Creator Issa Rae describes discovering direct-to-consumer digital filmmaking in college after facing traditional entertainment industry rejection.
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“Because I had spent all this time trying to write and send my work to either producers, executives, contests, whatever, in an attempt to get it made, to get it seen. And I was either told why there wouldn't be an audience for this particular work, or that, you know, they just didn't want to make it. And so to be able to just literally write something on the fly, Cast my friends, recorded myself, edited myself, put it out there, and have an immediate audience that liked it, that wanted more of it, was just so validating in a way where I was like, I can keep Doing this if I want to. Yes, it's a smaller scale. No, it's not television. But if I'm really serious about, like, writing and getting my work seen, this is a viable way to do it.”
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