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What an interesting five months it’s been for movie producer Effie Brown. 

With what started out as an authentic gut reaction to having diversity “mansplained” and “whitesplained” to her by Oscar-winner Matt Damon on Project Greenlight, Brown sparked a much-needed national conversation about how women, especially women of color, are treated in the good old boy’s club called Hollywood.

Thankfully, in spite of all that HBO drama, Brown continues to shine and be on the up, especially with news that she has been tapped to join Empire creator Lee Daniels’ production company. Her new role will be the VP in Production and Development for TV and Film for Lee Daniels Entertainment—and Brown can’t wait to get started.

“I’m extremely excited. In my opinion, Lee Daniels is a cultural icon…I’m really happy to be here because part of Lee Daniels’ brand is that he does value diversity in front of as well as behind the camera,” the Dear White People producer told The Hollywood Reporter.

One of her first projects will be executive producing the untitled new musical drama series starring Queen Latifah and Benjamin Bratt series about the trials and tribulations of a new girl singing group. In addition to working on television and film for Daniels, Brown will also “[explore] new media opportunities and new platforms like virtual reality.”

“We want to be content creators and producers and facilitators with an eye toward inclusion…We’re looking not only for projects for Lee, but we want to grow the company with directors, producers and projects that we can facilitate towards the market,” she told THR.

And it’s this type of innovation that has Daniels “elated” to have her on board.

“What she brings to the table in terms of creativity and tenacity is unrivaled and we cannot imagine anyone better for this position,” the Oscar-nominated director declared.

Brown is not new to the movie-making game. During her impressive indie film career thus far, she was worked on dozens of movies including producing the films Real Women Have Curves, But I’m a Cheerleader and In The Cut.

Congrats Effie!

[SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter]

RELATED LINKS:

HBO Screws Up Again, Labels Effie Brown’s ‘Project Greenlight’ Episode ‘Hot Ghetto Mess’

Lee Daniels Reads Hollywood Producers For Filth For Not Having Enough Writers Of Color

Matt Damon Apologizes For His Diversity Comments on ‘Project Greenlight’

For 2024’s iteration of MadameNoire and HelloBeautiful’s annual series Women to Know, we knew we wanted to celebrate the people who help make the joys of film and television possible. To create art is to create magic. This year, we spotlight Hollywood Executive’s changing the face of cinema.