Paris Barclay

Paris Barclay
Photo by Jeff Mosier. November 2011
Born	(1956-06-30) June 30, 1956 Chicago Heights, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation	Film/music video/television director, writer, producer

Paris K.C. Barclay (born June 30, 1956) is an American television director and producer. He is a two-time Emmy Award winner and is currently among the busiest single-camera television directors, having directed over 125 episodes of television to date, for series such as NYPD Blue, ER, The West Wing, CSI, Lost, The Shield, House, Law & Order, Monk, Numb3rs, City of Angels, Cold Case, and more recently Sons of Anarchy, The Mentalist, Weeds, NCIS: Los Angeles, The Good Wife, In Treatment, Glee, and Smash.

Currently, Barclay is executive producer and principal director of FX’s highest rated series ever,Sons of Anarchy, which aired season five in 2012. Unusual for a series in its fifth season, Sons of Anarchy continues to rise in the ratings.

Between seasons of Sons of Anarchy, Barclay returned to directing music videos: helming LL Cool J's "Take It". Also, Barclay is currently developing a feature film biopic about the late Congresswoman Barbara Jordan starring Viola Davis, which he will direct and produce. Barclay also serves his fourth term as First Vice-President of the Directors Guild of America.

Early life

Barclay was born in Chicago Heights, Illinois. He attended La Lumiere School, a private college preparatory boarding school in La Porte, Indiana. On scholarship, he was one of the first African-Americans to attend the school. Barclay then went on to Harvard College, where he was extremely active in student musical theatre productions and the a cappella singing group the Harvard Krokodiloes. During his four years there, he wrote 16 musicals, including the music for two of the annual Hasty Pudding shows.

Music Video Career

Following graduation, he worked as a copywriter and creative supervisor at Grey, BBDO, Cunningham & Walsh, and Marsteller. Barclay then moved into music video directing and production through his own company, Black & White Television. He directed music videos for Bob Dylan, the New Kids On The Block, Janet Jackson and Luther Vandross. Most notably, he created eight videos for LL Cool J, including "Mama Said Knock You Out", which won awards from both MTV and Billboard—and went on to be listed by The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the 500 songs that shaped rock and roll. He was often hired to direct videos for films, introducing audiences to House Party (1990), White Men Can't Jump (1992), Mo' Money (1992), Posse (1993), and Cool Runnings (1993), among others.

In 2012, Barclay directed his first music video in 16 years, working once again with LL Cool J and R&B star Joe on the video for "Take It", the first video from 'LL Cool J's forthcoming album, "Authentic Hip Hop".

1990's

Paris began his successful career in television with an episode of Angel Street. His arrival coincided with John Wells' debut as an executive producer.

Barclay directed Shawn and Marlon Wayans' first feature film, Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996), and the HBO movie, The Cherokee Kid (1996).

After directing episodes of ER, Paris directed and eventually became a producer of NYPD Blue. In three years there, Barclay would receive two Emmy Awards for best Directing—the second of which was for the episode titled "Hearts and Souls"—a farewell to Jimmy Smits' character Bobby Simone that has been ranked one of TV Guide's 100 Best Episodes of All Time.

2000's

In 2000, Barclay teamed with a fellow NYPD Blue producers Steven Bochco and Nicholas Wootton to create City of Angels, a medical drama with a predominantly African-American cast including Blair Underwood, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Maya Rudolph, and Vivica Fox. The show aired on CBS for two seasons while winning two NAACP awards.

In the years that followed, Barclay worked on a wide variety of television dramas and comedies. He served as a producer of the series Cold Case, for which he has also directed nine episodes. Other shows he directed in the decade include The West Wing, Huff, Law & Order, Numb3rs, Lost, House, The Shield, Weeds, Monk,The Good Wife, NCIS: Los Angeles, Sons of Anarchy, CSI, The Mentalist and numerous episodes of Glee.

2008 marked Barclay's return to HBO, where he executive produced three seasons of In Treatment, as well as directed 35 episodes.

2010-Present

In 2011, Barclay became the executive producer and primary director for the fourth season of FX's Sons of Anarchy, a role he continued through the fifth season, in which Barclay also directed 3 episodes, including the season premier "Sovereign", which improved upon the ratings of season 4's Barclay-directed opener to become the highest rated telecast in FX history.

Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter stated in an interview with The Star-Ledger that it wasn't until Paris came on board to direct that the show found its "groove", observing: "We had all those glitches in those first two or three episodes [...] We had (Paris) come in [...] and we all just started trusting what we were doing here."

Similarly, Ryan Murphy, creator of the Fox hit Glee, called Paris' episode "Wheels" a "turning point for the show". Episodes directed by Paris Barclay often have a positive, lasting and permanent effect on a show, taking them to new heights of success and unexplored depths.

A June 2011 article in Variety ranked Barclay among the "Ten TV Directors Who Leave Their Mark," ranking him among "the most respected in the business." The article went on to describe Barclay as a "highly adaptive force with the ability to control both TV detectives and scene-stealing gleesters."

Also in 2012, Barclay will return to "Glee", to direct the upcoming "Diva" episode, as well as directing episode 111 of the new "ABC" series "Last Resort".

