Cue Queens
Los Angeles, California | Series
Documentary, Sport
CUE QUEENS crisscrosses the world to tell the stories of four generations of pool players, from the founders of the world’s first women’s professional tour to the reigning world champions & the teen prodigies pushing the sport to its highest level.
Cue Queens
Los Angeles, California | Series
Documentary, Sport
1 Campaigns | California, United States
110 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
$38,822
Goal: $50,000 for production
CUE QUEENS crisscrosses the world to tell the stories of four generations of pool players, from the founders of the world’s first women’s professional tour to the reigning world champions & the teen prodigies pushing the sport to its highest level.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Welcome to the World of Women's Billiards.
CUE QUEENS will bring you the stories that transcend what you think you know about billiards to reveal the complexity of the sport, the personal sacrifices that lead to greatness, and the money that controls the players’ dreams.
Cue Queens is a documentary series currently in early production. We need your help to film with our featured Queens at home and on the road as we watch them compete and build their careers. We will film throughout 2025 and 2026.
Please scroll down to read more about the project and read about our amazing INCENTIVES (rewards for pledging at different levels) listed on the right of the page that we hope will encourage you to support the making of the first series about the professional women in billiards.
By clicking on the page links above, you can find out more about our TEAM and what the funds will be used for on our WISHLIST and follow our UPDATES.
Why make this documentary now?
The popularity of international billiards is at an all-time high, with more than 200 million people playing recreationally worldwide and tens of millions of fans attending massive tournaments in person and streaming the professional tours from anywhere in the world.
Pool, Carom Billiards, Snooker, Heyball; there are many types of tables and specific disciplines that fall under the umbrella of "Cue Sports" or Billiards. Pool IS a sport and it is having a worldwide HEYday. Yet, you won't find pool in the Olympics or on any major broadcasting outlet in the U.S. We will change that.
The History
The history of the professional women has not yet been told, but it is key to how billiards has become globally popular. We dig into the archives to bring you the stories of the trailblazers who demanded their place at the table, including Masako Katsura, the "First Lady of Billiards" who in the 1950s was the first woman to compete in an international billiards tournament, and Mandy Fisher, the English snooker champion who was the first woman to play billiards on TV in the 1980s.
As movies like "The Color of Money" (1986) popularized male players and the gambling lifestyle, the women pursued another dream: "Clean Pool" (New York Times), a lifestyle of athleticism and skill, played for tournament winnings and glory.
Players like Ewa Mataya Laurance and Vicky Paski and Billie Billing and Jeanette Lee are the athletes and entertainers that changed the face of pool in America-- bringing it out of the smoky pool halls where men drank, gambled and dominated - and into the swanky arenas and onto TV (notably with the ESPN Classic tour that ran from 1991-2012).
NOW is the time to turn the top women players into household names by paying proper tribute to the sport and its history.
The Veterans keeping the dream alive
CUE QUEENS has secured unprecedented access to the top women playing today. We go behind the scenes with the Women's Professional Billiards Association's most decorated athletes, including Allison Fisher and Loree Jon (Jones) Brown and Kelly Fisher, to reveal the never-ending hustle of their personal and professional lives as they chase international glory.
Learn how the ‘touring pros’, including popular players like Emily Duddy and WPBA Vice President Brittany Bryant, have build their careers and brands, while juggling other jobs and family expectations, all while industry titans and international power brokers grapple over how to get cue sports into the Olympics. Are the power brokers looking out for the players' interests?
Even as this current field of professional women proves time and again that they can compete right alongside with and BEAT their male counterparts, they still have to scramble so much harder to make a true living doing the same thing. Prize payouts are not equal for women and men. Further, women are shut out of some of the biggest events. But when women compete, the fans turn out because they are the most popular characters, followed by millions on social media and known by sponsors to be huge draws.
For example, the Mosconi Cup has been one of pool's biggest events of the year since 1994 with large payouts. It is a raucously entertaining 4-day tournament pitting Team USA vs. Team Europe. In its first year, Allison Fisher (England) & Franziska Stark (Germany) played on Team Europe and Jeanette Lee & Vivian Villareal played for Team USA. It was a huge success. So, why have women been excluded from the teams ever since?
These Queens are world-class athletes are due an equal paycheck!
Standing on the shoulders of the giants that have come before them yet pushing the barriers of endurance and skill, these rising stars are redefining the possibilities of the women's tour. Many got their start playing pool during COVID, learning from YouTube videos or sequestered with only a family pool table for sport. Others challenged parental expectations or had to leave their families behind to immigrate for the opportunity to pursue their dream.
