Issa Rae isn’t letting the Coronavirus pandemic slow down the expansion of her entertainment empire. The fab chick has THREE new projects coming down the pipeline. Deets inside…

2020 has been a sh*tty year overall, but things are lookinghella bright for Issa Rae.

The “Insecure” creator/star isn’t letting ‘Rona stop her from expanding her entertainment empire. Last week, her hit HBO series scooped up 8 EMMY nominations and she’s currently working on Season 5.  She previously told COSMOPOLITAN she has been using this down time to let her creative juices flow and she’s about to start releasing some of the things she has been working on.

The writer, producer, and actress is executive producing a two-part HBO documentary titled “SEEN & HEARD,” which will explore the history of Black television as seen through the eyes of trailblazers who wrote, produced, created and starred in groundbreaking series of the past and present.

Word? This def piqued our interest. We love a good nostalgic trip, especially when behind-the-scenes tea is spilled.

"Black people have such a rich, but often unacknowledged history in Hollywood," said Issa. "We have defined American culture and influenced generations time and time again across the globe. I'm honored to pair with Ark Media to center and celebrate the achievements of those who paved a way for so many of us to tell our stories on television."

The documentary will offer cultural commentary about representation in black storytelling and feature interviews with actors, showrunners, writers, celebrities and other notable influencers as well as verité-driven segments and inventive use of archival material. The featured participants will reflect on their own experiences watching African Americans represented on television yesterday and today, while sharing insights into their current creative endeavors, personal experiences, and inspiration, providing a window into the larger evolution of Black storytellers across television history.

“SEEN & HEARD” is produced and directed by award-winning documentarian Phil Bertelsen (“Who Killed Malcolm X?”), and executive produced by Issa Rae (HBO’s “Insecure”) and Montrel McKay of Issa Rae Productions (“Insecure”), the Peabody and Emmy®-nominated team at 3 Arts Entertainment, including Jonathan Berry and David Becky (HBO’s ”Insecure” and “A Black Lady Sketch Show”), and by the Peabody and Emmy-award winning team at Ark Media (“Who Killed Malcolm X?”), including Rachel Dretzin and Esther Dere.

Also coming to the cable network...

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Issa Rae (@issarae) on Apr 7, 2020 at 6:20am PDT

Issa is starring in HBO’s upcoming quarantine comedy “Coastal Elites.” The show was announced in June, but the premiere date was just released. The comedic satire is set to debut this September.

The new comedy special special tells stories of breaking down and breaking through in the summer of 2020 that are funny, searing, poignant and now. Issa is a part of an all-star cast that includes Bette Midler, Kaitlyn Dever, Dan Levy, and Sarah Paulson.

Issa revealed she had to learn more about the Trump family than she ever wanted to for the series.

“For me, this is kind of an education because I do tend to try to avoid as much of the Trump family as possible. And Ivanka, in particular, I’ve always found fascinating — but not fascinating enough to listen to,” Issa said during Wednesday’s virtual CTAM panel promoting “Coastal Elites.”

“So it took a lot to research,” she added, sitting on the Zoom presentation alongside her co-stars Dan Levy, Bette Midler, Kaitlyn Dever and Sarah Paulson, plus “Coastal Elite” writer Paul Rudnick and director Jay Roach. “And the more I found out, the more horrified I was. And a lot of that is expressed through the work. But a testament to Paul’s writing. It was just incredible to read and immediately resonated.”

Poor thing. Anything for the arts!

Issa will play Callie Josephson, a “well-connected is a well-connected philanthropist whose prep school network leads her to the highest levels of government.”

“Coastal Elites” debuts Saturday, September 12th at 8/7c on HBO.

Lastly...

Y'all better get ready. Your fave TV producer and film producer are teaming up on a new project.

Issa Rae and Oscar winner Jordan Peele are co-producing a new film titled Sinkhole, a thought-provoking genre movie that engages with questions of female perfection and identity, for Universal.

Sinkhole is an adaptation of short story "Sinkhole" about a young family who moves into their dream home, except for the gaping sinkhole in the backyard.6 days ago

Deadline reports:

The project is being developed as a potential star vehicle for the in-demand Rae. The multi-hyphenate, whose Insecure scored eight Emmy nominations yesterday, will produce with Universal and Peele’s Monkeypaw. Producers are Peele and Win Rosenfeld for the latter and Rae, Montrel McKay and Sara Rastogi for Issa Rae Productions.

Writer Krow is from Spokane, WA, and the story is set on the street she lives on. She was initially inspired to write the piece when a group of local writers were asked to write short fairytales on the theme “I Married A Monster.” She wanted to explore the notion of female perfection and was particularly interested in the ways society and cultures can promote the concept of women as imperfect or broken. Her story has the trappings of a grounded, psychological sci-fi/horror, but the subplot is a commentary on the human condition through the lens of female identity.

Krow is executive producing alongside Alex Davis-Lawrence from literary journal Moss, in which the story was originally published. As a development project, there’s no shoot date yet.

It goes without saying, we're totally HERE for this!  And still rooting for everybody black.

Photo: Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock.com