Issa Rae Says She's Developing Two New Series

Hoorae! In a new interview, Issa Rae announced that she’s developing two new shows for HBO including the first show she will create, write, and star in since Insecure.

The actress/writer/producer, 39, is currently covering TIME Magazine’s “The Closers” issue where she’s highlighted as one of 18 leaders working to close the racial gap.

Source: Djeneba Aduayom for TIME / Djeneba Aduayom for TIME

In the cover story penned by Andrew R. Chow, Rae speaks candidly on the current state of Hollywood which she believes is overrun by profit-chasing investors.

“I’ve never seen Hollywood this scared and clueless, and at the mercy of Wall Street,” she says. “I’m sorry, but there aren’t a lot of smart executives anymore…And a lot of them have aged out and are holding on to their positions and refusing to let young blood get in.”

While speaking on how in prior eras the money-making suits mostly stayed away from creative choices she added;

“Now these conglomerate leaders are also making the decisions about Hollywood. Y’all aren’t creative people. Stick to the money…The people that are taking chances are on platforms like TikTok: that’s what’s getting the eyeballs of the youth. So you’re killing your own industry.”

Elsewhere in her TIME cover story, things get especially interesting when she speaks on how she believes her now canceled show Rap Sh!t would not have been greenlit by WarnerMedia today, as all executives seem to want is something safe and “universal.”

Rae says that it’s all much to the demise of Black storytellers and the withering of promises Hollywood executives made in 2020 toward increasing diversity and representation.

“There is a bitterness of just like, who suffers from you guys pulling back? People of color always do.”

The multihyphenate then discusses still having to fight tooth and nail to have projects made and said she’s developing at least two new projects for HBO: “a project set in an ‘alternative present,’ which will be the first show since Insecure that she will create, write, and star in; and a comedy set in corporate America, created in partnership with Diallo Riddle and Bashir Salahuddin, the creators of the shows South Side and Sherman’s Showcase.

She added that despite Rap Sh!t and Insecure being canceled, she feels “secure” in her relationship with HBO at the moment and the network praised her in an email to TIME.

“We’ve established a creative shorthand over the years and with every new project, we pick up right where we left off. There’s a flow to it that inspires me,” wrote Amy Gravitt, executive vice president for HBO Programming. “We look forward to what genres Issa and Hoorae will take on next,” added Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content.

Are YOU excited about Issa Rae’s two forthcoming projects?

Meet TIME’s”The Closers”:

Adriana Barbosa, president and CEO of PretaHub

Angelica Ross, president of Miss Ross Inc. and founder of TransTech Social Enterprises

Arian Simone and Ayana Parsons, leaders at the Fearless Fund

Aurora James, designer and founder of the Fifteen Percent Pledge

Brian Flores, Vikings defensive coordinator

Cory Booker, U.S. Senator

Darrick Hamilton and William Darity, economists at the New School and Duke

Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, chief of membership, policy and equity at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition

Erin Horne McKinney, national executive director of the Howard University and PNC National Center for Entrepreneurship

Imani Ellis, founder of CultureCon

Issa Rae, actress, writer, producer and CEO of Hoorae

John Hope Bryant, founder and CEO of Operation Hope

Leandris Liburd, acting director for CDC’s Office of Health Equity

Lisa Rice, president and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance

Ramogi Huma, executive director of the National College Players Association

Rebecca Ajulu-Bushell, CEO of 10000 Interns Foundation

TIME will host a celebration for its inaugural list “The Closers” on February 22 in NYC. The affair will be an intimate invite-only gathering featuring appearances from honorees on TIME’s inaugural list, including Issa Rae, Cory Booker, Aurora James, Angelica Ross, and more.

The February 12, 2023 issue of TIME goes on sale on Friday, February 2. Read more HERE.