“Insecure” star and creator Issa Rae has signed a multiyear overall deal with WarnerMedia, the parent of HBO, where her previous pact was set, the company announced Wednesday.
This pact gives HBO, HBO Max and Warner Bros. Television exclusive rights to Rae’s small-screen projects developed through her media company, Hoorae, and includes a first-look film agreement across WarnerMedia’s Warner Bros. Pictures Group, New Line and HBO Max.
According to Variety, which first reported the news, Rae’s deal with WarnerMedia is valued at $40 million over five years. An individual with knowledge tells TheWrap that estimate is low, and the pact is actually in the high eight figures.
Representatives for WarnerMedia and Rae declined to comment on the financial terms.
Rae signed her first overall deal with HBO in 2016 and re-upped the pact in 2018.
“We have been in business with Issa for more than eight years, and we couldn’t be prouder of our collaboration,” Casey Bloys, chief content officer for HBO and HBO Max, said in a statement Wednesday. “‘Insecure’ was a breakthrough series for HBO, and there is much more on the horizon. This new deal is an opportunity to leverage the strength of WarnerMedia to provide a multitude of platforms for Issa’s formidable talents as a producer and storyteller.”
Rae added: “HBO has been supportive of my work since the very first general meeting I had with Casey in 2012. I’m thrilled to not only spread my creative wings with the network that makes all of my favorite series, but also to produce culturally resonant stories with new voices that incite exciting conversations via HOORAE’s expanded relationship with all WarnerMedia platforms.”
Rae’s Hoorae has several projects currently set up with HBO and HBO Max. At HBO, Rae is working on the fifth and final season of “Insecure” and the second season of “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” along with the new series “The Vanishing Half,” “Nice White Parents,” and the documentary series “Seen and Heard.” For streaming service HBO Max, Hoorae is producing the half-hour comedy “Rap Sh*t” and developing a scripted series with Mark Phillips.
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