Barry Jenkins inks first-look deal with HBO, HBO Max

Jenkins previously had a deal with Amazon Studios in 2018

Barry Jenkins is gearing up to bring us more content as he’s the latest creative to sign a first-look deal.

On Thursday, Jenkins signed the first-look television deal in order to create and produce more content with A24, HBO, and HBO Max, according to The Wrap. The network will get the first glimpse of Jenkins’ projects under PASTEL, his production company, with his producing partners Adele Romanski and Mark Ceryak.

PASTEL is known for If Beale Street Could Talk, and has an upcoming series with Amazon titled, The Underground Railroad, which is based on the Pulitzer Prize novel by Colson Whitehead. He previously had a first-look deal with the company back in 2018.

DIRECTV Bungalow Presented By AT&T At The 2019 Film Independent Spirit Awards
SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 23: Barry Jenkins attends the DIRECTV Bungalow Presented By AT

As reported by theGrio, Issa Rae’s is ready for her HBO hit series to end.

While the announcement that Insecure is coming to an end was a shock to fans, Issa Rae has been wrapping her head around the idea for some time now. In a recent interview, Rae opened up about the fifth and final season of Insecure.

As theGrio reported earlier this year, the fifth season of Insecure will be its last, ending its award-winning run on HBO. Fresh off her win at the NAACP Image Awards last week, Rae opened up about the end of her hit series to PEOPLE, revealing that since season 3 of the series, she has been “wrapping her head around” the ending.

Rae told the magazine, “I’ve been wrapping my head around this since candidly, season 3. But I’m so grateful to be able to play this character, who is obviously a version of me, and in the same way that I want this character to grow, I want to be able to grow too.”

Issa Rae thegrio.com
(Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for ESSENCE)

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Insecure first premiered in October 2016, and since then, has received critical acclaim and multiple Emmy nominations. She continued, saying, “So I think that’s what comes with it — I’ve played her for a long time, and I have so much more that I want to do.”

As shooting for the fifth and final season comes to a close, Rae revealed to PEOPLE that she’s trying to remain present in this last go at filming the series.

She explained, “But being on set everyday, I’m definitely taking it all in on a different level now, just in terms of, ‘Wow, I love this family. This is my family,’ and we’ve done so much and these people are incredible, and I feel so blessed to work with them.” She added, “I know I’ll look back on this time very, very fondly, as I do now.”

In January of 2021, Rae took to twitter to comment on the announcement that Insecure will be ending with the upcoming season. She wrote in her tweet at the time, “Very excited to film our fifth and final season! We couldn’t have told a complete story without the tremendous support of our audience and the faith of @HBO. See y’all soon! #InsecureHBO.”

Additional reporting by Jared Alexander

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