After catching episode one of the new HBO comedy series Insecure at the Urbanworld Film Festival, one has to highly consider adding an HBO subscription to one’s monthly expenses .
Writer & creator Issa Rae along with cast mates Jay Ellis, Yvonne Orji, director Melina Matsoukas, and executive producer Prentice Penny joined journalists and spectators on Friday at the Urbanworld Film Festival for their special screening followed by a Q&A panel with TV personality Bevy Smith as moderator . Those first thirty minutes of Insecure was nothing short of funny, while being all too real to the likes of young, aspiring, twenty to thirty something year old women living in any big city.
The YouTube star has made headway in her partnership with HBO to produce her series, coming from web show ‘The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl’, Issa brings on similar emotions and wit with Insecure. The show chronicles the life of two best friends living in Los Angeles, dealing with their individual insecurities of being thirty something at a particular stage in their lives and careers. And who can’t attest to that nervous feeling you get every time you are about to make a decision like: what lipstick to wear, should I cheat on my boyfriend, is three days to quick to be texting kissy faces – you know, those kinds of things.
In episode one, Issa plays another version of herself in a classroom of kids on career day. As their brutal honesty strips her of her dignity, she questions the aspects of her life of which she might be settling as oppose to not; her relationship with her loveable-loser boyfriend Lawrence (played by Jay Ellis), and being the only black employee at her job. While her best friend Molly (played by Yvonne Orji) undergoes similar treks on the opposite side as the single girl making all the wrong decisions leading to her and an empty bed every night. It’s shows like this that makes you appreciate the humor in life.
Issa expanded on how accepting responsibility for a failed pilot opportunity led her to getting the call from HBO.
“I was so eager to please…I wasn’t confident enough in my own voice, in my own vision to say, ‘that doesn’t really work for the story that I’m trying to tell, or that doesn’t fit it’. So by the time I ended up turning in the pilot, it wasn’t really something that I could stand behind, and it was all on me.”
After the thought of possibly losing her one big chance, she decided to start over and keep on, improved on her craft, and soon after that door closed, HBO called.
With a premiere date set for Wednesday, October 5th at 10:30PM, one should not forget to subscribe to HBO, if not already.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MubTJyWukp8
