Los Angeles based producer Effie T. Brown received a degree in film production and theater from Loyola Marymount University before going on to participate in Film Independent’s (formerly IFP/Los Angeles) Project Involve, an intensive fellowship program for people of color, who are seeking a career in the film industry. There she received an invaluable introduction to the film industry and quickly worked her way up through the ranks to become the Director of Development for Tim Burton Productions in 1995.
Eager to try her hand at producing, she landed assignments as Line Producer on feature films including Desert Blue (1998), starring Kate Hudson and Christina Ricci; But I’m a Cheerleader (1999), starring Natasha Lyonne; and Things You Can Tell Just By Looking at Her (2000), starring Glenn Close, Cameron Diaz, and Holly Hunter. Brown would soon take on the role of Producer on critically acclaimed, awarding-winning feature projects from HBO Films, including Stranger Inside (directed by Cheryl Dunye, 2001, World Premiere at Sundance Film Festival); Real Women Have Curves (directed by Patricia Cardosa, 2002, winner of Sundance Film Festival’s Audience Award and Special Jury Prize for Ensemble Performance); and Everyday People (2004, Jim McKay). She also executive produced, in association with Sony Screen Gems and Pathe International, In the Cut (2003, directed by Jane Campion).