In March earlier this year, HBO announced, as “Insecure” was coming to an end, that producer-writer-director Issa Rae had signed a five-year overall production deal with WarnerMedia. The deal established an exclusive partnership between Rae’s production label, Hoorae, WarnerMedia’s branches HBO, HBO Max, and Warner Bros. Television. Only a few months later, we’re already starting to see what projects Issa Rae has in store.
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Per HBO, Hoorae and HBO Max are teaming up to revive the long-lost and under-seen filmmaking docuseries “Project Greenlight.” Running for three seasons between 2001-2005, the original series documented the experiences of first-time filmmakers who are given a chance to direct a feature film. The docuseries was produced by Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Sean Bailey, and Chris Moore – each of which returned for the show’s first revival in 2015.
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With Issa Rae’s infrastructure and ethos at Hoorae, things are going to run a little differently. This time around, the series will focus solely on up-and-coming female filmmakers. Additionally, the winning filmmaker will have distribution built-in, with HBO Max themselves slated to release the final product.
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Jennifer O’Connell, the executive vice president of Non-Fiction and Live-Action Family programming at HBO Max, highlights Rae’s distinct passion and professionalism in a statement:
“At HBO Max, we are committed to providing a platform for diverse, up-and-coming talent… Issa is uniquely skilled in this space, and we are thrilled to be partnering with her and Miramax as a promising group of filmmakers is inspired and challenged with their biggest opportunity yet.”
Miramax Television is also slated to co-produce the series. Miramax’s Head of Worldwide Television Marc Helwig reiterates the importance of Rae’s forward-thinking and inclusive approach to the series:
“By relaunching the iconic ‘Project Greenlight’ with the brilliant Issa Rae and HBO Max, we continue our efforts to mine the Miramax library and create exciting, groundbreaking new content as well as forge opportunities for a new generation of innovative voices to be heard.”
HBO also announced the unscripted series “Sweet Life: Lost Angeles,” set to debut this summer from Rae and her production company meant to ‘give an honest and unique look into what it means to be young, Black, and in constant pursuit of one’s dreams in the heart of South Los Angeles.”
Considering Issa Rae’s recent, impressive work at HBO – including “Insecure” and “A Black Lady Sketch Show” – combined with the platform and power of HBO Max, we believe it’s safe to have high hopes for the fresh breath of life that Rae and company will breathe into “Project Greenlight.”
