For three decades, World of Wonder has introduced audiences to new worlds, talent and ideas; reshaping international pop culture, while earning 30 Emmys and inspiring Oscar®-winning performances. Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato first met as film students at NYU film school in the mid-80s before becoming creative and business partners in 1991 when they launched World of Wonder. Since then, they have been behind the Emmy® Award-winning “RuPaul’s Drag Race” (VH1/Logo) and “Million Dollar Listing” LA & NY (Bravo) franchises, as well as award-winning subversive documentaries.
Together they have produced more than 250 projects and share nearly three dozen credits as co-directors, including award-winning and critically acclaimed films such as “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” inspiring the Oscar-winning scripted film by the same name; “Monica in Black and White”; “Wishful Drinking”; “Inside Deep Throat”; “Party Monster”; “Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures”; “Every Brilliant Thing”; and Emmy® Award-winning “Out of Iraq.” Recent projects include “Catch and Kill: The Podcast Tapes,” based on Ronan Farrow’s explosive Harvey Weinstein investigation, and “Small Town News,” both with HBO. Fenton is currently on an international book tour promoting his latest hit book “ScreenAge: How TV Shaped Our Reality, From Tammy Faye to RuPaul’s Drag Race.”
Working together as directors in both the scripted and unscripted space, the dynamic duo seamlessly creates culture-shifting projects — a vision characterized by an appreciation for the quirky yet tell-tale details that grant access to a greater truth. Fenton and Randy believe that storytelling is not limited to the size of the screen, but rather it is the dimensions of the story that counts. Whether it is a convention (DragCon), a live show in Vegas, a book (ScreenAge) or a line of cocktails and mocktails (House of Love) – World of Wonder’s library inspires people to proudly and authentically live out their dreams, and give a voice to outsiders and marginalized communities.
Fenton and Randy have been honored for their trailblazing work with the IDA Pioneer Award, Realscreen’s Global 100 list, Variety’s Reality Leaders List, and Variety’s Reality TV Impact Report, as well as the OUT 100. They have also been named by The Hollywood Reporter as the #1 unscripted producers working in the non-fiction space today. Most recently, World of Wonder was ranked #2 among film and TV powerhouses in Fast Company’s World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies.
