ABC comedy executive Jamila Hunter has stepped down from her position to join Kenya Barris’s Khalabo Ink Society production company, TheWrap has learned.
Hunter will serve as president of television at the company, which currently has a number of projects in development in addition to “Black-ish” at ABC and its spinoff “Grown-ish” at Freeform.
Her exit from ABC comes a few months after Barris negotiated his exit from his overall deal at ABC in favor of a new multi-year pact at Netflix.
“Jamila has always understood my vision as a storyteller — and that was evident when she bought ‘Black-ish’ in the room five years ago,” Barris said in a statement. “She’s continued to be a champion of the work every day since that meeting, and I couldn’t be more excited to have the opportunity to reunite with her in this chapter of Khalabo Ink Society. I consider her not only a personal friend, but a professional ally and someone I truly believe has one of the greatest taste meters in town.”
Hunter had been at ABC since 2011, most recently serving as senior vice president of comedy. During her tenure, she oversaw “Black-ish,” the launch of the network’s “Roseanne” reboot last season, as well as the Jenna Fischer romantic comedy “Splitting Up Together and “Fresh Off the Boat.”
She previously served as a member of the creative team that launched The Oprah Winfrey Network and as senior vice president of alternative and digital programming at NBC. She’s also held roles at 20th Century Fox Television and Bravo.
Hunter is repped by attorney Jeanne Newman. Barris is repped by Artists First, CAA and attorney Gregg Gellman.
Variety first reported the news.