Issa RaePRODUCER | ACTOR | WRITER

New York Film Academy alum Issa Rae is an actress, comedian, director, and producer whose professional repertoire speaks volumes.

Rae attended NYFA Los Angeles, graduating from our 4-Week Filmmaking program in 2005. She rose to prominence on the YouTube original series The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl between 2011 and 2013. The show won the 2012 Shorty Award for Best Web Show, Rae’s first career award. Rae later served as executive producer for the TV series The Choir from 2013 to 2015. Additionally, she was co-executive producer of First in 2014-15. She also appeared in the music videos for Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” (2013) and Jay-Z’s “Moonlight” (2017).

Rae is perhaps most notable for her leading role on HBO’s Insecure, which she also wrote and produced, from 2016 to 2021. She was nominated for three Golden Globes for Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Comedy or Musical for her performance in Insecure, in 2017, 2018, and 2022. She also received two Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, in 2018 and 2020. Additionally, Rae won three NAACP Image Awards for her work on Insecure. She won for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series in 2022 and Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series in both 2021 and 2022.

She also executive produced HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show, the first sketch comedy directed by, written by, and starring all black women. Rae received a nomination for the 2021 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. Meanwhile, the series as a whole received two Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series (2021 and 2022).

Notably, Rae also starred alongside Dan Levy and Bette Midler in the 2020 HBO quarantine satire Coastal Elites, filmed remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. In October 2020, she hosted Saturday Night Live during the show’s 46th season.

More recently, Rae was named one of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2022. The same year, she began executive producing the HBO comedy series Rap Sh*t. The series, produced by Rae’s production company HOORAE, focuses on two estranged high school friends from Miami who reunite to form a rap group.

Rae also appears in Greta Gerwig’s 2023 film Barbie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. She also hosts the revival of Project Greenlight, in which up-and-coming directors compete for the chance to direct their own feature film. Rae not only serves as a mentor to the aspiring directors, but also the show’s producer, through her production company HOORAE.

Snapshot:
Program Studied at NYFA: Filmmaking
Program Type: 4-Week Filmmaking
Year Attended/Graduated: 2005
Location: Los Angeles

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