Issa Rae hasn't given up on HBO. To prove it, she's planning two new shows with the network.
The actress, writer, and producer spoke exclusively with TIME for a cover story about her gripes with Hollywood, but also revealed that she has two projects in the works. One will be the first show that she will create, write, and star in since Insecure, which ran on HBO from 2016 to 2021.
Rae told the publication that the comedy she'll star in will be set in an "alternative present," as part of a collaboration with South Side creators Diallo Riddle and Bashir Salahuddin.
Rae also plans to construct a studio campus in South Los Angeles, which will likely be the new headquarters or sister location of her media production company, HOORAE Media. The news comes just weeks after HBO announced the cancellation of Rap Sh!t, which served as Rae's third show for the network, also her second project to be canceled after reality television show Sweet Life: Los Angeles.
Elsewhere in the TIME article, Rae explained her decision in prioritizing equity for media entreprneurs of color.
“I recognize that I have to do well economically to be able to make change,” she told TIME. “That’s frustrating, that’s ugly. But I recognize that money moves things faster—and so much of what I do is with the intention to help make those moves.”
The 39-year-old also detailed that film and television executives have chosen to opt for "universial" stories after promising to invest in diverse stories and representation during the Black Lives Matter movement upswing in 2020. Thus, numerous Black shows have been canceled, including some on HBO, like A Black Lady Sketch Show (which Rae produced) and Lovecraft Country, which lasted for one season. “There is a bitterness of just like, who suffers from you guys pulling back? People of color always do,” she told TIME.
Rae told GQ in 2018 that being in Insecure was a happy accident. "I had another friend of mine in mind, and then she couldn't do it. So I was like, ‘I'm running out of time. I'm just gonna do it myself,'" she said.
