Rachel Watanabe-Batton is a producer and president of Contradiction & Struggle, a production company dedicated to telling stories that reframe historical and cultural understanding and connecting film and television creators with capital, causes and global audiences. Watanabe-Batton_x0019_s development slate includes projects with legendary director Julie Dash (Daughters of the Dust) _x0013_ noir thriller limited series Cypher and documentary feature Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl, about Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, award-winning chef who used food as a vehicle for activism and anthology series, 1850, Rachel co-created with writer Lara Stapleton, set in New Orleans, about the mixing and migration that made America.



Watanabe-Batton is Chair of the Board of Directors of Manhattan Neighborhood Network, the largest media access center in the country, and serves on the Board of Directors of New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT), (Chair) and Women Independent Producers (WIP co-founder). She served 9 years on