Tara Duncan is an American executive in the entertainment industry. She is president of Onyx Collective, which focuses on content creators of color and underrepresented voices, [1] [2] and is known for her role in diversifying content. [3] [4] Duncan previously served as president of Freeform, Disney's cable network for Gen Z, from 2020–2023. [5] As of 2021, Duncan was one of only a few entertainment industry executives in the United States who is black. [6]
In 2023, Duncan was named a 2023 Black Women in Hollywood Honoree by Essence magazine. [7]
An avid television watcher since childhood, Duncan grew up in Inland Empire, two hours east of Los Angeles. [8] [1] She was a fan of My So-Called Life and General Hospital. [8] During her senior year in high school, Duncan had an internship at ABC Daytime, which she secured with help from Sarah Dorsey Rice of the Emma Bowen Foundation. [9] [8] She attended Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. [8]
Duncan worked at production company Section Eight, founded by George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh. [8] In 2005, she moved to New York City and worked for HBO, before moving to a role in production at AMC, which was in the early stages of building original series such as Breaking Bad. [8]
Duncan eventually left the cable industry to work with streaming services. [8] At Amazon Prime Video, she produced the pilot for Bosch, its first original drama series. [8]
In 2014, Duncan started working at Netflix as one of its first creative executives. [1] At Netflix, she oversaw the production of Orange Is the New Black and Narcos . [8] She left in 2018 to take a personal sabbatical and traveled the world for a year and a half. [4] [1]
In 2020, Duncan joined Disney General Entertainment as president of Freeform. [9] She launched Cruel Summer, [1] as well as Single Drunk Female , the cable network's two most-watched original series. [10] Freeform has also launched its first animated series, Praise Petey. [11] Keep This Between Us has had the network's highest unscripted debut. [11]
After launching the Onyx Collective for Disney in 2021, [12] Duncan oversaw the creation of its first title, Summer of Soul , produced by Questlove, which won the 2022 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. [1] Onyx has also added The Hair Tales, Unprisoned, and The Plot, [1] as well as the critically acclaimed Reasonable Doubt , produced by Kerry Washington. [10] In 2023, Onyx released The 1619 Project docuseries. [9]
Another project that Duncan has worked on for Hulu is The Other Black Girl , an adaptation of the 2021 novel by Zakiya Daila Harris, which Duncan executive produced. [13] Duncan also serves as an executive producer on Under the Bridge . [14]