World of Wonder is best known for its contributions towards LGBTQ programming, for which they won anOutfest Annual Achievement Award in 2011.[13] Their most well known production isRuPaul's Drag Race. They have managed the career ofdrag queen and titularhostRuPaul since the early 1990s, eventually producing the television franchise alongside the majority of its live shows, podcasts, television specials, and conventions.[14]
Filmmakers Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey at theMiami International Film Festival presentation ofMapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures (2016). Photo: David Heischrek
World of Wonder was co-founded as a record label and management company by Barbato and Bailey in the mid-1980s after meeting inNew York University's (NYU)graduate film program,[15] with the name coming from aBritishmagazine Bailey used to read as a child.[16] The two formed Fabulous Pop Tarts, adisco-pop rock duo, and began performing regularly atDanceteria and other clubs indowntownNew York City.[15][17] They produced two albums,Age of the Thing,[18] which included their hit singleNew York City Beat, andGagging on the Lovely Extravaganza, which included guest appearances byLady Miss Kier, RuPaul, Martyn Phillips, and Filthy the Dog.[19]
Barbato and Bailey moved on to begin organizing projects in television production and licensing, documentary filmmaking, and the career expansion of their friends and fellow artists, particularly RuPaul, whom they met inAtlanta in the 1980s.[20] They produced RuPaul's first album,RuPaul is: StarBooty!, in 1986, and became his manager shortly after launching World of Wonder in 1991. They have since produced all of his television shows, hisDragCon bi-coastal conventions and music productions, and have earned multipleEmmy Awards.[20]
One of Barbato and Bailey's early television documentaries,Died on the 4th of July: Nelson Sullivan's World of Wonder, shares its name with the production company. The documentary, a one-hour portrait ofNelson Sullivan, was created from an archive of over 1,200 hours of video footage taken over the decade preceding Sullivan's death of a heart attack on July 4, 1989.[21]Died on the 4th of July aired on the UK'sChannel 4, was included on theDVD release ofParty Monster: The Shockumentary,[22] and contributed to Sullivan's posthumous rise in notoriety.[21] The early focus on Sullivan solidified the company's interest in documentary filmmaking. In 2014, Barbato and Bailey were honored with theInternational Documentary Association's (IDA) Pioneer Award, "celebrating exceptional achievement, leadership, and vision in the nonfiction and documentary community."[23]
World of Wonder operates out of theShane Building onHollywood Boulevard. Designed by architectsS. Tilden Norton andFredrick H. Wallis and erected in 1930, the building served as the original home of theDirectors Guild of America.[24][25] The World of Wonder Storefront Gallery now occupies the ground floor retail space, with production and management offices occupying the upper three stories. The basement, once home to the punk rock clubThe Masque, now houses the company's video archive and a soundstage.[26]
Another franchise by World of Wonder,Million Dollar Listing, debuted in Los Angeles in 2006, and has since expanded to include New York,San Francisco, andMiami series.[31] The spin-off,Sell It Like Serhant, featuring one ofMillion Dollar Listing New York's top brokers,Ryan Serhant, launched in 2018.[7] In 2021, Barbato and Bailey produced and directedCatch and Kill: The Podcast Tapes andSmall Town News: KPVM Pahrump for HBO.[32][33] The company has received several Emmy Awards nominations for their documentary programming.
World of Wonder producedThe RuPaul Show, hosted byRuPaul from 1996 until 1998. The company partnered with RuPaul to pitch thereality television showRuPaul's Drag Race toLogo TV, which was immediately picked up for a season and aired in February 2009.[34] The company also produced multiple spinoff series:
RuPaul's Drag U, which lasted for three seasons from 2010 until 2012
World of Wonder has produced many feature-length documentary films, many focusing on provocative subjects, several of which have garneredindustry awards and nominations. These includeInside Deep Throat, which premiered atSundance Film Festival,[36] HBObiopicWishful Drinking, starringCarrie Fisher, which received two Emmy nominations,[37] andBecoming Chaz, which premiered at Sundance as theOprah Winfrey Network's (OWN) first ever documentary[38] and was nominated for three Emmy awards.[39]
Barbato and Bailey have produced a host of other original documentaries, includingParty Monster: The Shockumentary,[22]The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Monica in Black and White,[2]Gender Revolution withKatie Couric,[42][22] andThe Last Beekeeper.[43] In 2017,Out of Iraq, a documentary chronicling the relationship between two soldiers serving inIraq won adaytime Emmy for Logo TV.[44] In March 2018, the documentaryWhen the Beat Drops, directed byJamal Sims, premiered at theMiami International Film Festival, where it won the Knight Documentary Achievement Award.[45][46] In 2018, World of Wonder produced and directedLiberty: Mother of Exiles, an HBO documentary examining the history of theStatue of Liberty.[47] The company was also commissioned byYouTube to createStonewall Outloud, a documentary based on theStonewall protests of 1969, using the audio recordings ofStoryCorps founder,Dave Isay.[48]
Over the years, World of Wonder has expanded its presence into new media types, including conventions,video-on-demand,social media, andblogging.The WOW Report, a blog providing daily coverage of the pop culture and nightlife sectors, was named Best Counter Culture Blog byLA Weekly in 2011.[49]
In January 2020, the production company began their firstLas VegasStrip residency,RuPaul's Drag Race Live!, where former contestants from theDrag Race franchise perform at theFlamingo Las Vegas, directed by RuPaul and Jamal Sims.[56] World of Wonder also has a YouTube channel with the nameWOWPresents, which features over 5,000 videos and has more than 1.9 million subscribers.[57]
First introduced in 2013, the WOWIE Awards are World of Wonder's tribute to the best in LGBTQIA+ entertainment, trailblazers, activism, artistry, and pop culture. The awards coincided with World of Wonder's annual holiday party until 2022, when they included it as a closing event at DragCon LA.[58] Since 2020, the awards ceremony is streamed live on theWOWPresents YouTube channel.[59] Categories include Best Drag Queen Music Video, Best Red Carpet Look, Best Breakout Star, Best Blog or Website and Best LGBTQ Comedian.[60][61]
In November 2017, World of Wonder launched thesubscription streaming serviceWOW Presents Plus.[62] The service contains a multitude of original series and live events spanning the realm of pop culture andLGBTQ society.[63] Exclusive original series include:Sketchy Queens,UNHhhh, andPainted with Raven. The service is also the main international distributor in some regions forRuPaul's Drag Race and the international versions of the franchise. It also includes many web series found on WOWPresents' YouTube channel, such asDetox's Life Rehab andLa Vida de Valentina.[64]
29 Emmy Awards nominations and 13 wins forRuPaul's Drag Race, including Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program in 2016 and 2017, as well as Outstanding Makeup and Outstanding Editing in 2017.
^Pike, L (2006). "Channel XYZ: drag queens, club kids, and amateur erotic filmmakers make WOW TV the online outlet for artists on the edge",Los Angeles Magazine, asarchived on gcnext.com, retrieved April 4, 2009.
