Tara Duncan is an American executive in the entertainment industry. She is president of

Onyx Collective Onyx Collective is a content brand owned and operated by Disney Entertainment, which primarily consists of projects from creators of color and other underrepresented groups. The brand was first launched on May 17, 2021, with several projects under ...

, which focuses on content creators of color and underrepresented voices, and is known for her role in diversifying content. Duncan previously served as president of Freeform, Disney's cable network for

Gen Z Generation Z (or more commonly Gen Z for short), colloquially known as zoomers, is the Western demographic cohort succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1990s as starting birt ...

, from 2020–2023. As of 2021, Duncan was one of only a few entertainment industry executives in the United States who is black. In 2023, Duncan was named a 2023 Black Women in Hollywood Honoree by ''

Essence Essence ( la, essentia) is a polysemic term, used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property or set of properties that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it ...

'' magazine.

Early life and education

An avid television watcher since childhood, Duncan grew up in

Inland Empire The Inland Empire (IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County to the west. It includes the cities o ...

, two hours east of Los Angeles. She was a fan of ''My So-Called Life'' and ''General Hospital.'' During her senior year in high school, Duncan had an internship at

ABC Daytime ABC Daytime (sometimes shortened to ABC-D or ABCD) is a division responsible for the daytime programming block on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC Network and syndicated programming. The block has historically encompassed soap operas, game ...

, which she secured with help from Sarah Dorsey Rice of the Emma Bowen Foundation. She attended

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Career

Duncan worked at production company Section Eight, founded by George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh. In 2005, she moved to New York City and worked for

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

, before moving to a role in production at

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** AM ...

, which was in the early stages of building original series such as ''Breaking Bad''. Duncan eventually left the cable industry to work with streaming services. At

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

, she produced the pilot for ''Bosch'', its first original drama series. In 2014, Duncan started working at

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

as one of its first creative executives. At Netflix, she oversaw the production of ''

Orange Is the New Black ''Orange Is the New Black'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''OITNB'') is an American comedy-drama streaming television series created by Jenji Kohan for Netflix. The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Wo ...

'' and ''

Narcos ''Narcos'' is an American-Colombian crime drama television series created and produced by Chris Brancato, Carlo Bernard, and Doug Miro. Set and filmed in Colombia, seasons 1 and 2 are based on the story of Colombian narcoterrorist and drug kin ...

''. She left in 2018 to take a personal sabbatical and traveled the world for a year and a half. In 2020, Duncan joined

Disney General Entertainment Disney General Entertainment Content, doing business as Walt Disney Television, is an American entertainment company that oversees television content and assets owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company. Forming the company's General Enterta ...

as president of Freeform. She launched '' Cruel Summer,'' as well as ''

Single Drunk Female ''Single Drunk Female'' (stylized as ''Single Female'') is an American comedy television series created by Simone Finch that premiered on Freeform on January 20, 2022. In April 2022, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered ...

'', the cable network's two most-watched original series. Freeform has also launched its first animated series, ''Praise Petey''. '' Keep This Between Us'' has had the network's highest unscripted debut. After launching the

for Disney in 2021, Duncan oversaw the creation of its first title, ''

Summer of Soul ''Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)'' is a 2021 American documentary film about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, directed by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in his directorial debut. It had its world premiere at the ...

'', produced by

Questlove Ahmir Khalib Thompson (born January 20, 1971), known professionally as Questlove (stylized as ), is an American musician, record producer, disc jockey, filmmaker, music journalist, and actor. He is the drummer and joint frontman (with Black Thou ...

, which won the 2022 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Onyx has also added ''The Hair Tales'', ''Unprisoned'', and ''The Plot'', as well as the critically acclaimed ''

Reasonable Doubt Beyond a reasonable doubt is a legal standard of proof required to validate a criminal conviction in most adversarial legal systems. It is a higher standard of proof than the balance of probabilities standard commonly used in civil cases, becau ...

'', produced by

Kerry Washington Kerry Marisa Washington (born January 31, 1977) SidebarCertificate of Live Birth: Isabelle Amarachi Asomugha(County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health). Gives Kerry Washington birth dateArchivedfrom the original on May 2, 2016.Note: Fi ...

. In 2023, Onyx released the ''The 1619 Project'' docuseries. Another project that Duncan has worked on for Hulu is ''

The Other Black Girl ''The Other Black Girl'' is a 2021 novel by Zakiya Dalila Harris. The debut novel follows a woman who is the only Black person working at a publishing company. It was sold at auction to Atria Publishing Group for over $1 million. A television se ...

'', an adaptation of the 2021 novel by Zakiya Daila Harris, which Duncan executive produced.

References

External links

VIDEO: Tara Duncan speaks on opportunities that streaming has provided (''Essence'')
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Tara Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American media executives African-American women in business American entertainment industry businesspeople