The Beast is an alternate reality game developed by Microsoft to promote the 2001 film A.I. Artificial Intelligence. Entry points to the game embedded into the film's promotion centered on the fictional Jeanine Salla and the death of her friend Evan Chan. In 2142, Jeanine learns that Evan was murdered and her investigation uncovers a network of murders of humans and artificial intelligences. The game launched on March 8, 2001 and continued running past its initially scheduled end date on June 29, the film's release date.
Kate Crawford is a researcher, writer, composer, producer and academic, who studies the social and political implications of artificial intelligence. She is based in New York and works as a principal researcher at Microsoft Research, the co-founder and former director of research at the AI Now Institute at NYU, a visiting professor at the MIT Center for Civic Media, a senior fellow at the Information Law Institute at NYU, and an associate professor in the Journalism and Media Research Centre at the University of New South Wales. She is also a member of the WEF's Global Agenda Council on Data-Driven Development.
Melina Matsoukas is an American music video, film, commercial and television director. She is a two-time Grammy Award winner and four-time MTV Video Music Awards winner for her "We Found Love" and "Formation" music videos. She was honored with the Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal by the American Film Institute in 2019. Her directorial debut in film was Queen & Slim, starring Jodie Turner-Smith and Daniel Kaluuya, and written by Lena Waithe. She then worked as executive producer and director for television series Insecure, being nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2020.
Amanda Ingrid Seales, formerly known by the stage name Amanda Diva, is an American actress, author, activist, media personality, podcaster, comedian and poet. From 2017 to 2021, she starred in the HBO comedy series Insecure. In 2019, HBO released her first stand-up comedy special I Be Knowin. Then, in 2020, Seales launched Smart Funny & Black, a comedy gameshow that showcases Black culture, history, and experience. Seales was also one of the co-hosts of the syndicated daytime talk show, The Real.
Sujata Choudhury, credited professionally as Sujata Day, is an American actress, model and screenwriter. She is best known for her roles as CeeCee in the Issa Rae web series, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl (2011-2013) and Sarah in Insecure. Day made her directorial debut with the 2020 comedy-drama, Definition Please.
Black women filmmakers have made contributions throughout the history of film. According to Nsenga Burton, writer for The Root, "the film industry remains overwhelmingly white and male. In 2020, 74.6 percent of movie directors of theatrical films were white, showing a small decrease from the previous year. In terms of representation, 25.4 percent of film directors were of ethnic minority in 2020. Of the 25.4 percent of minority filmmakers, a small percentage was female.
The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl is an American comedy web series created by and starring Issa Rae. It premiered on a dedicated YouTube channel on February 3, 2011. The show follows the life of J as she interacts with co-workers and love interests who place her in uncomfortable situations. The story is told through first-person narrative as J usually reveals how she feels about her circumstances through voice-over or dream sequence.
Jo-Issa Rae Diop, credited professionally as Issa Rae, is an American actress, writer, and producer. Founder of Hoorae Media, she achieved wider recognition as the co-creator, co-writer, and star of the HBO television series Insecure (2016–2021), for which she was nominated for multiple Golden Globes Awards and Primetime Emmy Awards.
Kari Rose Johnson better known by her stage name Kari Faux, is an American rapper from Little Rock, Arkansas. She is best known for her flamboyant dress, and conversational style of rap. Her songs are most commonly characterized as "internet rap" with repetitive hooks, minimal production, and an emphasis on clever wordplay.
Insecure is an American comedy-drama television series created by Issa Rae and Larry Wilmore, and is partially based on Rae's acclaimed web series Awkward Black Girl. The series is about the awkward experiences of a contemporary African-American woman. The series premiered online on September 23, 2016, via HBO Now and HBO Go, before airing weekly on HBO from October 9, 2016.
Oscar Sharp is a BAFTA-nominated British filmmaker best known for short films The Kármán Line, Sign Language and Sunspring, and upcoming television series The Human Conditions for HBO MAX, produced by Damon Lindelof and Matt Reeves.
Wendell Ramone "Jay" Ellis Jr. is an American actor. In 2013, Ellis received his first major role on BET's series The Game. His role as Martin "Lawrence" Walker in the HBO series Insecure (2016-2021), earned him an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series. He later starred in the horror film Escape Room (2019), and appeared in Top Gun: Maverick (2022).
Natasha Rothwell is an American writer and actress. She is known for working on the HBO television series Insecure as a writer, series regular, and supervising producer. She is also known for her work in HBO's The White Lotus, which earned her a nomination for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.
Marian Azeb Mereba, known mononymously as Mereba, is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer.
A Black Lady Sketch Show is an American sketch comedy television series created by Robin Thede for HBO. The show consists of comedy sketches performed by a main cast of Black women, consisting of producer and creator Thede, Gabrielle Dennis, and Skye Townsend. Alumni cast members include Quinta Brunson, Laci Mosley, and Ashley Nicole Black. The show has featured guest stars such as Issa Rae, Vanessa Williams, Angela Bassett, Laverne Cox, Nicole Byer, Amber Riley, Miguel, Omarion, Raven-Symoné, Kelly Rowland, Tia Mowry, Tahj Mowry, Gabrielle Union, Kyla Pratt, Wanda Sykes, and Patti LaBelle.
Redshirt is a social simulation game developed by Mitu Khandaker, developing under the company name The Tiniest Shark, and published by Positech Games for Windows, MacOS, and iOS. The game follows the player's custom character as they work through a fictional social media account as they try to "climb the ladder" on a space station. The game's title refers to a redshirt, a stock character in fiction who dies soon after being introduced.
Rap Sh!t is an American comedy television series created by Issa Rae for HBO Max. The show is produced by Hoorae Productions and 3 Arts Entertainment and centers on two Miami-based rappers who try to find success in the music industry. The series debuted at the American Black Film Festival on June 18, 2022, and was released on July 21, 2022. It was renewed for a second season in September 2022, which premiered on November 9, 2023. The season was originally set to debut on August 10, 2023, but was delayed due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. In January 2024, the series was canceled after two seasons.
Hoorae Media, also known as Hoorae, is an American independent media production company formed in September 2020 by Issa Rae. Formerly known as Issa Rae Productions, Hoorae launched as an umbrella banner to consolidate her various film, television, and digital content companies. Insecure, A Black Lady Sketch Show, and Rap Sh!t, were produced by Hoorae with HBO. Upcoming productions include the television adaptation of the novel The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, and the film Sinkhole, produced with Monkeypaw Productions and Universal Pictures.
Aida Osman is an American writer, stand-up comedian, and actress. She is a former co-host of the podcast, Keep It. She has written for Big Mouth,Betty, and the HBO Max series Rap Sh!t, on which she also co-stars.
Amy Aniobi is a Nigerian-American writer and producer. She was the head writer and co-executive producer of Insecure and was also an executive producer for the HBO special 2 Dope Queens. Aniobi signed a two-year overall deal with HBO in 2019.
