Ava DuVernay‘s ARRAY has named Paul Garnes, DuVernay’s longtime producing partner, as President of ARRAY Filmworks — Shadow and Act has learned.
He will oversee all aspects of creative development, physical production and post-production for the company’s television and film slate. Garnes most recently served as ARRAY’s Head of Physical Production, “establishing the company’s production process and infrastructure while supervising set operations and post-completion across scripted, unscripted and animated series.”
He joined in March 2020, overseeing ARRAY producing upcoming series such as Netflix’s Colin in Black and White HBO Max’s DMZ, the pilot for The CW’s Naomi and more. He overseen production of DuVernay’s first television series, Queen Sugar, since 2014. He first collaborated with DuVernay dates back to bae Middle of Nowhere and Academy Award-winning Selma.
“Paul has been my true and trusted partner for the past decade, the one who takes my dreams off the page and makes them a reality on the set and beyond. He’s simply the best at what he does and the way that he does it – with warmth and wisdom, gusto and grace,” said DuVernay. “It brings me great joy to work even more closely with Paul as he leads ARRAY Filmworks into a new era with our stellar team.”
“I first met Ava when she was a film publicist in the 90s, which led to me producing one of her early features on a shoestring budget,” said Garnes. “Since day one, we have had a creative and collaborative partnership that I treasure. I look forward to expanding our work together and continuing to produce stories with meaning and mission under Ava’s incredible vision.”
Garnes has held senior executive posts at Foxx/King Productions and Simmons-Lathan Media Group. He also has served as producer, line producer and production manager on films and television series for Disney, Dreamworks, HBO, ABC, NBC, BET, Sony/Screen Gems, Magnolia and Paramount Pictures. He was Vice President and Executive in Charge of Production for the Tyler Perry Company, supervising over 250 episodes of broadcast television while at the studio.
He worked closely at ARRAY with Sarah Bremner, who is departing the President for a personal hiatus.
“Sarah is a thoughtful executive who has built a wonderful creative development team here and is respected by our showrunners and artists. I’m grateful for her time at ARRAY, look forward to continuing our friendship and wish her good health and happiness always,” said DuVernay.
