Production Bios

Rashida Jones (@iamrashidajones)
Executive Producer

With versatility in comedic and dramatic roles, and a growing presence as a director, screenwriter and producer, Rashida Jones has established herself as one of the industry's brightest. She currently stars in the critically acclaimed comedy Angie Tribeca on TBS, which will return this spring for its third season.

In April 2017, Jones will be releasing the Netflix docu-series Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On, a continuation of her Emmy®-nominated documentary from 2015, Hot Girls Wanted. The series, which focuses on society's relationship with sex and technology, premiered its first two episodes at the Sundance Film Festival in February 2017. Jones produced the original Hot Girls Wanted with creative partners Jill Bauer and Ronna Gradus, who also directed the documentary. This docu-series also marks Jones's directorial debut in television.

Upcoming, Jones will executive-produce the TNT dramedy Claws with her long-time writing partner, Will McCormack. Claws will be TNT's first foray into the hour-long dramedy space. McCormack and Jones previously wrote together on Pixar's Toy Story 4; co-wrote, executive-produced and starred in Celeste and Jesse Forever; and through their production company, Le Train Train, co-produced Mix and A to Z.

In October 2016, Netflix premiered the third season of the harrowing and beloved original series Black Mirror, with the first episode written by Jones and Mike Schur. The episode, entitled "Nosedive," premiered to rave reviews at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. Starring Bryce Dallas Howard, the episode is a satire about how society's addiction to social media could potentially go a bit too far. For her work on this episode, Jones and Schur received an NAACP Image nomination in the category Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture – Television.

Jones's additional film credits include Cuban Fury, The Muppets, The Big Year, Monogamy, The Social Network and I Love You, Man. Her television credits include Parks and Recreation, The Office, Boston Public, Wanted, Unhitched, Freaks and Geeks, The Chappelle Show and NY-LON. 

Jones has directed three music videos: Mayer Hawthorne's "Crime," featuring Kendrick Lamar; Sara Bareilles's "Brave," and her own "Flip and Rewind," which she co-directed.

Jones is an advocate for the International Rescue Committee and serves on the board of Peace First.

Will McCormack (@Skillzwill)
Executive Producer

Will McCormack is a screenwriter, producer and actor. He and his producing partner, Rashida Jones, produced, wrote and starred in the film Celeste and Jesse Forever for Sony Pictures Classics. Their screenplay earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination. Their television production company, Le Train Train, produced Ben Queen's sitcom A to Z for NBC, and they are now executive-producing the TNT dramedy Claws. In addition, they are writing the screenplay for Pixar's Toy Story 4.

As an actor, McCormack has numerous film and television credits, including The Sopranos, Brothers and Sisters and A Wrinkle in Time. 

Janine Sherman Barrois (@Jsbarrois)
Executive Producer/Showrunner

Janine Sherman Barrois is an award-winning writer/producer who has recently signed an exclusive multi-year deal with Warner Brothers Studios to create and develop new series. Currently, she is the showrunner and executive producer of TNT's Claws, a dramedy starring Niecy Nash. Barrois has also recently sold TNT the suburban family drama Hinges, a project she is executive-producing along with John Wells, Emmy®-winning director Anthony Hemingway and his producing partner, Mark Taylor.

Barrois previously spent five years as an executive producer on the hit CBS series Criminal Minds. Prior to that, she was an executive producer on ER, working 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 for Eddie Murphy's The PJs and The Jamie Foxx Show. Barrois got her start on Lush Life, where she was placed after participating in the Warner Bros. Writers Workshop.

In 2014, Barrois won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for her work on the Criminal Minds episode entitled "Strange Fruit." Prior to that, she was nominated for six Image Awards and a Humanitas Prize for her writing. She is also active in the WGA, where she serves in their Mentoring Program, as a judge for their Writers' Access Project and, recently, on the board of their PAC. In addition, she serves on the board of the William H. Johnson Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to giving scholarships to contemporary African-American artists. Barrois graduated from Howard University.

Howard Deutch
Executive Producer/Director

Howard Deutch began his career as a director, shooting movie trailers and commercials before moving onto major motion pictures and television. The list of films he has directed includes My Best Friend's Girl, The Whole Ten Yards, The Replacements, Grumpier Old Men (People's Choice Award winner), The Odd Couple II, Pretty in Pink, Some Kind of Wonderful, The Great Outdoors, Article 99 and Getting Even with Dad.

For television, Deutch directed the television film Gleason, for which he received a Director's Guild of America nomination. His more recent television directing includes Empire and multiple episodes of True Blood, Getting On, American Horror Story, The Strain, CSI: NY, CSI: Cyber and Jane the Virgin. He also produced and directed the new HBO/Cinemax series Outcast and is currently in production on TNT's new series Claws.

Deutch's earlier work includes directing the pilot for Melrose Place and episodes of Caroline in the City, Tales from the Crypt (CableACE winner), Hung, Big Love, Ringer, Life Unexpected, Jane By Design, Harry's Law, Watching Ellie, Warehouse 13 and Emily Owens, M.D.

Deutch has directed several plays at New York’s Ensemble Theatre, as well as music videos for performers such as Billy Idol and Billy Joel. He has a long association with the Beverly Hills Playhouse and the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute as a teacher and stage director. He has also volunteered as a teacher for the NFAA YoungArts program, a non-profit theatre project called The Unusual Suspects and at seminars for the Directors Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild.

Deutch resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Lea Thompson, and their two talented daughters, along with a menagerie of horses, dogs, lots of fish and chickens, ducks, a parrot and a cat.

Eliot Laurence
Creator/Co-Executive Producer

Eliot Laurence wrote the pilot and serves as co-executive producer of TNT's new dramedy Claws, starring Niecy Nash, which is set to premiere in summer 2017. He is also developing a series for Freeform called Motherland, with Gary Sanchez producing. Previously, Laurence wrote the highly acclaimed film Welcome to Me, starring Kristin Wiig.