Writing Your Voice

Sunday, May 1
4:45PM – 6:30PM
John Bassett Theatre

Have you ever turned on a movie or a television show half way through that you’ve never seen before and within moments you knew exactly who it was written by? That’s because whoever wrote that great movie or TV show had a voice. A voice so clear that it comes through immediately and without distortion. As a writer the most powerful thing any of us can have is a voice. But finding that voice can be difficult. What is it? How do you hear it? How do you make sure it comes across clearly? It’s all a matter of listening to yourself and those around you. For Kenya it was the thing that defined who he was as a writer and he will try and give you the process that best helped him find and continue to define that part of himself.

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Kenya Barris was born in Inglewood, Ca.  After his father had a chemical accident at General Motors and a significant law suit settlement, he and his then divorced mother moved from the 'Hood and landed in Hancock Park.  Kenya attended several high schools in Los Angeles and upon graduation attended UCLA for his freshman year.  Tiring of life in the city he grew up in and obsessed with becoming the next Spike Lee, Kenya left Los Angeles for Atlanta, Ga., where he attended Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse College and studied under the tutelage of Spike Lee's mentor Dr. Henry Eichelberger.  While in Atlanta, Kenya wrote and directed the One Act Play, “Bopping” which was produced by Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis for The Atlanta Theatrical Society.  He also took the comedy stage at Earthquake's Comedy Corner where he began to develop relationships with several comedians who would soon take center stage (Chris Tucker, Earthquake, Bernie Mack...). 

Upon returning home to Los Angeles after graduation he took a position as a Writer's assistant on the WB sitcom, SISTER/SISTER. It was there that Steve Stark took note of him and assisted him in entering the Paramount Comedy Writer's Workshop. After leaving the program and receiving an episode on SISTER/SISTER he was placed in the WGA Writer's Trainee program on Fox's, THE KEENAN IVORY WAYANS SHOW, a late night talk/sketch show.  From there he went on to work on several other short run sketch shows and eventually, thanks to a Feature Script that was sold to Artists Production Group, he was placed with his life long mentor Felicia D. Henderson on the Showtime Drama Series, SOUL FOOD where he stayed 4 seasons.  While on SOUL FOOD, he co-created along with Tyra Banks UPN's breakout Reality hit AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL. After leaving SOUL FOOD he returned to his comedy roots on shows like LISTEN UP, LIKE FAMILY, and THE GAME. He also worked as a writer on CBS's LISTEN UP, UPN/The CW’s GIRLFRIENDS, and Fox's I HATE MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER, and directed & executive produced a ten-part mini-documentary music series entitled, MUSIC LOVE for Warner Brothers. Additionally, he wrote and created  BET’s, THE START UP, and Hulu’s first half-hour comedy series WE GOT NEXT.

Kenya Barris is under an overall deal at ABC Studios where he is currently the Executive Producer and Co-Showrunner on BLACK-ISH for ABC. Most recently, he penned BARBERSHOP: THE NEXT CUT and is currently writing multiple features for UNIVERSAL, NEW LINE, and MGM.

Allana Harkin is an actor/writer and comedian who currently divides her time between Toronto and New York City where she is a Producer on FULL FRONTAL WITH SAMANTHA BEE (TBS). Writing credits include This Hour Has 22 Minutes (CBC), THE RON JAMES SHOW (CBC), the Emmy Award winning series ODD SQUAD and DINO DAN (PBS/Nick Jr/TVO) and pilot scripts for both CBC and CTV.  Allana’s hit play “Real Estate” has had over two dozen productions across Canada as well as premieres in the U.S. and New Zealand.

As a comedian Allana was a founding member of the sketch troupe “The Atomic Fireballs” and has been nominated for a Canadian Comedy Award as well as featured in NOW magazine’s annual “Best Of” edition several times. She is a graduate of the MFA program in acting from York University and select lead and guest starring roles include LOST GIRL (SyFy/Showcase), THE RON JAMES SHOW (CBC), DINO DAN (TVO/Nick Jr) and the pilot of eOne’s new series PRIVATE EYES (Global).

Upcoming, in addition to producing and creating for FULL FRONTAL, Allana will be directing a production of “Real Estate” for the Lighthouse Festival Theatre. She is an advocate for women’s voices and the proud mother of two wonderful girls.