Barney is now a partner in AltReleasing, which with the success of the feature Grinder will distribute four more films this year.

Barney grew up in New York City in a family long associated with the film business, his grandfather the founder of an early Hollywood studio and his uncle a partner at another.

Before starting college Barney became a booking agent at a music agency. He soon became Director of Club Booking at Music Productions, a major New England agency, and Talent Coordinator for its On Stage television series. While still a teenager, he became a General Partner and Director of College Booking at Sundance Music, where he developed major concert packages and worked with record companies to introduce new artists to college markets.

While at Harvard College Barney managed to keep up his ties with the entertainment business as the New England columnist for the alternative Houston Southern Voice newspaper. In his senior year he and his roommate began Musician's Magazine in their dorm room. After graduation they worked full time on their magazine, which quickly grew into a successful and profitable national publication.

After Musician's, Barney moved to New YorkCity where he worked for Forbes Magazine and attended New York University's Graduate School of Film, Video & Broadcasting. Barney became a Board Member and later Chairman of Anthology Film Archive, New York's Center for Experimental and Independent Film. There he was instrumental in bringing the Havana Film Festival to New York and became a member of its Festival Board.

In 1997 Barney also became General Manager of Angelika Entertainment Corporation and was responsible for its restructuring and daily operations as well as for the use of the well-known Angelika trademark. As a resource for the filmmaking community he began NewFilmmakers, which weekly screens new independent films in New York and in Los Angeles, and the Harvard Film Group, which has over 1000 alumni members nationally.

At Angelika Barney produced the popular Too Much Sleep feature, nominated for the Independent Spirit Award, and the controversial Zero Day feature, winner of Best Feature and Best Actor Awards at the recent Slamdunk Film Festival. In addition to successful film projects Barney developed and produced the MetroAngelika series and popular television & Internet programming for Cablevision and other clients.

In 2009 Barney executive produced two Internet branded series. Easy To Assemble with Ileana Douglas and Jeff Goldblum was sponsored by IKEA and CTRL on NBC with Tony Hale and Steve Steve Howey by Nestea. He returned to film with the features Fairfield and Grinder .

Barney lives in Los Angeles and New York. He is member of the Harvard Clubs in Boston, New York, and Los Angeles. He has been a member of the Union League Club in New York, the California Pioneers in San Francisco, and was a member of the Friars Club in Beverly Hills.