These Queens are showing a whole new generation how challenging, fun and entertaining professional pool can be.
Project Status
We have already captured footage at the 2024 WPBA Tour Championship in December 2024. We have also traveled to North & South Carolina to get a look inside the home lives of some of the greatest women players of all time, with Hall of Famers Allison Fisher & Ewa Mataya Laurance. This shooting stop included a round table discussion with Allison, Ewa and fellow BCA Hall of Famer, Gerda Hofstatter Gregerson.
Director/Producer Ashley Archer Tindall and Cinematographer Haley Saunders grabbed some outstanding shots of Allison making outstanding shots!
Our NEXT stop will be an exciting LIVE event on June 13th at the historic Amsterdam Billiards Club in NYC's East Village where we will also film another round of interviews with retired and current players.
If you're in the NYC area, see our website at CueQueens.film/event for tickets to this once in a lifetime chance to meet and mingle with these history making stars of women's billiards!
Your generous donations will allow us to take this show even further! Our goal is to travel to more WPBA tournaments in the United States AND most significantly we need to travel abroad for international competitions.
This campaign is only the first step!
POOL is a GLOBAL phenomenon and this story can't be fully told unless we can get to where the action is in the U.K., Europe, China, Vietnam, the Phillipines and even Australia! If we can surpass our goal here by 25%, we can take the crew on one international location shoot. If we double this goal, we could make two or possibly more. Help the CUE QUEENS catch the action in ASIA!
Special Thanks
In addition to the players and their families that we are filming with,
we are grateful for the start-up support and donated items from the following:
Brunswick Billiards (Nick Baron)
Olhausen Billiards (Dan Bourget)
Dean Roeseler (aka Dr. Pool)
The WPBA Board
Lonnie Fox
Samm Diep
Sterling Gaming (Matt Carter)
Big Family Custom Creations/Game On
Cue Pocket
Amsterdam Billiards Club, New York, NY
Taom Billiards
Jacoby Cue & Case
JFlowers Cues
Shore Thing Billiards, Myrtle Beach, SC
Felicia Livingston
Mobygratis Music
The project is in honor of Heather Rogers.
It was her curiosity and outrage that sparked the idea for the project and brought us all together.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
TRAVEL - Airfare & Lodging
Costs $5,500
Bringing a whole crew around the world racks up! We can accept loans of air miles or lodging. Contact us to be a dedicated travel sponsor.
TRAVEL - Rentals Cars, Gas, Visas, Food, etc.
Costs $2,500
With your help, in 2025 we can follow top players at home & to events around the U.S. and to Europe and Asia.
CREW & EQUIPMENT
Costs $32,000
Filmmaking is a team sport! We can't do this without our Cinematographers & Sound Recordists and a lot, a lot of equipment!
POST PRODUCTION
Costs $10,000
Editing, Music & Archival Licensing for our proof-of-concept cut to pitch to broadcasters.
Share this update!
About This Team
Ashley Archer Tindall
Director/Producer
Tindall has produced independent and commissioned documentaries for National Geographic, HBO and PBS. Her crowd-funded independent feature-length documentary 27 Months: Journeys in the Peace Corps followed the transformations of three Peace Corps volunteers in Azerbaijan, Liberia & the Philippines. She is also a screenwriter, an archival producer and a competitive rower & fierce advocate for women’s sports.
Kim “The Cooler” Shaw
Producer
Born on a pool table in her uncle’s pub in England, Shaw became a world-class snooker player at age 16 and reached the final of the 1995 Ladies World Championship at 26. In 2001, Kim journeyed across the Atlantic to join the WPBA 9-ball tour and was nominated ‘Rookie of the Year’. Now retired from competitive play and living in North Carolina, Kim keeps her finger on the pulse of the sport and will forever be in love with it.
Julie Edwards
Producer
Edwards is a BAFTA-nominated director & producer based in the UK. In 30 years at the BBC, she has directed dozens of TV episodes including the beloved dramas Casualty & EastEnders, plus the wildly popular Footballers’ Wives providing insight into sports stars’ family dramas, sacrifices & so many juicy stories. She is also writing a screenplay set in the world of international billiards.
