Issa Rae Receives Vanguard Award From Hollywood Chamber Of Commerce

Issa Rae Receives Vanguard Award From Hollywood Chamber Of Commerce

Some of film, television, music and tech’s biggest influencers gathered Thursday for the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and Variety‘s 2018 State of the Entertainment Industry Conference.

Producer Vin Di Bona; executives Kristin Cavanaugh of Sony Pictures Entertainment and Christina Derenthal of Paramount Pictures; chamber of commerce chair Donelle Dadigan; and Los Angeles city officials Mitch O’Farrell and Kevin James kicked off the program with opening remarks. They were followed by James Corden. The CBS late-night host introduced music-industry executives Lucian Grainge and Irving Azoff, who spoke with Corden about the business as well as their longstanding friendship.

“Irving doesn’t like one-sided deals,” Grainge said, when talking about the number of times that he and Azoff have negotiated.

Issa Rae, creator and star or HBO’s “Insecure,” was presented with the chamber’s first-ever Vanguard Award. Rae was followed by “The Big Bang Theory” creator Chuck Lorre, who received the chamber’s commitment to California Award. Lorre, whose new show “The Kominsky Method” will premiere Friday on Netflix, then participated in a Q&A with Variety‘s Daniel Holloway.

“I really wanted an opportunity to work in a landscape where there’s no broadcast standards, censorship,” Lorre said of his decision to work with Netflix on the show. “There’s no commercial breaks. The nature of network television is chasing young viewers, and I didn’t want to chase. I wanted to tell a story that I hope people will enjoy, but Netflix isn’t looking to demographics. They’re just looking at whether people watch it or not, and the age of the people watching is irrelevant.”