The future of storytelling--today.
LEADERSHIP
OMAR THERON BARNES,
FOUNDER & CEO
Omar Theron Barnes, pen name Omar Theron, is a screenwriter, producer, and entrepreneur. He's held several major development and first-look deals with Truly Original, Bullish Creative, Tupelo Honey, Switchblade Entertainment, John Doe Media, Fatstache, Jarrett Creative, Roc Nation Television, and cable networks Spike TV, WETV, and VH1.
Before his focus on filmmaking, Omar ran an artist development and grassroots marketing firm in the music industry where he had clients like Kanye West and was the buyer/operator for a prominent men's fashion specialty store he took nationwide, culminating in an international sale of the retailer. He is a Brooklyn native living in the metro New York City area.
JENNA GROSSANO,
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Jenna Grossano is a New York-based producer whose work has spanned Broadway, TV, feature films, and high-profile events. Early in her career at Joey Parnes Productions, she opened six Broadway plays with Scott Rudin all of which were nominated for Tony-Awards that season. From there, she moved into TV with projects such as Martin Scorsese's Vinyl for HBO, Civil for TNT/MGM, and The Purge series based on the multi-million dollar movie franchise of the same name. In 2018, she co-produced Broadway Stands Up for Freedom, an event to support the NYCLU at Town Hall that included performances from some of Broadway's biggest stars including Ariana DeBose and Alan Cumming and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the organization. Recent credits include the This is the Night (Blumhouse), The Parenting (New Line). She is one of the founding members of Less Than Rent, an award-winning, critically-acclaimed theatre company responsible for over a dozen world premieres. She currently works at Mad Gene Media, a production company founded by Oscar Isaac and Elvira Lind, building their film and tv slate with Fifth Season (fka Endeavor). Her film Fuck Me, Richard will be premiering at SXSW 2023.
JAMES PRESSON,
HEAD OF ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING
James Presson was the Head of Production and Development for Alcorp, the producing outfit for legendary television director Allen Coulter. He has been a producer on Super Pumped (Showtime), Vinyl (HBO), Get Shorty (Epix), Civil (TNT), and most recently, Tulsa King (Paramount+). James has supervised a wide array of development projects and deals with the top studios and production companies in Hollywood, including Paramount, MGM, Blumhouse, Sony TV, Killer Films, Miramax, Thunder Road, Village Roadshow, ITV, Storied Media, Legendary, Black Bear, and Cross Creek. He is based in New York, where he has been an active member of the television and theatre communities for a decade.
SIMONA SHOY BARNES,
HEAD OF SPECIAL PROJECTS
Simona Shoy-Barnes is a certified Project Management Professional at NBC Universal for the launch of Peacock and Sky Showtime (International) streaming services. She oversaw development to successfully stream 600 million concurrents on Superbowl Sunday and the Olympics. By leading major initiatives such as 4K Dolby Vision and Atmos and Nielsen watermarking to top-tier assets, Simona can ensure the content quality is stellar, and the production value is not lost. At Epix, she facilitated a corporate move away from the Viacom system after the buyout onto the MGM platform and spun up their New York City headquarters. She provided unified communications solutions globally in her previous work in the financial sector at the Bank of America Tower, Morgan Stanley, and UBS on projects totaling north of $750 million. Simona is a Brooklyn native and resides in metro New York.
SAHAN ABAYARATHNA,
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Sahan Abayarathna is a multi-strategy investor with a deep bench across multiple investment styles, including venture capital, growth equity, and opportunistic & distressed investing (Highland Capital and related advisors, Pine River Capital). Prior to his institutional investment experience, he worked in investing banking (Piper Sandler, BBVA Capital Markets, Bank of America Merrill Lynch) where he covered sell-side and buy-side M&A, equity capital raises, debt capital raises, and related work. Representative investments and roles include CCS Medical (Board Member), TerreStar (Board Observer), Fieldwood Energy (Steering Committee), CS T1 eSports, MGM Grand, Caris Life Sciences, and many others.
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STAFF
NORA BRIGID MONAHAN,
VP OF DEVELOPMENT
Nora is an award-winning playwright, screenwriter, and development executive. She first rose to prominence in 2013 when her darkly comedic solo show DIVA won the United Solo Theatre Award for Best Musical and Backstage Magazine’s Audience Choice Award for solo performance. DIVA was later expanded into the cult hit DIVA: LIVE FROM HELL, which premiered off-Broadway in 2017 and transferred to London in 2022. The Guardian called Monahan’s work “clever, snide, witty” and “magnetic,” and the noted UK theatre column All That Dazzles cited the show as the “theatrical highlight of the year.” DIVA: LIVE FROM HELL will have its Latin American premiere in Fall 2023. Other plays include Galatea (produced by Barbara Whitman & Beth Williams), Aunt Jack (off-Broadway 2019), Tyrants (Goodspeed Opera House), and When Will You Learn to Take Sides (59E59/Less Than Rent Theatre).
Monahan’s film work includes the award-winning screenplay The Drive There, which was developed by Campfire Entertainment and Unique Features. In 2020, Mark Gordon Pictures commissioned Monahan to write a pilot based on the real-life story of her gender transition, and in 2022, eOne hired Monahan to adapt that pilot into a feature film script. Monahan formerly worked as the director of development at The Lark, a major new play incubator in New York that exclusively developed new plays. There, she launched several major initiatives and administered millions of dollars each year in development funds.
GRAHAM TECHLER,
DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT
Graham Techler is a writer and comedian described as “one of Brooklyn’s best young comedic minds” by the Brooklyn Eagle. He is a regular contributor to McSweeney’s and The New Yorker, where he is frequently included in the annual “Best of…” lists. As a Upright Citizens Brigade house team member, his videos have received millions of views online across YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram, and he has appeared on Showtime, Comedy Central, and Paramount+.
Current developmental projects include scripts for Madison Wells Media and a narrative podcast at UTA and Clamor Audio. His plays have been produced off-Broadway at 59E59, the Minetta Lane Theatre, and Urban Stages, developed at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Playwrights Horizons, the O’Neill Theater Center, New Jersey Rep, and The Brick, and published by Smith & Kraus and Applause Books. He is a recipient of the Hopwood Drama Prize, the Newman Screenwriting Prize, and the Dennis McIntyre Prize for Distinction in Playwriting. Official Selection: BMI Workshop, FGP new plays, Johnny Mercer Foundation, Sundance Episodic Lab, and the Final Draft Big Break Contest.
