Paris K. C. Barclay (born June 30, 1956) is an American television director, producer, and writer. He is a two-time Emmy Award winner and is among the busiest single-camera television directors, having directed nearly 200 episodes of television to date, for series such as NYPD Blue, ER, The West Wing, CSI, Lost, The Shield, House, Sons of Anarchy, In Treatment, Glee, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, The Watcher, and American Horror Story: NYC. He also serves as an executive producer on many of the shows he directs, and occasionally as a writer or co-creator as well. From 2013 to 2017, Barclay served two terms as the President of the Directors Guild of America.

With his ninth Emmy nomination for an episode of Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story in 2023, Barclay became the first Black director to be nominated by the Television Academy in every narrative dramatic category.^[1]

Barclay was born in Chicago Heights, Illinois. Raised Catholic, he attended La Lumiere School, a private college preparatory boarding school in La Porte, Indiana.^[2] On scholarship, he was one of the first African-Americans to attend the school.

Barclay went on to Harvard College, where he was extremely active in student musical theatre productions and the a cappella singing group The Harvard Krokodiloes. During his four years there, he wrote 16 musicals, including the music for two of the annual Hasty Pudding shows. Barclay attended both the La Lumiere School and Harvard with John Roberts, now the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. His Harvard roommate was novelist Arthur Golden, author of Memoirs of a Geisha.

Following his graduation from Harvard, Barclay worked as a copywriter and creative supervisor at Grey, BBDO, Cunningham & Walsh, and Marsteller. Barclay then moved into music video directing and production through his own company, Black & White Television. He directed music videos for Bob Dylan ("It's Unbelievable"), the New Kids On The Block ("Games"^[3]), Janet Jackson and Luther Vandross ("The Best Things in Life Are Free"^[4]). Most notably, he created eight videos for LL Cool J, including "Mama Said Knock You Out", which won awards from both MTV and Billboard—and went on to be listed by The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the 500 songs that shaped rock and roll.^[5] In 2013, Complex Magazine ranked "Mama Said Knock You Out" as one of the top 50 rap videos of the 1990s,^[6] crediting it with creating "one of the most crucial links in establishing the cultural bridge between boxing and rap." Barclay was often hired to direct videos for films, introducing audiences to House Party (1990), White Men Can't Jump (1992), Mo' Money (1992), Posse (1993), and Cool Runnings (1993), among others.

In 2012, Barclay directed his first music video in 16 years, working once again with LL Cool J and R&B star Joe on the video for "Take It". Also drawing on his music video experience was Barclay's episode ("The Coup") of the Steven Spielberg-produced NBC series Smash, in which TV Fanatic said that the Barclay-directed number for the original song "Touch Me" (written by OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder) "pushed the boundaries from traditional Broadway show to music video level."^[7]

In the theater, Barclay presented his original musical On Hold With Music at Manhattan Theater Club in 1984, with a cast including Jason Alexander, Terry Burrell, John Dossett, Ray Gill, and Maureen Brennan. Based on his life in advertising, Barclay wrote and composed the sung through musical in its entirety.^[33]

In 1985, he wrote the book, music and lyrics for another musical drama entitled Almos' a Man, based on a short story by Richard Wright – which had been developed in the second year of the ASCAP Musical Theater Workshop in New York,^[33] under the tutelage of Charles Strouse and Stephen Sondheim. It was produced that year at Soho Rep, receiving a mixed review from The New York Times' Mel Gussow.^[34]

After years of directing, Barclay returned to composing in September 2001 with the premiere of a musical based on the collection of letters Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam. Called Letters from ‘Nam, the play featured Grammy winner Maureen McGovern, future Tony winner Levi Kreis, and David Burnham. Praised by most reviewers^[35][36] and opening days before the September 11 attacks in 2001, the Vietnam musical reportedly hit home emotionally with many who performed in it, produced it, or experienced it.^[37]

In 2003, Barclay wrote songs for and co-directed Order My Steps for the Cornerstone Theater Company. The musical play, with book by Tracey Scott Wilson, dealt with the African-American church's response to the AIDS epidemic. The Los Angeles Times call a "moving tale about the human toll of AIDS."^[38]

Barclay returned to Vietnam with One Red Flower: Letters from ‘Nam, a reworked version of the musical was produced at the Village Theater in Issaquah to further acclaim,^[39] with Levi Kreis and David Burnham reprising their roles. Other productions followed, with the most significant being Eric Schaeffer's "gritty and emotional"^[40] staging at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia in 2004.

In 2008, Barclay presented a reading of One Red Flower in Los Angeles to benefit New Directions, an organization that supports veterans of all wars. Maureen McGovern, Levi Kreis and David Burnham returned in featured roles, with television stars Hunter Parrish and Josh Henderson. Although it was not a full production, again it received glowing reviews, described by Beverly Cohn in the Santa Monica Mirror as an "evening that had the audience smiling with a lump in its throat."^[41] Barclay is currently working with Brian Yorkey (Next to Normal) to develop One Red Flower as a television movie, now entitled Letters From ‘Nam.

