Janine Sherman Barrois

INSTITUTE SPEAKER / PANELIST

Writer & Showrunner

Janine Sherman Barrois is an award-winning writer/showrunner under her second exclusive multi-year overall deal with Warner Brothers to create and develop new series. She is currently Executive Producing three series for the studio: She is the Creator and Showrunner of the new drama series, Crime Farm for WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, for which Nicole Kidman and Blossom Films also serve as Executive Producers. Additionally, Barrois continues to be Executive Producer on the fourth and final season of Claws, the TNT hit dramedy starring Niecy Nash, which she ran the previous three seasons. She is also the Co- Showrunner/Executive Producer of Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam CJ Walker, the highly anticipated Netflix limited series starring Octavia Spencer, Tiffany Haddish and Blair Underwood. Barrois currently has further new series in development at both Apple and OWN.

Recently, Barrois made her directorial debut with French Fries, a short she wrote as part of Refinery29’s Shatterbox Anthology series, in conjunction with TNT, and with support from the Women at Sundance program. French Fries went on to win the short film category at the famed Crested Butte Film Festival. Previously, Barrois spent five years as an Executive Producer on the CBS hit series Criminal Minds. Prior to that, she was an Executive Producer on the Warner Brother’s hit ER, where she worked on the final four seasons of the show. Before ER, Barrois spent five seasons on Third Watch, rising from Story Editor to Co-Executive Producer. She has also written on Eddie Murphy’s The PJs and The Jamie Foxx Show. In addition, Barrois is a graduate of the Warner Bros. Writers Workshop.

In 2018, Barrois won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series for her episode of Claws entitled “Batshit” and was subsequently nominated the following year for another Claws episode. She had previously won for Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series for an episode of Criminal Minds and has had countless nominations. She has also won a Humanitas Award for her writing on ER. Additionally, Barrois is active in the WGA, where she serves in their Mentoring Program, as a judge for their Writers’ Access Project and on the committee for the showrunning training programs. As a leader, she
continues to be an advocate for the advancement of women and people of color in the entertainment industry. Barrois graduated from Howard University.

Barrois is repped by Patti Felker at Felker, Toczek, Suddleson & Abramson, and by WME agents Richard Weitz and Tom Wellington.