Issa Rae’s media company Hoorae has named industry veteran Kaylin Cotton as its new chief of staff.
Before joining the team at Hoorae, Cotton worked for Live Nation and Shondaland, bringing her extensive background in music, entertainment and television to support Rae’s ever-growing vision for the future of the media company.
Formerly Issa Rae Productions and relaunched under the new moniker in 2020, Hoorae is a multi-faceted media company that develops content across mediums and genres in an effort to continue to break boundaries in storytelling and representation. The company is comprised of Hoorae Media for film, TV and digital productions; Raedio, the music label in partnership with Atlantic Records; and ColorCreative, its management division.
The Los Angeles-born Cotton began her career managing several retail locations for Fortune 500 companies, including Target and Skechers, before transferring her leadership and management skills into the world of entertainment. Cotton then served as a coordinator at Shonda Rhimes’ media company Shondaland, where she was responsible for building out the company’s brand guidelines and events. In her latest role with Live Nation, she specialized in internal diversity, equity and inclusion communication and programming. Notably, Cotton’s experiences rising the ranks have mirrored Rae’s (also a native of South L.A.) — they were both often the youngest, one of few women and the sole Black person in the room — a perspective which will prove invaluable as she contributes to the company’s mission of creating new pathways for Black creatives and other people of color.
In her new role as chief of staff, Cotton assumes an instrumental position on Hoorae’s executive team, working with each department head to streamline procedures and enhance collaboration and communication between Hoorae, Raedio and ColorCreative. Cotton will also serve as an adviser and confidant to both Rae as the CEO and the entire executive team, acting as a sounding board for ideas before bringing those visions to life through planning and managing.
