TraceyEdmonds has been appointed president of Our Stories Films, the African-Americancomedy studio announced by the Weinstein Company (TWC) and BET founder Robert LJohnson's RLJ companies in July.

Edmondswill oversee studio operations and the overall vision, sourcing and shepherdingof projects from development to production. She is expected to announce a teamof executives shortly.

Edmondshas broad entertainemnt experience in features, television and music. Ten yearsago she founded Edmonds Entertainment Group, and the company's first featurewas Soul Food, which grossed more than$40m and spawned a triple-platinum soundtrack and a Showtime television seriesof the same name.

Herindependent film production company e² filmworks produced Hav Plenty, which was released by Miramax in 1998, and PUNKS. She has also produced television for BET.

"Fora long time, the African-American creative community has wanted to have astudio where greenlight authority rests with an African-American," Johnsonsaid adding: "I'm excited that Tracey has chosen to become a part of thisventure; her track record and creative abilities will insure that the visionbecomes a success."

"Traceyis the ideal choice, and we're thrilled that she will be heading up OurStories," Harvey Weinstein added.

Edmondsis currently in production on the romantic comedy Good Luck Chuck starring Jessica Alba and Dane Cook for Lionsgate. She hasfeatures set up at Disney, Fox Searchlight, Columbia and Universal.

OurStories is headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in New York City. Titleswill be theatrically distributed by TWC's Dimension Films and on DVD by GeniusProducts.

JPMorgan Chase has committed to financing the venture with up to $175m underterms to be negotiated.