Lita Lopez
Impact Producer/Crowdfunding Campaign Manager
A Texican by birth but based in L.A. since 2006, Lopez is an award-winning screenwriter & proud SAG-AFTRA actor. Her favorite on-screen roles include Good Girls Revolt (Amazon), Ratched (Netflix), Henry Danger (Nickelodeon) & her writer/producer debut short, The Good Balloon. She joined the American Poolplayers Association league in 2014 & is training hard to make a mark on the SoCal Women’s 9-Ball Tour.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Welcome to the World of Women's Billiards.
CUE QUEENS will bring you the stories that transcend what you think you know about billiards to reveal the complexity of the sport, the personal sacrifices that lead to greatness, and the money that controls the players’ dreams.
Cue Queens is a documentary series currently in early production. We need your help to film with our featured Queens at home and on the road as we watch them compete and build their careers. We will film throughout 2025 and 2026.
Please scroll down to read more about the project and read about our amazing INCENTIVES (rewards for pledging at different levels) listed on the right of the page that we hope will encourage you to support the making of the first series about the professional women in billiards.
By clicking on the page links above, you can find out more about our TEAM and what the funds will be used for on our WISHLIST and follow our UPDATES.
Why make this documentary now?
The popularity of international billiards is at an all-time high, with more than 200 million people playing recreationally worldwide and tens of millions of fans attending massive tournaments in person and streaming the professional tours from anywhere in the world.
Pool, Carom Billiards, Snooker, Heyball; there are many types of tables and specific disciplines that fall under the umbrella of "Cue Sports" or Billiards. Pool IS a sport and it is having a worldwide HEYday. Yet, you won't find pool in the Olympics or on any major broadcasting outlet in the U.S. We will change that.
The History
The history of the professional women has not yet been told, but it is key to how billiards has become globally popular. We dig into the archives to bring you the stories of the trailblazers who demanded their place at the table, including Masako Katsura, the "First Lady of Billiards" who in the 1950s was the first woman to compete in an international billiards tournament, and Mandy Fisher, the English snooker champion who was the first woman to play billiards on TV in the 1980s.
As movies like "The Color of Money" (1986) popularized male players and the gambling lifestyle, the women pursued another dream: "Clean Pool" (New York Times), a lifestyle of athleticism and skill, played for tournament winnings and glory.
Players like Ewa Mataya Laurance and Vicky Paski and Billie Billing and Jeanette Lee are the athletes and entertainers that changed the face of pool in America-- bringing it out of the smoky pool halls where men drank, gambled and dominated - and into the swanky arenas and onto TV (notably with the ESPN Classic tour that ran from 1991-2012).
NOW is the time to turn the top women players into household names by paying proper tribute to the sport and its history.
The Veterans keeping the dream alive
CUE QUEENS has secured unprecedented access to the top women playing today. We go behind the scenes with the Women's Professional Billiards Association's most decorated athletes, including Allison Fisher and Loree Jon (Jones) Brown and Kelly Fisher, to reveal the never-ending hustle of their personal and professional lives as they chase international glory.
Learn how the ‘touring pros’, including popular players like Emily Duddy and WPBA Vice President Brittany Bryant, have build their careers and brands, while juggling other jobs and family expectations, all while industry titans and international power brokers grapple over how to get cue sports into the Olympics. Are the power brokers looking out for the players' interests?
Even as this current field of professional women proves time and again that they can compete right alongside with and BEAT their male counterparts, they still have to scramble so much harder to make a true living doing the same thing. Prize payouts are not equal for women and men. Further, women are shut out of some of the biggest events. But when women compete, the fans turn out because they are the most popular characters, followed by millions on social media and known by sponsors to be huge draws.
For example, the Mosconi Cup has been one of pool's biggest events of the year since 1994 with large payouts. It is a raucously entertaining 4-day tournament pitting Team USA vs. Team Europe. In its first year, Allison Fisher (England) & Franziska Stark (Germany) played on Team Europe and Jeanette Lee & Vivian Villareal played for Team USA. It was a huge success. So, why have women been excluded from the teams ever since?
These Queens are world-class athletes are due an equal paycheck!
Standing on the shoulders of the giants that have come before them yet pushing the barriers of endurance and skill, these rising stars are redefining the possibilities of the women's tour. Many got their start playing pool during COVID, learning from YouTube videos or sequestered with only a family pool table for sport. Others challenged parental expectations or had to leave their families behind to immigrate for the opportunity to pursue their dream.
These Queens are showing a whole new generation how challenging, fun and entertaining professional pool can be.
