Rodney Barnes is an award-winning writer, producer, and comic book creator whose vibrant and emphatic creative voice has established him as a Hollywood mainstay.

Barnes is currently an executive producer and writer for HBO’s new series WINNING TIME: THE RISE OF THE LAKERS DYNASTY, which chronicles the professional and personal lives of the 1980s Showtime Lakers during the team’s wild and fast-paced golden years. Co-writing 9 of the 10 episodes, the series began airing in March 2022 and features an impressive cast including John C. Reilly, Adrien Brody, Sally Field, and Gaby Hoffman.

Barnes has a number of upcoming projects in different stages of development including; penning the adapted screenplay for Netflix’s film version of RIDE AROUND SHINING with Jonah Hill’s Strong Baby Productions and LaKeith Stanfield set to produce; writing a miniseries based on the life of golf great Tiger Woods; writing a creative feature for New Regency with Jordan Vogt-Roberts attached to direct; creating-showrunning-writing THINGS THAT MAKE WHITE PEOPLE UNCOMFORTABLE, a TV show based on Michael Bennett’s book of the same name in development with John Wells at HBO Max; and a TV
adaptation of Barnes graphic novel Killadelphia.

In addition to TV, Barnes is a veteran comic book creator who recently earned an Eisner Award nomination for his critically acclaimed graphic novel Killadelphia, which quickly became a best-seller earning praise for its compelling and fresh take on a genre story through the lens of African-American culture and now has a television show in development at Levantine TV. In the past year, Barnes has expanded his creative endeavors to a new level – launching his own comic studio and publishing imprint, Zombie Love Studios, allowing him to explore a medium and genres (horror and sci-fi) that have long been his true passion. Launched with the goal of being a creative space dedicated to storytelling from BIPOC perspectives in a format where they typically aren’t told, Zombie Love Studios will simultaneously allow Barnes to make an impact on the larger comic industry by eliminating any limitations on such story – making way for more nuanced, honest depictions of Black culture within the medium. In the works, Barnes has an adaptation of the cult horror classic Blacula on the way, an adaptation of Star Wars: The
Mandalorian Season One, he will teaming with Snoop Dogg to write the horror graphic novel Tales From
the Crip, among many other comic projects, leading him to his robust portfolio of projects today. Recently, Barnes has released a number of graphic novels including Army of Darkness, James Bond Himeros, Marvel/Lucasfilm’s Lando: Double or Nothing, Lion Forge’s Quincredible, Marvel’s Falcon, Secret Empire, and has expanded into the substack platform with Nita Hawes’ Nightmare Blog, Elysium Gardens, Johnny Gatlin, and 20° Past Rigor.

Barnes past writer-producer credits include several acclaimed TV shows such as THE BOONDOCKS, EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS, Marvel’s RUNAWAYS, Starz’s AMERICAN GODS, WU-TANG: AN AMERICAN SAGA, and MY WIFE AND KIDS. Barnes also served as co-executive producer of ‘TIL DEATH and Comedy Central’s LEGENDS OF CHAMBERLAIN HEIGHTS, served as consulting producer of BROTHERS and the TruTV sitcom THOSE WHO CAN’T, wrote for the 93 rd and 88 th Academy Awards, and the 2019 and 2017 BET Awards. In addition to his TV work, Barnes started his career working as a production assistant on films such as Blade, The Green Mile, The Pelican Brief, Clear and Present Danger, Quiz Show, and Major League 2. Barnes has proven he is one to watch in the industry, winning a Peabody Award and American Film Institute Award as well as earning nominations for an NAACP Image Award, Writers Guild of America Award, and a BET Comedy Award.

Speaking on: Master Class: Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty