Project Greenlight, a redo of docuseries that debuted in late 2001, debuts on Max Thursday, July 13. All 10 episodes are available that day. Issa Rae is behind the production, which focuses on the struggles of first-time filmmakers.
The season focuses on director Meko Winbush and her effort to make the feature film Gray Matter. The film premieres on Max July 13 as well.
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were behind the original Project Greenlight, which focused on the travails of a rookie film director. It had two seasons on HBO, premiering in 2001, then one on Bravo, before it returned to HBO for one more season in 2015.
Rae is an executive producer on the new Project Greenlight, which looks at female filmmakers. Hoorae, Alfred Street Industries, 3 Arts Entertainment and Miramax Television produce the show. Rae, Kumail Nanjiani and Gina Prince-Bythewood mentor the filmmaker throughout the season.
“Project Greenlight pulls back the curtain on the filmmaking process from start to finish, offering a unique, 360-look into selected director Meko Winbush’s experience as she directs her first feature film,” Max said.
Rae and Montrel McKay executive produce for Hoorae. Jonathan Berry and Dave Becky exec produce for 3 Arts Entertainment. Jane Lipsitz, Dan Cutforth, Dan Volpe, Nan Strait, Zoe Jackson, Asabi Lee and Alexandra Lipsitz exec produce for Alfred Street Industries and Bill Block and Marc Helwig do so for Miramax Television.
Nanjiani and Prince-Bythewood are executive producers as well.
Gray Matter is a science fiction thriller that centers on Ayla and her daughter Aurora, who both possess superhuman abilities. As Ayla attempts to train Aurora how to navigate these abilities, a tragic incident finds Aurora in control of her fate, and forces Ayla to confront the truth of her past. Jessica Frances Dukes, Mia Isaac and Garret Dillahunt are in the cast.
Rae was the co-creator, executive producer and star of Insecure on HBO. She’s in the upcoming Barbie film.
A Project Greenlight review in Variety called the show “somewhat toxically watchable.”
It continues: “The nuts and bolts of how a production comes together are inherently fascinating even beyond the intrigue lent by Hoorae’s court-of-Versailles culture. And Winbush’s disengagement from her colleagues, amid many of her own mistakes, winds up in a relatable sort of petulance. When she takes off her mic pack on set to stop being part of the shoot, it reads both as the latest misstep by a green director whose instincts lead her away from success each time and as a reclamation.”
