With 21 years in the entertainment business, Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato are heading into their third decade of fabulousness with a new coffee table book, “The World According to Wonder.” With well-regarded docs (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”), popular reality TV (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”) and fiction films (“Party Monster”) under their belts, the duo are still thought of as those boys who made “Party Monster.”
“People love to hear our pitches,” Bailey told Indiewire, “but they think it’s just great entertainment in a room, rather than something that will deliver in the real world. People think we’re downtown. People still call us boys, and we’re in our 50’s. We’re younger than Madonna, but…”
Looking back on their work, from 1991 to 2012, Barbato said that he’s been glad to have a “front row seat to the development of reality television.” He continued, “As individuals, we’re interested in the low as much as the high.”
Bailey added, “It wasn’t just the wall that came down in that time, it was all over. Things have really changed since we’ve begun. We’re living in a much more chaotic time. Indiewire is so Majorwire now. The margin is the mainstream. You can’t ignore the margin anymore. You can’t just stick up your nose at it. It’s exciting.”
New World of Wonder projects include “Life with LaToya [Jackson],” which premieres this week, and new episodes of “Million Dollar Listing,” which debut next month. The company is about to go into production on the sixth season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”
Check out the book on Amazon here.
Below, some images from the book, with captions provided by Barbato and Bailey.
RuPaul has been a towering presence in our lives not just because he’s
over six foot tall – excluding wig and heels – but because he is a soul as gentle and wise as ET. He continually inspires us. “You’re born naked and the rest is drag” Truer words were never spoken. Photo by Mathu Andersen
Sharon Needles, the surprise victor of season 4. Every queen on RuPaul’s Drag Race however
is a winner and we are so proud of this show for putting drag queens
up where they belong; not just on our TV screens but in our hearts. From
Stonewall to today they fight for the right for each and every one of
us to live authentic lives without shame, without apology. They are
warriors. Photo by Mathu Andersen
La Toya Jackson is the star of our latest series Life With La Toya on
OWN. La Toya is another example of someone overexposed but under-revealed, and this series – debuting April 13th – takes a peek
inside the life of one of the most fascinating characters in America’s
royal family. Photo by Mathu Andersen
Chloë Sevigny starred in Party Monster, the movie we made based on our
documentary and James St James’ book “Disco Bloodbath.” She is simply one
of the best actresses alive today. Photo by Mathu Andersen
James St James is co-editor with Stephen Saban of our blog The Wow Report.
He is also the author of “Disco Bloodbath,” the book that was our basis
for the documentary and feature movie “Party Monster.” We’ve just
re-released the original doc on iTunes and James features prominently. Photo by Idris + Tony
A photo from our personal library of Tammy Faye Bakker. To this day we
remember her words because she never judged people: “We’re all made out
of the same dirt and God doesn’t make any junk”.
It’s a lesser known fact that the film “The Men Who Stare At Goats,” was
actually based on a documentary from our series “Crazy Rulers Of The
World.” Jon Ronson wrote and directed the series that led to the
bestseller “Them.” It is also a lesser-known fact that for years Jon was a
talk show host on our series “For The Love” on Britain’s Channel 4. The
good new is that series is being released on our youtube channel WOW presents. Photo by Alex Grace
Doug Rushkoff is the author of many inspiring books about the media
saturated society we live in. From Media Virus to his most recent
Present Shock his ideas chronicle and help us navigate the explosion of
the Screen Age which we see as a very big bang that’s been going on for
the last twenty years. Photo by Idris + Tony
It took Idris Rheubottom and Tony Craig – known as the photographer duo Idris and Tony –
three years to shoot the better part of the 169 wowlebrities between
these covers and without their tireless efforts there would have been no
book. This is the last shot they took; a stunning self-portrait. Photo by Idris + Tony
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