Hillman Grad is a full service media and production company founded in 2018 by Emmy® Award-winning writer, producer, and actor, Lena Waithe, and led by CEO, Rishi Rajani. Since its inception, Hillman Grad has grown to include five divisions across TV/Film, Books, Podcasts, Branded Content and Mentorship–quickly rising to become one of the most prominent companies in entertainment.
We have built a platform to empower underrepresented artists by amplifying and celebrating the stories and voices of diverse, historically marginalized communities across all industries.
Hillman Grad Productions, the company’s film and television arm, is home to the producers behind Showtime’s most streamed drama series, "The Chi", BET’s "Twenties", Universal’s "Queen & Slim", Sundance award-winner "The Forty-Year-Old Version", and more. Current producorial projects include the Emmy-nominated documentary film "Being Mary Tyler Moore", which held its world premiere at this year’s SXSW Festival and debuted on HBO in May 2023; Focus Features and AV Rockwell's "A Thousand And One", which received the Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival Awards, and was released theatrically in March 2023; Magnolia Picture’s "Kokomo City", which received the NEXT Audience Award and NEXT Innovator Award at Sundance 2023, and released theatrically in July 2023; and Disney+’s Chang Can Dunk, which premiered in March 2023. Additionally, in November 2022, Hillman Grad joined the producing team for Broadway’s "Ain’t No Mo’", which opened at the Belasco Theatre in New York City in December 2022 and was nominated for Best Play at the 2023 Tony Awards.