powerful
TALENTED
excellence
amazing |
WENDY BATTLES |
ANDREA SPERLING
|
NICOLE CONN
|
ILENE CHAIKEN
|
JANE BERLINER |
ANNE STOCKWELL
|
ROSE TROCHE |
ANDREA MEYERSON
|
GUINEVERE TURNER |
MARIA
LYNN
|
|
|
10 Amazing
Gay Women
in
Showbiz
...
who you need to
know! |
By Michelle Anderson
For the
past three years we,
POWER UP members, have
voted on the Most
Powerful Gay Women in
Show Business. And year
after year, it was
pretty much the same
names over and over
again. The only real
horse race after the
third year was who was
going to be number one
and two; the Queen of
Nice, Rosie O'Donnell or
the new Queen of Daytime
Talk, Ellen DeGeneres.
|
|
Producer Andrea Sperling at the
opening night of Outfest 2004
screening of D.E.B.S. |
As for the rest
of the list, we saw the same
names and faces each year. Not
even the odds-makers of Vegas
wanted any of this action. So,
the powers that be in the
hallowed halls of POWER UP
decided a little shaking up was
needed.
Earlier this year, emails popped
up on our computers asking us to
nominate our lesbians sisters
working on a regular basis in
the trenches of entertainment -
aptly titled, 10 Amazing Gay
Women in Showbiz who you need to
know. The response was
overwhelming! From across the
country, New York to LA, names
poured in. In fact, there were
forty-seven women nominated and
twenty-eight had over three
nominations. With a final list
compiled, a committee of POWER
UP members reviewed and selected
the 10 Gay Women whom we should
all know and who we all want to
know. From groundbreaking
publishers to producers, actors,
and writers, the list is almost
as impressive as the women on
it.
Before this
year's list is unveiled, a
little history lesson is in
order. The insurgence of a Top
10 List is not the work of the
late-night king, David
Letterman. On the contrary, it
was Premiere Magazine who back
in 1989 premiered the first-ever
Top 10 List. Since the
inaugural list, everyone and
their Godmother have some sort
of list giving credit to
whomever for whatever they do.
But no list has had the
notoriety as that of POWER
UP'S. Don't forget, it was the
cast of Saturday Night Live and
host
Ellen DeGeneres that
introduced POWER UP and the Top
10 Most Powerful Gay Women in
Entertainment to the viewing
public back in 2001.
The list has been
published in multiple magazines
and Governor Howard Dean
contacted those listed for
support when he was running for
the nomination of the Democratic
Party.
This year we start the new list
10 AMAZING GAY WOMEN IN
SHOWBIZ. These women
exemplify excellence in their
contribution to the media,
entertainment and arts. So many
women make a difference in our
lives, from reaching out, to
setting an example of
excellence. In 2004 we honor
those women who in their daily
lives have set the standard for
all of us to see.
And now, the
first-ever 10 Amazing Women in
Showbiz. Webster's Dictionary
defines AMAZE or the verb
AMAZING - 'to show or cause
astonishment' and that's exactly
what this year's list is, a
group of women astonishing us
day after day, year after year,
with their talent.
! |
IN ALPHABETICAL
ORDER:
WENDY BATTLES - Writer, Co-Executive Producer, Editor.
JANE BERLINER - Producer, Manager, Philanthropist. .
ILENE CHAIKEN - Writer, Producer, Creator.
NICOLE CONN
- Writer, Producer, Director,
Documentarian.
MARIA
LYNN
- Executive.
ANDREA MEYERSON - Events Producer, Documentarian.
ANDREA SPERLING - Producer.
ANNE STOCKWELL - Writer, Filmmaker, Editor.
ROSE TROCHE
- Writer, Director, Producer.
GUINEVERE TURNER - Actor, Writer, Director, Producer.
READ ABOUT
THESE WOMEN IN THE SUMMER POWER UP
QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER
|
