Kenya Barris

Kenya Barris is an award-winning writer, producer, and director whose innovative approach to comedy has firmly cemented his place as one of Hollywood’s great modern storytellers. With a focus on socially conscious storytelling that reflects our culture and tackles contemporary issues and themes, Barris’ work has earned him praise for telling poignant and powerful stories that make audiences more aware of the world around them while simultaneously making them laugh.

Along with his creative vision and personal endeavors, Barris has a deep passion and commitment to mentorship that has become a staple of how he approaches his career and his company "Khalabo Ink Society." A full-service creative collective that produces content across an array of mediums, "Khalabo" was founded by Barris with the continued goal of creating a space where collaboration is fostered and new talent can thrive. With this as a pillar of its creative process, Barris has grown the production company with the goal of establishing it as a creative collective, where collaboration is fostered and new talent can thrive.

Among Barris’ television slate is Netflix’s acclaimed animated series "We the People," produced alongside Barack and Michelle Obama, the Netflix original comedy "#BlackAF," the Peabody Award-winning sitcom "Black-ish" (ABC), which just entered its 8th and final season. Barris has also created two successful "Black-ish" spin-offs, "Grown-ish" (Freeform) and "Mixed-ish" (ABC), as well as a recently green-lit third spin-off, "Old-ish." Barris will continue to expand his television work through a first-of-its-kind adult animated music series "Entergalatic" based on Grammy Award-winning artist Kid Cudi’s upcoming album of the same name and the series adaptation of the best-selling novel from 50 Cent and Robert Greene, "The 50th Law."

On the feature side, Barris and Khalabo recently released their first project in the documentary space with Netflix’s "Blood Brothers: Malcolm X & Muhammad Ali." His upcoming slate includes: Netflix’s "You People," a comedy feature co-written by Barris and Jonah Hill which will mark Barris’ feature directorial debut and a reboot of the family comedy "Cheaper By The Dozen" starring Gabrielle Union and Zach Braff. Additionally, Barris has several high-profile projects at various stages of development, which include: a documentary feature about the life and career of groundbreaking civil rights attorney Ben Crump; a film about comedic icon Richard Pryor that Barris will write, direct and produce; an animated movie inspired by the songs and music of Bob Marley; a remake of the classic sports comedy "White Men Can't Jump," and a feature-length musical about Juneteenth with Pharrell Williams, among others.