Project Status
We have already captured footage at the 2024 WPBA Tour Championship in December 2024. We have also traveled to North & South Carolina to get a look inside the home lives of some of the greatest women players of all time, with Hall of Famers Allison Fisher & Ewa Mataya Laurance. This shooting stop included a round table discussion with Allison, Ewa and fellow BCA Hall of Famer, Gerda Hofstatter Gregerson.
Director/Producer Ashley Archer Tindall and Cinematographer Haley Saunders grabbed some outstanding shots of Allison making outstanding shots!
Our NEXT stop will be an exciting LIVE event on June 13th at the historic Amsterdam Billiards Club in NYC's East Village where we will also film another round of interviews with retired and current players.
If you're in the NYC area, see our website at CueQueens.film/event for tickets to this once in a lifetime chance to meet and mingle with these history making stars of women's billiards!
Your generous donations will allow us to take this show even further! Our goal is to travel to more WPBA tournaments in the United States AND most significantly we need to travel abroad for international competitions.
This campaign is only the first step!
POOL is a GLOBAL phenomenon and this story can't be fully told unless we can get to where the action is in the U.K., Europe, China, Vietnam, the Phillipines and even Australia! If we can surpass our goal here by 25%, we can take the crew on one international location shoot. If we double this goal, we could make two or possibly more. Help the CUE QUEENS catch the action in ASIA!
Special Thanks
In addition to the players and their families that we are filming with,
we are grateful for the start-up support and donated items from the following:
Brunswick Billiards (Nick Baron)
Olhausen Billiards (Dan Bourget)
Dean Roeseler (aka Dr. Pool)
The WPBA Board
Lonnie Fox
Samm Diep
Sterling Gaming (Matt Carter)
Big Family Custom Creations/Game On
Cue Pocket
Amsterdam Billiards Club, New York, NY
Taom Billiards
Jacoby Cue & Case
JFlowers Cues
Shore Thing Billiards, Myrtle Beach, SC
Felicia Livingston
Mobygratis Music
The project is in honor of Heather Rogers.
It was her curiosity and outrage that sparked the idea for the project and brought us all together.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
TRAVEL - Airfare & Lodging
Costs $5,500
Bringing a whole crew around the world racks up! We can accept loans of air miles or lodging. Contact us to be a dedicated travel sponsor.
TRAVEL - Rentals Cars, Gas, Visas, Food, etc.
Costs $2,500
With your help, in 2025 we can follow top players at home & to events around the U.S. and to Europe and Asia.
CREW & EQUIPMENT
Costs $32,000
Filmmaking is a team sport! We can't do this without our Cinematographers & Sound Recordists and a lot, a lot of equipment!
POST PRODUCTION
Costs $10,000
Editing, Music & Archival Licensing for our proof-of-concept cut to pitch to broadcasters.
Share this update!
About This Team
Ashley Archer Tindall
Director/Producer
Tindall has produced independent and commissioned documentaries for National Geographic, HBO and PBS. Her crowd-funded independent feature-length documentary 27 Months: Journeys in the Peace Corps followed the transformations of three Peace Corps volunteers in Azerbaijan, Liberia & the Philippines. She is also a screenwriter, an archival producer and a competitive rower & fierce advocate for women’s sports.
Kim “The Cooler” Shaw
Producer
Born on a pool table in her uncle’s pub in England, Shaw became a world-class snooker player at age 16 and reached the final of the 1995 Ladies World Championship at 26. In 2001, Kim journeyed across the Atlantic to join the WPBA 9-ball tour and was nominated ‘Rookie of the Year’. Now retired from competitive play and living in North Carolina, Kim keeps her finger on the pulse of the sport and will forever be in love with it.
Julie Edwards
Producer
Edwards is a BAFTA-nominated director & producer based in the UK. In 30 years at the BBC, she has directed dozens of TV episodes including the beloved dramas Casualty & EastEnders, plus the wildly popular Footballers’ Wives providing insight into sports stars’ family dramas, sacrifices & so many juicy stories. She is also writing a screenplay set in the world of international billiards.
Lita Lopez
Impact Producer/Crowdfunding Campaign Manager
A Texican by birth but based in L.A. since 2006, Lopez is an award-winning screenwriter & proud SAG-AFTRA actor. Her favorite on-screen roles include Good Girls Revolt (Amazon), Ratched (Netflix), Henry Danger (Nickelodeon) & her writer/producer debut short, The Good Balloon. She joined the American Poolplayers Association league in 2014 & is training hard to make a mark on the SoCal Women’s 9-Ball Tour.