Actor and producer Issa Rae will be honored with the Producers Guild of America’s 2022 Visionary Award. Rae will receive the award at the 33rd Annual Producers Guild Awards on Saturday, March 19, 2022 at the Fairmont Century Plaza.
The Visionary Award honors producers across television, film or new media who share inspiring, uplifting stories that add unique value to society and culture. Past recipients include: Octavia Spencer, Kenya Barris, Ava DuVernay, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner’s Plan B Entertainment, Illumination Entertainment’s Chis Meledandri, Laura Ziskin, and Participant Media’s Jeff Skoll.
“Issa makes us excited for the future of television. With her series Insecure, she achieved the highest levels of comedy, perspective and performance possible, and her sharp wit and distinct voice will undoubtedly continue to drive quality entertainment featuring underrepresented voices. Beyond Issa’s prolific work, she is a role model and inspiration to the next generation of creatives through her mentorship programs like ColorCreative, and more recently, Project Greenlight. We are thrilled to honor Issa this year,” read a joint statement from Producers Guild of America presidents Gail Berman and Lucy Fisher.
With her own unique flare and infectious sense of humor, Rae first garnered attention for her award-winning web series and the accompanying New York Times best-seller, “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.” She created and stars in the hit HBO show, Insecure, for which she has received multiple Emmy® and Golden Globe® nominations. Rae made her film debut in the acclaimed drama, The Hate U Give. In 2020, she starred in Netflix’s The Lovebirds, a romantic comedy and the HBO political-satire drama, Coastal Elites.
On the horizon, Rae has several high-profile projects she’s developing and producing for HBO and HBO Max, including a new original series, Rap Sh*t; an adaptation of the hit New York Times podcast Nice White Parents alongside Adam McKay; and an adaptation of the beloved Octavia Butler novel “Fledgling” with sci-fi maestro J.J. Abrams.
