*Issa Rae’s bold ambition has fueled her success, but her “impulsiveness” nearly led to financial ruin.
In her new essay collection, “I Should be Smarter by Now,” released August 26, Rae reflects on her risky decisions, per US Weekly. “My impulsivity, the character trait I’ve benefited from and paid dearly for, is both a gift and a curse,” she writes. “The best example of this cost me every single dollar I had ever made in my life.”
In 2014, Rae, already a writer with web series and a book advance from “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl,” launched ColorCreative with partner Deniese Davis to support underrepresented comedy writers. “We could discover three diverse comedy writers via a call for script submissions through our vetted network,” she explains. However, three critical mistakes jeopardized their venture.
First, Rae and Davis began soliciting scripts and planning without securing funding. “We set a schedule and started soliciting scripts and meeting writers without securing the money first,” she admits. Despite struggling to find investors, Rae’s enthusiasm led her to proceed. “I was so excited about our undeniable idea and confident that we eventually would, so we proceeded anyway,” she says.
Her second misstep was relying on her “rich ex” for funding.
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“Despite our turbulent history, we stayed in touch, and he was always interested in investing in film and TV,” Rae notes. She believed his promise to cover one-third of the costs. The third mistake came when a fight with this ex, just before shooting, left her without his support.
“The real mistake was not pulling the plug when I knew I didn’t have the money and that all of the costs would be falling on me,” she writes. With only $75,000 from her book advance, Rae funded the $150,000 project herself.
Although the pilots never made it to series, ColorCreative opened doors for future projects. Rae’s experience also highlights the risks of making impulsive financial decisions.
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