Awards

Along with winning two Emmy Awards for NYPD Blue, Barclay has garnered six total Emmy nominations—two for producing NYPD Blue, one for directing The West Wing, and most recently for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for the Glee episode "Wheels."

He has also received a Directors Guild of America Award for NYPD Blue and amassed 10 total DGA Award nominations for The West Wing (3), In Treatment (2), NYPD Blue (2), ER, House, and Glee. In 2007, he and Taylor Hackford were recipients of the DGA Robert B. Aldrich Award, for Distinguished Service to the Directors Guild.

Barclay received an NAACP Image Award for Best Drama Series as co-creator, writer, and director of the groundbreaking medical drama City of Angels, another Image Award for directing Cold Case, and a third Image Award for directing Smash. He has been nominated for the Image Award for Directing in a Drama Series every year it has been offered, from 2006 to 2012.

Paris received his first WGA Award nomination for co-writing Pedro with screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, marking the Oscar-winner's first WGA credit. The moving story of The Real World's Pedro Zamora garnered the team nominations for a GLAAD Media Award and Humanitas Prize.

Episodes directed by Paris for both Glee and In Treatment have become the recipients of the prestigious Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting. The Glee episode "Wheels" was also acknowledged at the 2010 Shane's Inspiration Gala, receiving the Visionary Leadership Award for shining a light on the abilities of those with disabilities.

The Glee episode, "Wheels" and CSI episode, "Coup de Grace" were both chosen for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' (the Emmy organization) Television Academy Honor, saluting "Television with a Conscience," in which the Academy recognizes achievements in programming that present issues of concern to society in "a compelling, emotional, and insightful way." Barclay also accepted the Voice Award from the US Department of Health and Human Services on behalf of In Treatment, for "incorporating dignified, respectful, and accurate portrayals of people with mental illnesses."

In June 2011, Advertising Age featured Paris on the cover as one of 2011's 50 Most Creative People, saying "Mr. Barclay brings an innate cultural awareness to shows."

TV Guide also recognized his House episode, "Three Stories", as one of the 100 Best Episodes of All Time.

In addition to his honors in television, he also received the Bridge Award from the Cornerstone Theater in Los Angeles for over 20 years contributions to this theater. Barclay was named by POWER UP as one of the Top Ten Gay Men in Entertainment; the 2001 GLAAD Stephen F. Kolzak Award winner in honor of his outstanding representation of the LGBT community; the 2004 Pan-African Film Festival Pioneer Award; and the Founder's Award from Project Angel Food. Barclay received the 2012 Upton Sinclair Award from the non-profit Liberty Hill for "unwavering idealism and vision.". In 2012, he and husband Christopher Barclay were also awarded with the Family Values Award from In the Life Media, given to "individuals whose representation of LGBT families serve as an inspiration for all Americans.

Miscellaneous

Paris is the DGA first vice-president and chair of the DGA's Political Action Committee, who's mission includes battling online theft of film and television shows.

Barclay attended both the La Lumiere School and Harvard with John Roberts, now the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

His Harvard roommate was novelist Arthur Golden, author of Memoirs of a Geisha.

Openly gay since late in his college days, he was a regular contributor to The Advocate for several years.

As a composer and lyricist, Barclay created the musical One Red Flower (based on the book “Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam”) which has been produced by the North Shore Music Theatre (Massachusetts), Carnegie Mellon University, The Village Theatre (Washington) and The Signature Theatre (Virginia). One Red Flower was also presented a as a benefit in Los Angeles in 2009 starring Tony-winner Levi Kreis, Grammy Award nominee Maureen McGovern, Hunter Parrish, and Josh Henderson.

Filmography

Directed episodes of:

• Sliders
• Diagnosis: Murder
• Brooklyn South
• NYPD Blue (also a supervising producer of the show; 2 Emmy Awards)
• City of Angels (also co-executive producer and co-creator)
• American Dreams
• ER (a DGA nomination)
• Fastlane
• The West Wing (3 DGA nominations)
• Huff
• The Shield (an NAACP Image Award nomination)
• Dirt
• Lost
• NUMB3RS
• House (a DGA nomination)
• Cold Case (also co-executive producer; an NAACP award)
• Weeds (a DGA nomination)
• The Mentalist
• In Treatment (executive producer; Golden Globe nomination, 2 DGA nominations, and an NAACP Image Award nomination)
• CSI (2 NAACP Image Award nominations)
• NCIS: Los Angeles
• The Good Wife
• Miami Medical
• Glee (an Emmy nomination and a DGA nomination)
• Smash
• Sons of Anarchy (also executive producer of seasons four and five, NAACP Image Award nomination)

Theatrical movie:

• Untitled Barbara Jordan Biopic, starring Viola Davis
• Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, starring Shawn and Marlon Wayans

Television pilots:

• The Street Lawyer, based on the novel by John Grisham
• Dead Lawyers starring F. Murray Abraham
• Hate starring Marcia Gay Harden
• Big Mike A&E pilot order in 2011

Television movies:

• The Cherokee Kid (HBO)
• The Big Time (TNT)

External links

• Paris Barclay at the Internet Movie Database
• Paris Barclay Interview at Archive of American Television