The Curator
Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato pick the 17 most memorable projects produced by their documentary company.
Award-winning film directors and producers Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato founded World of Wonder Productions in 1990 after meeting at NYU Film School. Since then, they have created numerous documentary features and series that have captivated audiences both domestically and internationally.
Their first visit to the Sundance Film Festival was in 1999 with their documentary Party Monster, which went on to win an Emmy® Award. They next brought the award-winning The Eyes of Tammy Faye and their scripted version of Party Monster, starring Macaulay Culkin and Seth Green, and their 2005 documentary Inside Deep Throat, to Sundance. Becoming Chaz was their seventh film to premiere at Sundance.
The duo have produced or directed more than 23 programs for HBO, including Monica in Black and White, a feature documentary about Monica Lewinsky; Heidi Fleiss: Madam of Crystal; and Carrie Fisher’s Wishful Drinking. In September 2011, The Strange History of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell premiered on HBO, on the very day the military policy was repealed. Their most recent HBO documentary, In Vogue: The Editor’s Eye, celebrating 120 years of Vogue, premiered in December 2012.
Their hit shows include Million Dollar Listing and Million Dollar Listing: New York for Bravo, RuPaul’s Drag Race and RuPaul’s Drag U for Logo, Finding Sarah about the Duchess of York’s spiritual journey back from disgrace for OWN, Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood and All The Right Moves for Oxygen, and Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys for Sundance. Life With La Toya is currently in production for OWN, staring La Toya Jackson.
Over the years, Randy and Fenton have received numerous awards, including in 2003 the annual Frameline Award, which recognizes filmmakers who have made a significant contribution to lesbian and gay media arts; the 2010 Emmy® for their nature documentary The Last Beekeeper; and most recently they were honored with the 2011 Outfest Annual Achievement Award.
With offices in Hollywood and London, the pair have produced cutting-edge fiction and non-fiction programming for HBO, Showtime, VH1, IFC, Discovery, MTV, OWN, TLC, E!, BBC, PBS, Channel 4 U.K., and other digital outlets that can be found online at worldofwonder.net. The WOW Report receives more than 200,000 visitors a month.