17 Actresses Who Started Their Own Production Companies

Company: Vikarious Productions

Projects: Euphoria

You may have seen the trailer for Vikander’s upcoming thriller Euphoria without realizing that the Tomb Raider actress is responsible for its creation. Vikander and agent Charles Collier set up Vikarious Productions in 2016 and selected Euphoria, which has a female director, as its launching project. The actress told The Hollywood Reporter last year that she was looking for her next project: “I’m humbled to do what it takes to put one of these films together. I’m reading a lot, and working hard to find our next story."

Company: Denver & Delilah Productions

Projects: Atomic Blonde, Gringo, Mindhunter

Theron, with producing partners Beth Kono and AJ Dix, creates projects both for film and TV, focusing on stories that might be otherwise overlooked. The actress is responsible for David Fincher’s highly bingeable Netflix series Mindhunter, as well as her spy flick Atomic Blonde. She’s now working on another Netflix series, Brain on Fire, starring Chloe Grace Moretz, and a comedy film called Flarsky.

Company: Flower Films

Projects: Never Been Kissed, Charlie’s Angels, Whip It, How to Be Single

Barrymore founded her company back in 1995 alongside Nancy Juvonen and has since produced almost every project she’s starred in, including her recent Netflix series, Santa Clarita Diet. Barrymore also produced her 2009 directorial debut Whip It, which featured Ellen Page as a roller derby player. Flower Films’ latest effort, Freak Show, will be released in theaters this month.

Company: Brownstone Productions

Projects: Pitch Perfect, The Surrogates, Too Far From Home

Banks and her husband Max Handelman run Brownstone Productions, the company responsible for the Pitch Perfect franchise. The company regularly focuses on female-driven projects, including the upcoming film White Girl Problems and Charlie’s Angels reboot, which Banks is directing. With the recent release of Pitch Perfect 3, the series has hit the $500 million mark at the box office.

Company: UnbeliEVAble Entertainment

Projects: Telenovela, My Daughter’s Quinceañera, Lucky Boy

Longoria has been focused on bringing more Latino characters to the screen for several years now with her company UnbeliEVAble Entertainment. Last year Longoria partnered with Kerry Washington and her Simpson Street company to produce 24-7, a workplace comedy film that will come out via Universal. Longoria is also developing Lucky Boy, a TV adaptation of Shanthi Sekaran’s novel.

Company: Rebel Park Productions

Projects: TBA

Arterton has said that she set up her all-female production company "to create more opportunities for female directors and female writers." The British actress hopes to make a change by developing her own film projects and ensuring that more women are employed behind the scenes. She’s reportedly working on two projects, a historical drama and a comedy.

Company: Fedora Films

Projects: The Client List, Ghost Whisperer

After making a name for herself as an actress in the ‘90s, Love Hewitt took matters into her own hands and launched production company Fedora Films. The company has produced all of the actress’s TV work since, including Lifetime series The Client List.

Company: Simpson Street

Projects: Confirmation, A Perfect Mother

Washington’s production company is named for the street where the Scandal star’s mom grew up. The company signed a deal with ABC in 2016 following its first project, HBO movie Confirmation. Next up, Simpson Street is adapting the novel A Perfect Mother, with Washington herself attached to star, and producing Goldie Vance, a detective film with a female teen lead.

Company: Is or Isn't Entertainment

Projects: The Comeback, Web Therapy, Who Do You Think You Are?

Kudrow founded Is or Isn't Entertainment with frequent collaborator Dan Bucatinsky in 2003; it was behind her Showtime series The Comeback, which won her several Emmys. The duo also created Web Therapy, a popular online series that eventually ran for four seasons on Showtime. Last year, the company signed a first-look deal with Sony Pictures TV Studios, and they are currently working on new projects for TV.

Company: Daisy Chain Productions

Projects: Stealing Silver

Game of Thrones' Williams launched her own company, Daisy Chain Productions, in 2017 alongside actor Bill Milner and producer Dom Santry. Their goal is to produce projects in the U.K. that focus on youthful stories and star up-and-coming talent. Williams herself starred in their first project, a short film called Stealing Silver. She told Screen Daily, “I hope to give other creatives the opportunities that I was lucky enough to receive at the beginning of my career. I have previously had the joy of working with female directors on a number of occasions. The industry is moving and I couldn’t be more excited for my future within it."

Company: LuckyChap Entertainment

Projects: I, Tonya, Shattered Glass, Dreamland

Robbie could be up for a Best Actress Oscar for I, Tonya, but did you know she was also a producer on the film? Her company is currently developing a TV series called Shattered Glass, as well as a Hulu comedy titled Dollface. Robbie recently told The Hollywood Reporter, “I've spent the past ten years of my life on sets, and after a while, it's like, 'I want to have a say when I read a script that I really love, like I, Tonya. I don't want it to just be up to chance that it goes in the direction that I believe it should go."

Company: handsomecharlie Films

Projects: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Jane Got a Gun, No Strings Attached

Portman got her start as a producer nearly a decade ago when she brought Hesher to the screen. Since then, the actress has helmed several of her own projects. Back in 2009, Portman told Entertainment Weekly, “I started the production company because I wanted to have the ability to create my own projects and support filmmakers I believe in. Also, I wasn’t always finding the roles I wanted to work on.”

Company: Flavor Unit Entertainment

Projects: Scream, Deuces, Beauty Shop, Bessie

Queen Latifah has been in the production business since 1995, when she and Shakim Compere founded Flavor Unit Entertainment. The actress took roles both on and off-screen in films like Beauty Shop and Just Wright, and in recent years the company has focused on developing TV shows like Scream and films like Bessie, which was directed by Mudbound helmer Dee Rees. The company was also behind The Queen Latifah Show, which aired from 2013 to 2015.

Company: Pacific Standard/Hello Sunshine

Projects: Gone Girl, Home Again, Luckiest Girl Alive, Big Little Lies

Witherspoon set up Pacific Standard a few years ago to focus on female-driven stories, particularly those adapted from novels, like Gone Girl. She’s since launched Hello Sunshine, a sister production company, which is currently adapting Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and Something in the Water for the screen. And if you're a Big Little Lies fan, you'll probably know she produced the Golden Globe–winning HBO series.

Company: The Dollhouse

Projects: Eagle Hawk, Seriously Red, Girls in Hotels

Krew Boylan, Rose Byrne, Jessica Carrera, Shannon Murphy, and Gracie Otto founded The Dollhouse as an all-female independent production company. The company’s goal is to produce stories about women made by both experienced and emerging filmmakers. Byrne told ELLE.com of its creation, “It was a really exciting meeting between all the diverse, brilliant friends of mine in Australia. It happened very organically, out of conversation and creativity, and wanting to explore and develop our own stuff.

Company: Ventanarosa Productions

Projects: Frida, Ugly Betty

Hayek started her own production company in 1999 and has since worked on numerous projects. Her first was Mexican film El Coronel No Tiene Quien Le Escriba, based on a Gabriel García Marquez novella, followed by Frida, which Hayek produced in 2002. Hayek was also instrumental in bringing Ugly Betty to American TV, adapting it from a Colombian show called Yo Soy Betty, La Fea.

Company: Fortis Films

Projects: Practical Magic, Hope Floats, Miss Congeniality

As an actress, Bullock continually aims for roles that spotlight women’s stories in a new way (see: Gravity). So you're unlikely to be surprised that she's also helmed some of her seminal projects, like Practical Magic and Miss Congeniality. She continues to produce much of her own work, including an untitled comedy she signed on to in 2017.