Joan Barnett (November 19, 1945 – October 15, 2020) was an American casting director and television executive producer.
[1] Barnett began her career as an associate producer and general manager for Alexander H. Cohen in New York, working on television specials, films and Broadway productions.
Their efforts also cast an old high school friend named Billy Crystal as one of the leads in the television sitcom Soap (1977–1981).
She then departed for full-time producing with the Alan Landsburg Productions, where she made Adam (1983) and Unspeakable Acts (1990), both changing the face of docudramas for television, as well as the cult sports film Long Gone (1987) for HBO.
In 1989, Barnett partnered with Jack Grossbart and began a 15-year period of production that included Something to Live for: The Alison Gertz Story (1992), Unforgivable (1996), and Any Mother's Son (1997).