Season Two of “Masters of the Game” continues with HOORAE, Issa Rae’s multi-platform media company, and the six industry innovators she hand-picked to run her growing empire.
When it comes to mastery, six masters are undoubtedly better than one. That’s why theGrio was thrilled to sit down with the six masterminds hand-selected by Issa Rae to lead her multimedia conglomerate, HOORAE. Ahead of the SAG-AFTRA strike, “Masters of the Game” host Maiysha Kai received an invitation to “the house that Issa built” in the Los Angeles-adjacent enclave of Inglewood, California.
She interviewed HOORAE’s dynamic leadership which includes Benoni Tagoe, president of RAEDIO, which includes podcasts, a music label, events and digital content; Montrel McKay, president of development and production; Talitha Watkins, president and head of ColorCreative Management and Productions; Chief of Staff Kaylin Cotton; Monique Francis, the head of marketing; and chief financial officer Malick Diop.
Together, the sextet, each one an accomplished powerhouse in their own right, is building a multifaceted media empire encompassing television, film, music, digital production, brand marketing, personal care products and more. And they’re doing it all with the innate trust and blessings of their no longer “insecure” founder.
“At the end of the day, Issa wants to be a brand, and she everything she touches, she wants it to be a brand,” says Tagoe. “In building HOORAE, it was important for us to brand that as an entity that you can trust, respect, and that stands for something with Issa Rae and without Issa Rae.”
Three years after its inception, HOORAE has already attracted some of the most dynamic talents in the business, distinguishing itself as one of the only — or perhaps the only — all-Black executive team in Hollywood. And they’ve only just begun; with a full slate of projects in production and development, the HOORAE team may very well set the pace for diversity, inclusion, innovation and evolution in the industry for decades to come.
Want to learn more about the powerhouses powering the house Issa Rae built? Season Two of “Masters of the Game,” hosted by Maiysha Kai, continues with the incredible, innovative HOORAE executive team on Friday, June 27 at 8 p.m. ET on theGrio TV cable network and fast channels.
Maiysha Kai is theGrio’s lifestyle editor, covering all things Black and beautiful. Her work is informed by two decades of experience in fashion and entertainment, great books, and the brilliance of Black culture. She is also the editor-author of Body: Words of Change series.
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