A pre-eminent force in television entertainment, Paris Barclay has directed nearly 200 episodes of television and was active as a Director/Producer for series including: STATION 19, PITCH, SONS OF ANARCHY, IN TREATMENT, COLD CASE, CITY OF ANGELS and NYPD BLUE. He also has directed episodes of a wide variety of series including SCANDAL, THE GOOD WIFE, EMPIRE, HOUSE, NCIS: LOS ANGELES, CSI, LOST, THE SHIELD, THE WEST WING and ER; as well as three films: the feature DON’T BE A MENACE TO SOUTH CENTRAL WHILE DRINKING YOUR JUICE IN THE HOOD; and the movies for television THE CHEROKEE KID and THE BIG TIME. He earned two Emmy Awards and the DGA award for Outstanding Direction of a Drama Series for NYPD BLUE, received nine additional Emmy nominations for both producing and directing, and garnered ten other DGA Award nominations for shows as diverse as GLEE, IN TREATMENT, THE WEST WING, HOUSE, and most recently MONSTER: THE JEFFREY DAHMER STORY. With that last nomination, he became one of only a handful of directors in Emmy history to receive nominations in every narrative category – drama, comedy and limited series.

A DGA member since 1992, Barclay was the first African American and openly gay President in the Guild’s history. In addition to his two terms as President of the Guild, his service includes numerous terms on the National Board, the Western Directors Council and chairmanship and participation in several committees, including co-chairing the Television Creative Rights Committee, the Return-to-Work Negotiations Committee, and the African American Steering Committee. He was honored with the Robert B. Aldrich Achievement Award in 2007, which is given for providing extraordinary service to the DGA, and in 2021 was given the Honorary Life Member Award, the Guild’s highest honor for both service and career achievement. He currently serves as the Guild’s Secretary/Treasurer.

A WGA member before he was a DGA member, Barclay co-created and wrote for the CBS series CITY OF ANGELS with Nicholas Wootton and Steven Bochco, which ran for two years on the network. He co-wrote with James DeMonaco the Showtime pilot HATE, and has written other pilots for CBS and NBC. He wrote with Dustin Lance Black (on his first WGA-credited project) Pedro, a film about the life of AIDS activist Pedro Zamora for MTV, which received Writers Guild and Humanitas Prize nominations. As a playwright and composer, he has had musical dramas produced by Soho Rep, The Village Theatre, the Signature Theater, and the North Shore Music Theatre among others – including LETTERS FROM ‘NAM (AKA ONE RED FLOWER) – adapted from soldiers letters written during the Vietnam War. Prior to his career in television and film, Barclay was a sought-after music video director. He created groundbreaking videos for Bob Dylan, the New Kids on the Block, Janet Jackson & Luther Vandross, Harry Connick, Jr. among others. His eight videos for LL Cool J, including the MTV, Billboard, and Grammy-winning “Mama Said Knock You Out,” are still widely viewed and imitated today.

In 2021 & 2022, Paris partnered with producer Ryan Murphy on the Netflix series MONSTER: THE JEFFREY DAHMER STORY (with Evan Peters and Niecy Nash); THE WATCHER, (with Naomi Watts, Bobby Cannavale, Margo Martindale and Mia Farrow); and the FX series AMERICAN HORROR STORY (with Russell Tovey, Joe Mantello, and Patti LuPone).

In 2024, Paris helmed two episodes for FX/HULU: AMERICAN SPORTS STORY: AARON HERNANDEZ, as well as two episodes of MONSTERS: THE ERIK AND LYLE MENENDEZ STORY with Javier Bardem and Chloe Sevigny. He spent the remainder of the year directing the pilot and executive producing the ABC Series, DOCTOR ODYSSEY, starring Joshua Jackson and Don Johnson.

In 2025, Paris completed work on DOCTOR ODYSSEY, and shot two episodes of Season 3 of Shawn Ryan’s hit Netflix series, THE NIGHT AGENT, starring Gabriel Basso. He followed that up by directing Zachary Quinto’s twisty drama BRILLIANT MINDS. In January of 2026, Paris helmed an episode of Dan Fogelman’s THE LAND, starring Chris Meloni, William H. Macy, and Mandy Moore.

Paris’s first feature documentary BILLY PRESTON: THAT’S THE WAY GOD PLANNED IT recently opened in theaters. Paris co-wrote (with Cheo Hodari Coker) and directed the film which explores the life of the iconic keyboard and recording artist Billy Preston. The documentary debuted at the New York City Film Forum and has now expanded to additional theaters in more than 30 cities across the US.

See Paris Barclay in the full Storytellers directory