Kenya Barris, American television showrunner and producer, was born on August 9, 1974 in Los Angeles, California. After attending college in Atlanta, he went back to Los Angeles and became an assistant writer on the show Sister/Sister. Seeing his talent, Steve Stark helped him secure a slot in the Paramount Comedy Writer’s Workshop. In 1997, Barris was then put on WGA Writer’s Trainee program, and he started writing for the late night comedy sketch show, The Keenan Ivory Wayan’s Show. After that, he was put on Soul Food, and would eventually stay with the show for four seasons. During that time, he helped his friend Tyra Banks create her iconic show, America’s Next Top Model. He went on to write for shows such as Listen Up (2004-2005), Girlfriends (2005-2006), The Game (2006-2014), and Are We There Yet? (2011-2012). In 2014, he created Black-ish, the show that gave him three Primetime Emmys nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series.
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