One door closes, another one opens: As Issa Rae films the fifth and final season of her HBO show Insecure, Variety reported today that the star inked a five-year overall deal with WarnerMedia for eight figures. The media conglomerate will partner with Rae’s media label, Hoorae, to bring TV and film content to the network. The deal also gives HBO, HBO Max, and Warner Bros. Television exclusive rights to her work for TV.
Rae is Variety’s March cover star, so she spoke to the outlet exclusively about the new deal. “HBO has been supportive of my work since the very first general meeting I had with Casey in 2012,” Rae said. She also said her production company has “at least 15 projects in various stages of development” in the arenas of drama, unscripted series, and documentaries.
She also said, per The Hollywood Reporter, “I’m thrilled to not only spread my creative wings with the network that makes all of my favorite series, but also to produce culturally resonant stories with new voices that incite exciting conversations via Hoorae.”
According to the Variety cover story, HBO and HBO Max Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys, HBO executive Amy Gravitt, and Rae began their relationship eight years ago when Bloys discovered Rae’s “Awkward Black Girl” web series.
Bloys mentioned Insecure’s impact on HBO and HBO Max to Variety. The show brought a new audience to the network, making Insecure one of the top shows watched on the new HBO Max streaming service.
“Insecure was a breakthrough series for HBO, and there is much more on the horizon. This new deal is an opportunity to leverage the strength of WarnerMedia to provide a multitude of platforms for Issa’s formidable talents as a producer and storyteller,” he said.
Rae is currently filming the last season of Insecure. “Now that it’s coming to an end, and we’re shooting, I have no regrets. But there’s an element of knowing I’m going to miss this, and I don’t want to take this for granted,” she told Variety.
As Insecure ends, Rae continues to build her media empire. She is working on more projects for HBO and HBO Max, including the release of the second season of Robin Thede’s A Black Lady Sketch Show in April and HBO’s new documentary Seen & Heard and producing the adaptation of Brit Bennett’s bestseller The Vanishing Half.
Источник: www.elle.com