In June 2013, Barclay was elected President of the Directors Guild of America, the first African-American and first openly gay President in the history of the Guild.^[42] After the vote, Barclay expressed gratitude for the honor and admiration for the Union's history, saying "I am profoundly honored to be elected President of the DGA.... The DGA has worked for more than three-quarters of a century to advance the creative and economic rights of directors and their teams and I look forward to continuing this strong tradition of service. As the son of a glass blower and a tile maker from Chicago, I am extremely humbled to have the honor to serve in the footsteps of the legendary leaders of the DGA like Frank Capra, Robert Wise and Gil Cates." Barclay was nominated for the Presidency by past-President Michael Apted, who said of him, "Paris' qualifications for DGA president are exceptional.... His understanding of the issues facing directors and their teams is outstanding and his ability to resolve problems and create solutions is beyond compare." His nomination was seconded by Steven Soderbergh, who said of Barclay, "This is a great moment for our Guild; Paris will be a phenomenal leader as we move into the future."^[43] Barclay was enthusiastically re-elected in June 2015.^[44]

Before being elected DGA President, Barclay served four terms as First Vice President of the DGA, where he was the first African-American Officer in the history of the guild. While serving as First Vice President, Barclay was also chair of the DGA's Political Action Committee, whose mission it is to promote the interests of DGA members to state and federal lawmakers. Their top issues include battling online copyright threats and promoting production tax incentives. He also served on the Western Directors Council and co-chaired the Diversity Task Force, whose mission is to encourage the hiring of women and minority directors to networks and studios.^[45] In addition, Barclay served as a board member of the DGA-affiliated Franco-American Cultural Fund, which promotes cultural exchange between French and American directors.

Barclay completed his second term as DGA president in June 2017. He was succeeded by Thomas Schlamme, whom he worked with on The West Wing and Manhattan, as well as on the DGA board.^[46]

Barclay's work for the DGA continues even after his presidency: he helped create and teaches the Guild's First Time Director Orientation.,^[47] and in the successful 2020 contract negotiations Barclay co-chaired the Television Creative Rights Committee.^[48] He also serves as the co-Chair of the DGA's Return to Work Committee, which created the protocols that brought the industry back to work after the COVID shutdown. In 2021, he was elected the Guild's Secretary/Treasurer.

In 2021, he was named an Honorary Life Member of the DGA, one of the guild's highest honors, recognizing his career achievements and leadership in the industry. His acceptance speech earned praise for its focus on his hopes for his two sons.^[49] He currently serves as the Guild's Secretary/Treasurer.

During his three decades as a director, Barclay has developed a strong reputation as a go-to director capable of working adeptly in multiple genres - described in a June 2011 article in Variety as a "highly adaptive force with the ability to control both TV detectives and scene-stealing gleesters". The same article ranked Barclay among the "Ten TV Directors Who Leave Their Mark"^[50] and another called him “one of the most reputable TV directors in Hollywood.”^[51]

Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter stated in an interview with The Star-Ledger^[52] that it wasn't until Barclay came on board to direct that the show found its "groove", observing: "We had all those glitches in those first two or three episodes [...] We had (Paris) come in [...] and we all just started trusting what we were doing here." Later in an interview for Variety, Kurt stated "The great thing about (exec producer Paris Barclay) is that he's a writer and he's also a director [...] so he can get the scripts and understand the production realities of it but also understand creatively what the need for everything is."^[53]

In an interview with TV Fanatic, Glee actor Blake Jenner credited Barclay for guiding him through a difficult scene in the episode "Lights Out", saying "He was just so nurturing."^[54]

In a piece for Vulture, television critic Matt Zoller Seitz cites Barclay as one of the few producer/directors who can "manage and drive the medium [of television]" as well as a writer-showrunner can. Seitz explains, "Directors tend to think in terms of images and moments; those skill sets aren't often compatible with the left-brain requirements of managing a sitcom or drama (though there are always exceptions; see veteran TV director Paris Barclay's executive-producer credit on FX's stylishly nasty biker drama, Sons of Anarchy)."^[55]

Ryan Murphy, creator of the Fox hit Glee, called Barclay's episode "Wheels" a "turning point for the show".^[56]

Over time, many of Barclay's former assistants have gone on to great Hollywood success in their own right. One of his first assistants was Kevin Williamson, writer of Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer, and the creator and executive producer of the hit television shows Dawson’s Creek, The Vampire Diaries, and The Following.^[57] Josh Barry, another former Barclay assistant,^[58] was the head of the television department at Prospect Park after working as an executive in Drama Development at ABC.^[59] He was recently tapped to be the President of Shawn Levy's 21 Laps Television as part of a major deal with Netflix.^[60] Sam Martin, the former HBO executive (Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Lackawanna Blues) and film producer (Pariah), and Jason Clodfelter, former VP of Drama Development and now Co-President at Sony Television,^[60] both previously served as Barclay assistants.^[61]

Openly gay since late in his college days,^[62] he was a regular contributor to The Advocate for several years. Barclay married food-industry executive Christopher Barclay (né Mason), his partner of 10 years, in 2008.^[63] They have 2 children.