PARIS – Issa Rae, creator, producer and star of HBO’s hit show Insecure, has been named MIPCOM 2018 Personality of the Year.

The Peabody Award winner and vanguard Hollywood actress, writer, director and producer will be honoured at a gala dinner for leading international television executives at the Carlton Hotel, Cannes, France, on Wednesday 17 October, and will take part in a keynote interview.

MIPCOM, the world’s entertainment content market, takes place in Cannes from 15-18 October 2018. As part of MIPCOM 2018’s conference theme “The Big Shift”, Reed MIDEM will again bring focus to the topics of diversity and inclusion to reflect the global movement towards equality behind and in front of the camera.

Through celebrating Rae’s ground-breaking series and powerful artistry, MIPCOM propels the conversation of inclusive storytelling beyond Hollywood to reach 14,000 entertainment executives from 100 countries.

With her own unique flare and infectious sense of humour, Rae has received an Emmy nomination and two Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress for her hit show, HBO’s Insecure.

Issa Rae’s web series, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, was the recipient of the coveted Shorty Award for Best Web Show and her first book, a collection of essays, is a New York Times Bestseller. Rae’s upcoming feature films include an adaptation of Angie Thomas’s bestselling novel “The Hate U Give,” and “Little”, with Regina Hall and Marsai Martin.

Rae will take part in a keynote interview on Wednesday 17 October, in the Grand Auditorium of the Palais des Festivals, in which she will discuss her career and share her commitment to helping increase opportunities for women and minority TV writers and encouraging the entertainment industry to take action to improve representation on all levels. The keynote interview will be followed by a gala dinner at the Carlton Hotel bringing together top members of the television and entertainment industry.

“Issa Rae is one of most brilliant creative minds in Hollywood.  She is shaping the present and future of on-screen storytelling through her authentic comedic writing and her uncompromising commitment to inclusion,” said Paul Zilk, CEO of Reed MIDEM, organiser of MIPCOM. “In recognition of her generation-defining influence on the entertainment industry, we are honoured to welcome her to Cannes as the MIPCOM 2018 Personality of the Year.”

Past MIPCOM Personality of the Year honourees include:
•    David Zaslav, President & CEO, Discovery Inc. (2017)
•    Shonda Rhimes, Founder, Shondaland (2016)
•    Dana Walden & Gary Newman, Chairmen & CEOs, Fox Television Group (2015)
•    Simon Cowell, TV & Film Producer, SYCO (2014)
•    Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO, DreamWorks Animation (2013)