[2] Based in Los Angeles, California, the company specializes in documentary television and film productions with a key focus on LGBTQ topics.

Together, Barbato and Bailey have produced programming through World of Wonder for HBO, Bravo, HGTV,[3] Showtime, BBC,[4] Netflix,[5] MTV and VH1,[6][7] with credits including the Million Dollar Listing docuseries, RuPaul's Drag Race,[2] and the documentary films The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2000)[3][7][8] and Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures (2016).

[16] The two formed Fabulous Pop Tarts, a disco-pop rock duo, and began performing regularly at Danceteria and other clubs in downtown New York City.

[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 in Atlanta in the 1980s.

[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.

[21] Died on the 4th of July aired on the UK's Channel 4, was included on the DVD release of Party Monster: The Shockumentary,[22] and contributed to Sullivan's posthumous rise in notoriety.

Designed by architects S. Tilden Norton and Fredrick H. Wallis and erected in 1930, the building served as the original home of the Directors Guild of America.

[26] World of Wonder primarily produces television content for networks in the US and UK, including BBC, Channel 4, FIVE, HBO, Cinemax, TLC, PBS, Showtime, A&E, MTV, VH1 and Bravo.

[7] Productions over the past three decades include RuPaul's Drag Race, Manhattan Cable with Laurie Pike,[27][28] Takeover TV, The Adam and Joe Show,[29]Tori & Dean: Inn Love, Good Work, Million Dollar Listing, Heli-Loggers, Pam: Girl on the Loose, Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce, and Island Hunters.

[30] 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, and Miami series.

[41] Barbato and Bailey have produced a host of other original documentaries, including Party Monster: The Shockumentary,[22] The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Monica in Black and White,[2] Gender Revolution with Katie Couric,[42][22] and The Last Beekeeper.