Writer and producer Issa Rae is showing her audience a different side of her creativity. The “Insecure” creator has teamed up with actress La La Anthony to executive produce a horror-comedy titled “Juju” for Universal Pictures, Deadline reported.
Few details have been released about the plot of the project, which will be based on an original concept by the founder of Instagram-based The Shaderoom, Angelica Nwandu, who will also write the script. A Sundance fellow, Nwandu, 31, has written for the big screen before. In 2018, she wrote the movie “Night Come On.”
“Juju” will be directed by Thembi Banks, making this her feature directorial debut. Banks also has directed for “Insecure” in the past.
Rae’s longtime collaborator Deniese Davis will also produce on “Juju” with Rae’s production company HooRae.
“Juju” is just one of many projects coming from “The Photograph” star. It was recently announced that Rae, 35, would be producing a comedy series based on a podcast about “well-meaning white folks and school integration.”
Variety reported earlier this week that Rae teamed up with writer-director-producer Adam McKay to produce a half-hour comedy series for HBO. The show will be based on the Serial Productions podcast “Nice White Parents.” Rae will executive produce with Montrel McKay under HooRae, while Mckay will executive produce with Todd Schulman via Hyperobject Industries.
The show has already received a pilot commitment with the cable giant. It has been described as a “satirical look at the conflict and comedy that arise when highly resourced white parents, who claim to have the best intentions, wield their influence over generations of Black and brown students within the N.Y. public school system.” The show is still on the hunt for a showrunner, and a release date has not yet been made public.
