second season of the Comedy Central animated sitcom Legends of Chamberlain Heights and co-executive producer for the unproduced second season of Vinyl for HBO. He then served as Co-Executive producer/Writer on Hulu's upcoming adaptation of Marvel's Runaways . In between he was nominated for writing special material by the Writers Guild of America for his work on the 88th Academy Awards, hosted by comedian Chris Rock.

Barnes then served as executive producer for the unproduced Starz drama Heels. He has also been developing the animated series Vandaveon and Mike, based on characters created by and starring Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele for Comedy Central, and "Killogy", a graphic novel series from creator Alan Robert.

In 2017, Barnes ventured into writing for his first love, comic books. He authored "Birth of a Patriot," a short story in Marvel Comics' Secret Empire spin-off "Brave New World" #2. He then penned the Falcon (comics) series for the Marvel Legacy Imprint, the mini-series "Lando: Double or Nothing" for Marvel/Lucasfilm based on the character Lando Calrissian from the Star Wars franchise, and is currently writing "Quincredible" for the Lion Forge imprint and "Killadelphia" for Image Comics.

As well, Barnes co-wrote the adaption of Arc of Justice , which is set to be produced/financed by the Mark Gordon Company, directed by José Padilha and starring Russell Crowe and David Oyelowo. It is the story of the landmark civil rights case of Ossian Sweet. The screenplay was honored by the Blacklist as one of the year's best-unproduced screenplays.

Barnes is also developing Atlanta's Most Wanted, a one-hour crime drama starring T.I., for the Fox Broadcasting Company and producer Jerry Bruckheimer and is attached to write and showrun Things That Make White People Uncomfortable, an anthology series based on the book of the same name, written by former NFL defensive lineman Michael Bennett. [6] He is also writing an untitled creature feature film to be directed by Jordan Roberts for New Regency. [7]

Barnes is writing the novel "Crownsville." A tale of gothic horror to be published in the spring of 2019.

He is also the co-founder of Dark Apocrypha Productions, [8] a production company based in Los Angeles, that creates both traditional and branded content projects. Formerly, he was a columnist for the Huffington Post. [9] More recently, he signed a deal with HBO. [10]

Awards

Barnes has received a Peabody Award for "The Return of the King" episode of The Boondocks , [11] and the American Film Institute Award in 2007 for Everybody Hates Chris .

He has also been nominated for a BET Comedy Award for My Wife and Kids, the NAACP Image Award [12] for The Boondocks , and the Writers Guild of America Award for Everybody Hates Chris and the 88th Academy Awards .

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danny Strong</span> American actor and screenwriter

Danny Strong is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. As an actor, Strong is best known for his roles as Jonathan Levinson in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Doyle McMaster in Gilmore Girls and Danny Siegel in Mad Men. He also wrote the screenplays for Recount, the HBO adaptation Game Change, Lee Daniels' The Butler, and co-wrote the two-part finale of The Hunger Games film trilogy, Mockingjay – Part 1 and Mockingjay – Part 2. Strong also is a co-creator, executive producer, director, and writer for the Fox series Empire and created, wrote and directed the award-winning Hulu miniseries Dopesick.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Vincent</span> American actor (1937–2017)

Frank Vincent Gattuso Jr. was an American actor and musician. Known for often portraying violent mobsters and criminals, he was a frequent collaborator of filmmaker Martin Scorsese, appearing as Salvy in Raging Bull (1980), Billy Batts in Goodfellas (1990), and Frank Marino in Casino (1995). On television, he played Phil Leotardo on the fifth and sixth seasons of the HBO crime drama The Sopranos (2004–2007). Vincent also voiced Salvatore Leone in the Grand Theft Auto video game series from 2001 to 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Buck</span> American television writer

Scott Randall Buck is an American television writer. Buck has written for several television series including Six Feet Under, Rome, Showtime's Dexter, Everybody Loves Raymond, Coach, Inhumans, The Oblongs and Iron Fist.

<i>Everybody Hates Chris</i> American period television sitcom (2005–2009)

Everybody Hates Chris is an American semi-autobiographical sitcom created by Chris Rock and Ali LeRoi and originally broadcast on UPN and The CW from 2005 to 2009. The series is based loosely on Rock's personal experiences as a teenager living in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York City from 1982 to 1987. However, Rock's real-life adolescence took place from 1978 to 1984, having been born in 1965.

