Issa Rae has consolidated her entertainment production ventures for feature film, television and digital under the recently launched Hoorae media company, Variety has learned exclusively.
Formerly Issa Rae Productions, Hoorae includes HBO’s “Insecure” and “A Black Lady Sketch Show.” Rae received Emmy nominations for comedy series and best actress in a comedy series for “Insecure” and best variety sketch series for “A Black Lady Sketch Show.” Hoorae’s slate includes “Tre Cnt” and the “Seen & Heard” docuseries for HBO, as well as “Rap S—” for HBO Max, “Perfect Strangers” for Spyglass, “Ghost in the Machine” for Netflix and “Sinkhole” with Monkeypaw and Universal.
“Sinkhole,” based on Leyna Krow’s short story about a mysterious sinkhole, was announced in July as a potential starring vehicle for Rae, who will also produce along with Jordan Peele. Rae came aboard “Perfect Strangers” in December as a producer, writer and star for the English-language adaptation of Paolo Genovese’s Italian feature film “Perfetti Sconosciuti.”
Rae has also promoted veteran executive Sara Rastogi to senior vice president of development and she will report to Montrel McKay, president of Hoorae film and TV. ColorCreative, the management company run by president Talitha Watkins and chief operating officer Deniese Davis, will also be under the Hoorae umbrella along with Raedio, the audio company run by president Benoni Tagoe. Raedio is a music label in partnership with Atlantic Records.
Rastogi got her start in the industry at DreamWorks Studios before moving over to Scott Free as an assistant and was promoted to creative executive. She was then brought over to 20th Century Fox and moved over to Columbia Pictures, where she built the feature residency program.
“Working with Issa, Montrel and the whole team has been refreshing and rewarding,” Rastogi said. “Issa invests in people and has cultivated an empowering company culture that allows us to take big risks, challenge ourselves, and industry norms. I am excited to continue growing with the company, in short Hoorae!”
Source: Variety
