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. In 1974, she moved to
California and opened a
casting company with
Linda Otto. Otto/Barnett Associates cast more than 100 television
pilots,
films, and
series. Their efforts also cast an old high school friend named
Billy Crystal as one of the leads in the television sitcom
Soap (1977–1981). Barnett followed her casting career by becoming the head of films for
NBC, where she put the television films
Special Bulletin (1983) and
The Burning Bed (1984) in development. 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). All were true stories that had impact in changing
laws and raising important information on critical issues. Barnett retired in 2005 to be near family in
Boston. During that time, she was actively involved with
Planned Parenthood, where she served on the board. ==Awards and nominations==