Issa Rae Taking Over Project Greenlight from Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, HBO Max Reboot to Focus on Female Filmmakers

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Project Greenlight, the HBO competition series that featured Ben Affleck and Matt Damon mentoring aspiring filmmakers, is getting a reboot at HBO Max with Issa Rae taking over the reins.

The new iteration of the docuseries, which first launched in 2001 and lasted for four seasons, will focus on discovering up-and-coming female filmmakers who are given the chance to direct a movie.

Rae, the co-creator and star of HBO’s Insecure, is producing the fifth season and will appear on camera to provide guidance to the women competing to direct their first full-length feature. The winner’s finished film will later premiere on HBO Max.

“At HBO Max, we are committed to providing a platform for diverse, up-and-coming talent. Issa is uniquely skilled in this space, and we are thrilled to be partnering with her and Miramax as a promising group of filmmakers is inspired and challenged with their biggest opportunity yet,” said Jennifer O’Connell, executive vice president of non-fiction and live-action family at HBO Max.

Rae told Vanity Fair that she was interested in reviving Project Greenlight to give previously overlooked filmmakers the chance to have their visions shared on screen. “I want this version of the show to make filmmaking feel attainable,” she said.

The most recent season of Project Greenlight, which aired on HBO in 2015, sparked controversy when Damon got into a disagreement with Black producer Effie Brown after she suggested that the show’s participants be more diverse. “When we’re talking about diversity, you do it in the casting of the film, not in the casting of the show,” Damon told her. The actor was widely criticized for his comments and later issued an apology.