Queen Latifah to Produce Films By & About Women

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By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act

Queen Latifah has teamed up with actresses Jessica Chastain and Juliette Binoche, and director Catherine Hardwicke to launch a production company called We Do It Together (WDIT), which will focus on producing films and TV programming by and about women.

The non-profit company is planning to develop a slate of “inspiring” films that they hope will help ensure future opportunities for known and emerging women voices within the industry.

The We Do It Together (WDIT) advisory board includes Chastain, Latifah, Binoche and Harwicke along with director Amma Asante; Henry Louis Gates; actress Freida Pinto; director Hany Abu-Assad; actress Zhang Ziyi; director Marielle Heller; director Katia Lund; director Małgorzata Szumowska; actress Alysia Reiner;and director Haifaa Al-Mansour.

The board of directors includes producer Albert Berger; Gersh Agency’s Sandra Lucchesi; Mosaic manager Paul Nelson; producer-director Carol Polakoff; producer Shelby Stone; producer-philanthropist Chiara Tilesi; and writer-producer Hanna Weg.

The first film will be announced in May at the Cannes International Film Festival.

WDIT will raise capital from grants, governments, corporate sponsors and individual donations to invest in the production of films. The proceeds will be reinvested in the company to create a self-sustaining organisation to invest in additional films.

The organisation is scheduled to participate at the United Nations’ Third Annual Power of Collaboration Global Summit on February 29.