Filmmaker  ·  Actor  ·  Cleveland, Ohio

DBARNETT

Telling the stories that institutions would rather leave untold.

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The Story Behind The Stories

I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio — poor, Black, and feeling pretty invisible. That experience of being unseen is the driving force behind everything I make.

I'm a veteran who has traveled widely, witnessed injustice across cultures, and spent years doing community work with organizations like Karamu House — one of the oldest African American theater institutions in the country, where I have performed since 2012.

A trip to Senegal and time training with Djapo Cultural Arts Institute — learning African drumming and dance from the inside — inspired me to research story, rhythm, and what gets passed down through generations.

I trained at Cuyahoga Community College and San Francisco Film School. I make films about the things systems try to erase, and I am committed to empowering people in marginalized communities through the power of storytelling.

Based Cleveland, Ohio
Training Cuyahoga CC · SF Film School
Theater Karamu House, 2012–Present
Cultural Work Djapo Cultural Arts Institute
Service U.S. Military Veteran
Disciplines Directing · Writing · Acting · Cinematography

The Work

2023
KING'S GUARD
Writer · Director

An original short film.

Commercial
SAVORY SEASONING
Writer · Director

A commercial production.

Featured Project
THE END OF BLACK EXCELLENCE
Cinematographer · Producer

A production about Black excellence, identity, and the forces that threaten both.

In Development
2026
RESONANCE
BLOOD RHYTHM
Writer · Director

A Black bioacoustics researcher, seven months pregnant, discovers that ancestral rhythmic frequencies are biologically encoded in her unborn child's cellular structure — and that an institution has been suppressing that finding for thirty years. A psychological thriller about who owns the information inside a body.

Epigraph Creator Fellowship  ·  a16z CLF  ·  MACRO

On Screen & Stage

Showreel
ACTING REEL

D Barnett — Actor Demo Reel

▶   Watch Reel

Theater Credits

Karamu House, Cleveland, Ohio  ·  2012–Present

Production Character Venue
Purlie Victorious Purlie Karamu House
Fences Lyons Karamu House
Paradise Blue Blue Karamu House
Mountaintop Speech Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Karamu House
The Color Purple Harpo Karamu House
Sassy Mamas Wes Karamu House
Into The Woods The Wolf Karamu House

Additional Credits

Double Nickel Blues (Tanner) · Cut Flowers (Kevin) · Knock Me A Kiss (Countee Cullen) · Superman (Max Menken) · The Colored Museum (Flo'Rance / Cop)

Let's Talk

"Available for directing projects, acting roles, speaking engagements, and creative collaborations."

Based In Cleveland, Ohio