<i>The Boondocks</i> (TV series) American anime-influenced adult animated sitcom

The Boondocks is an American anime-influenced dark adult animated sitcom created by Aaron McGruder for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. It is based upon his manga-influenced comic strip of the same name. The series premiered on November 6, 2005. The show focuses on a Black American family, the Freemans, settling into the fictional, friendly and predominantly white suburb of Woodcrest. The perspective offered by this mixture of cultures, lifestyles, social classes, stereotypes, viewpoints and racialized identities provides for much of the series' satire, comedy, and conflict.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keegan-Michael Key</span> American actor and comedian (born 1971)

Keegan-Michael Key is an American actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. He and Jordan Peele co-created and co-starred in the sketch series Key & Peele (2012–2015) for which he received one Primetime Emmy Award from ten nominations. He also acted in the sketch series Mad TV (2004–2009), sitcom Playing House (2014–2017), the comedy series Friends from College (2017–2019) and the series Reboot (2022). He also appeared alongside Peele in the first season of the series Fargo in 2014, and had a recurring role on Parks and Recreation from 2013 to 2015. Key later starred in the musical comedy series Schmigadoon! (2021–2023).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Royce</span> American screenwriter

Mike Royce is an American screenwriter and television producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jordan Peele</span> American actor, comedian, and filmmaker

Jordan Haworth Peele is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is known for his film and television work in the comedy and horror genres. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. Peele started his career in sketch comedy before transitioning his career to a writer and director of psychological horror and satirical films. In 2017, Peele was included on the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.

Brian Ash is an American producer and screenwriter.

LeSean Thomas is an American television animation producer, director, animator, comic book artist, writer, character designer, and storyboard artist, based in Meguro, Tokyo.

Ian Edwards is a British Jamaican / American stand-up comedian, actor, writer and producer from New York and based in Los Angeles, California.

Roger S. H. Schulman is an American screenwriter and film producer. He co-wrote the animated feature Shrek, for which he won the British Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing.

Ali LeRoi is an American television producer, director, writer and actor. He is best known as the co-creator of the Chris Rock semi-autobiographical sitcom Everybody Hates Chris, for which he won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series in 2008.

Erik Weiner is an American actor, writer, comedian, and producer best known for co-creating the play The Bomb-itty of Errors and his role as Agent Sebso on HBO's Boardwalk Empire.

Sarah Jane Cunningham and Suzie Villandry-Freeman are an American television producing and writing team. They began their careers writing for the Nickelodeon animated series The Wild Thornberrys. Before moving on to the fellow Nicktoons shows Rugrats and As Told by Ginger. Some of their other television credits include Even Stevens, Cory in the House, South of Nowhere, Everybody Hates Chris, True Jackson, VP, Melissa & Joey and That's So Raven. They were nominated for Primetime Emmy Award for their work on the latter series.

Felicia D. Henderson is an American television producer, screenwriter, comic books writer and a director of music videos and television episodes. She has worked on Moesha, Sister, Sister, Soul Food, and Fringe, also played in a movie with Whitney Houston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Rotenberg</span> Canadian film producer

Michael Rotenberg is a Canadian television and film producer and entertainment manager.

Samaria Johnson, better known as Sam Jay, is an American comedian and writer. She is best known as a writer for Saturday Night Live (2017–2020), her Netflix comedy special 3 in the Morning (2020), and as the co-creator and co-star of the HBO comedy series Pause with Sam Jay (2021–2022) and the Peacock comedy series Bust Down (2022).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diallo Riddle</span> American writer, producer, actor

Diallo Riddle is an American writer, producer, actor, showrunner, and DJ. Riddle is best known for his co-starring role as Stevie in the NBC sitcom Marlon, and has been the co-creator of several different television series. He won an NAACP Image Award for his directing on South Side.

Courtney Lilly is an American television producer. He is the showrunner of Black-ish, Mixed-ish, and Grown-ish.

References

[13] [14] [15] [16]

  1. "Rodney Barnes". IMDb. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
  2. "About".
  3. "So Much Talent - The Official Website of Jackie Chan". jackiechan.com. Archived from the original on 2009-07-28.
  4. "Show pokes at would-be censors". Chicago Tribune. 8 October 2007.
  5. "Rodney Barnes IMDB". IMDb .
  6. "John Wells Inks 9-Figure Warner Bros. Deal, Sets Expansive 13-Show Slate". The Hollywood Reporter. 20 June 2019. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  7. "Jordan Vogt-Roberts' New Creature Feature Gets 'Boondocks' Writer Rodney Barnes to Pen Script". /Film. 2020-01-09. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  8. "Dark Apocrypha Productions". Archived from the original on 22 April 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  9. "Rodney Barnes' Huffington Post Column". HuffPost . Retrieved 9 February 2012.
  10. White, Peter (2020-09-10). "'Wu Tang: An American Saga' Writer Rodney Barnes Strikes Overall Deal With HBO". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  11. "Peabody Award Recipient". Archived from the original on 10 June 2010. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
  12. "NAACP Image Awards". Archived from the original on 2012-02-17.
  13. Comedy Central Expands 'Key & Peele,' Develops Animated Spinoff Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  14. ‘The Boondocks’ Rodney Barnes Developing ‘Killogy’ Animated Series Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  15. ‘Boondocks’ Rodney Barnes To Rewrite Marlon Wayans, Mike Epps Buddy Actioner ‘Any Means Necessary’ For Sony Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  16. Snoop Dogg & Allen Hughes Team For 1980s Family Drama At HBO Retrieved March 21, 2015.