Issa Rae wasn’t wearing a power suit when she sat down with four women journalists for a January roundtable, but her money-making prowess was in full effect as she rocked a brown leather skirt set and high ponytail.
Fresh off of signing a three-year first look deal with Paramount, the “One Of Them Days” producer is excited about what lies ahead. Under the new deal, Rae will work with the Skydance-owned studio to develop and produce TV and film projects.
The deal is refreshing news at a time when prominent Black characters are getting harder to come by in scripted television. “It is harder for creatives to make an impact,” Rae said, explaining that the industry overall has taken a hit.
“It’s really scary because so much is being consolidated, and [Paramount is] a company that’s excited about building from the ground up,” the TurboTax ambassador told reporters at their flagship store in SoHo. “They have expressed being excited about the work that I make and produce, and even having a meeting at the top of this year about all the shows that I have available, they were like, that is exactly our mandate. Like. This is what we want to be able to make. We want to target women. We want to target these voices.”
Last year, the University of California at Los Angeles found in their annual Hollywood diversity report that an overwhelming 90 percent of the top 250 scripted series were created by white people. That’s a noticeable shift in comparison to 2023.
And though business constraints have had a widespread impact, coming down disproportionately on Black creators, Rae admitted to internalizing the state of the industry months prior to her new deal. During a November interview on Kevin “KevOnStage” Fredericks’ “Not My Best Moment” podcast, Rae revealed that despite have multiple shows and awards under her belt — including a Peabody Award for “Insecure” — she didn’t feel successful because she didn’t have a show on air at the time.
The “Rap Sh!t” creator told theGrio that she feels if things aren’t “happening now” then it’s not happening.
“I’ve had to kind of take a step back and remember the successes that [I]’ve had,” the serial entrepreneur said, admitting that she can be hard on herself. However, there’s an acceptance she holds about that.
“I wrote this in a journal entry and then eventually a book: I feel worthless if I’m not productive,” she said. “Just crazy. But I’m fine with it. That’s how I operate. What makes me happy is to feel like I’m productive. And it’s been that way since I was a little girl, like asking for briefcases, just asking for extra homework, because I wanted to feel like I was doing something. And it doesn’t mean I feel bad about myself. That’s just how I’m built.”
Fans should expect Rae’s time away from the airwaves to be brief. With the Skydance-owned company, Rae will create projects through her production company, Hoorae. Paramount will have first right of refusal and allow Rae the flexibility to continue to work with other studios.
Those looking for more reality TV content from her, à la “Sweet Life,” will have to keep their fingers crossed, however, as unscripted isn’t on the table this time around. “Reality TV is so interesting right now. So much of it feels more celebrity driven or franchise driven. I do want more shows, but everything is a franchise,” she said.
Rae’s focus right now is on creating content that can feel authentically involved in audiences’ lives: “One of the mandates is just like, how can we make people need us? How can we be a resource? How can we be a source for them in terms of providing their happiness and their entertainment across the board.”
She currently has a sequel to “One Of Them Days” up her sleeve, as well as a forthcoming documentary about the Eaton fire, produced by her ColorCreative company. Rae is also set to return to the front of the camera with “Good Things, Bad People.”
