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The boys are getting behind the new “girls club” in
Tinseltown. Wow, boys and girls playing together the way
that would make our parents and teachers proud.
And there’s plenty to be proud about. With the blessing of
their guy friends, the Professional Organization of Women in
Entertainment Reaching Up (POWER UP), the high-powered
coalition of entertainment industry players that has been
called “the lesbian answer to the ‘old boys’ club,’
” has created a buzz that is being heard coast to coast.
After announcing their organization in an ad in Daily
Variety on National Coming Out Day, POWER UP launched
December 2000 at a star-studded party with more than 300
attendees. In attendance were the group’s high-voltage
honorary board of directors, including two of Hollywood’s
leading gay men—Strand Releasing co-president Marcus Hu
and former talent manager Bill Melamed. These brothers have
united with their sisters to advance POWER UP’s mission to
promote the integration and visibility of gay women in
entertainment.
The organization has attracted a media blitz with stories in
more than three dozen publications and coverage on MSNBC,
the TV Guide Channel, and a host of Web sites, all leading
to an awareness that has brought in nearly 400 members to
date, many of them men. In June, POWER UP launched a chapter
in New York City, and again, the men were there in full
force.
And when POWER UP sponsored a fund-raising dinner party with
Queer as Folk stars Hal Sparks, Scott Lowell, and Sharon
Gless, it was men, namely community stalwarts John Robert
Mathena, Michael Forester, Steve Frankel, and Dan Ricketts
who stepped up to host the event.
“Standing side by side with these women is both exciting
and rewarding for Michael and me,” says Mathena, a vice
president with the Private Investment Counsel at Zurich
Scudder. “It’s an extension of a business and life model
used by generations of our mothers and fathers. Supporting
the causes important to us personally is, and always has
been, good business. It is vital for us to be good corporate
citizens. I’m fortunate to work for a firm that values the
contributions of the gay and lesbian community in our
economy.
“Next, we are hosting the Scudder VIP box at Staples for
POWER UP at a [Los Angeles] Sparks basketball game in
August,” adds Mathena.
So why are the guys coming out in support of the POWER
girls? “If you look at what their goals are, it’s pretty
amazing,” says Hu. “There are so few organizations for
women in the industry—let alone gay women in the
industry—and they have built a really good foundation of
members.”
While many men like Hu are involved in the group because
they admire what the group does for women, others are
involved because they appreciate the “can do” attitude
of POWER UP’s leadership and how it can benefit them as
members.
“I joined over the Internet,” says casting director and
founding member Patrick Baca of Nassif & Baca Casting.
“They’ve gotten so much press in such a small space of
time. That takes somebody with some real vision. You really
do have to take the bull by the horns in this town, because
nobody’s going to do it for you, instead of waiting for
the big boys to hand you that break, because you’ll wait
around forever. They’re going to do it on their own.”
And individuals are not the only ones to recognize the power
of networking with powerful gay gals. Heavy hitters like
Showtime have partnered with POWER UP on several events, and
recently a literary manager from the production and
management company of Zide/Perry Entertainment (American
Pie, Cats and Dogs) came courting the lesbian ladies.
“The women involved with POWER UP are of the professional
caliber that I am looking to represent,” explains Zide/Perry’s
Marc Hernandez. “I would be willing to consider
representing any of the writers involved with the group.”
Hernandez met with the POWER UP founders when the group was
just forming, and he said he was impressed with the
professionalism and he encountered. Willing to take a chance
on a fledgling organization, he donated promotional products
to the group for their launch party gift bags, including a
trial membership to a online show business information site
that he developed.
Successful ventures with the women of POWER UP are not
isolated incidents. Just ask one of the first advertisers to
put their gay dollars behind POWER UP's quarterly
newsletter—the male-dominated West Hollywood Orchestra
(WHO), which is conducted by POWER UP member Nan Washburn.
“Their support shows they have community spirit, and it
also shows they have good business sense,” says POWER
UP’s co-executive director and editor in chief of the
group’s quarterly newsletter, K. Pearson Brown. “All the
research on marketing to the gay community shows that
lesbians are a very loyal audience. Within days of the
quarterly being sent out, our advertisers reported they were
getting calls from readers.”
The West Hollywood Orchestra saw a new interest in their
concerts by one of their target audiences, affluent,
cultured gay women. And it was not just the advertisement in
the newsletter that earned them the attention but the power
of networking. The founders of the organization took a
special interest in helping the WHO because the orchestra
had been supportive of them.
While the women of POWER UP welcome and encourage the
support of their men friends, Melamed stresses there’s no
mistake that these sisters are doing it for themselves.
“I’m friends with the founders,” explains Melamed, a
former talent manager, now activist and entrepreneur, “and
given my Hollywood involvement and political involvement in
the community, they wanted me to be involved in their
honorary board of directors, and I agreed very quickly.
It’s great that men can show their support, but I don’t
think that POWER UP needs men in order to make it.”
POWER UP’s co-founder and executive director, Stacy
Codikow, says that the group wants men to participate not
because they need them to give the group clout but for
philosophical reasons.
“Our group believes in bringing everyone to the
table—men and women, gay and straight—because that’s
the world we live in,” says Codikow. “The men who have
joined us share our vision that integration is the key to
success for all of us. We don’t want to create a group of
exclusive lesbians that go off in a corner and make all
lesbian movies with all lesbian crews. We’re most
effective when we integrate, unite, and stand together.”
To prove their point about integration, POWER UP is awarding
two $10,000 film-making grants for short films this summer,
and the only criteria for applicants is that they are
members. There are no restrictions on content, and anyone
regardless of gender or sexual orientation is welcome to
apply. This policy of inclusiveness extends to POWER UP’s
other resources, like their résumé bank and job board, and
activities and events, including their monthly mixers,
seminars, panel discussions, and parties.
Just to show that POWER UP’s principals truly believe in
equal opportunity, call the office someday. You are likely
to hear the friendly male voice of POWER UP’s main man,
administrative assistant Josh Gloer, who succeeded other
straight men who have provided staff support to POWER UP.
Interestingly, two of POWER UP’s most successful
fund-raising events were the male-oriented premieres and
after-parties for Showtime’s Queer as Folk and Further
Tales of the City.
“Both premieres were packed with guys and gals and
everyone was having a great time,” states co-founder
Brown. “I have volunteered in the community for many years
working alongside some really special guys on committees at
HRC, GLAAD, and the [L.A.] Gay & Lesbian Center,” adds
co-founder Amy Shomer. “It only makes sense that they’d
want to participate in our exciting venture, too.”
And the excitement has only just begun. The inaugural year
of this fast-rising group will culminate next winter with
the POWER Premiere, a black-tie celebration and screening of
the short films made by the POWER UP grant recipients. The
evening will also include awards for men and women who have
made outstanding contributions to the visibility and
integration of gay women in entertainment.
POWER UP believes recognition for their good deeds is one
reason their boy buddies keep coming back. That, and the
friendships that form within the group.
A snapshot of this camaraderie occurred at a recent photo
shoot for a magazine that was doing a photo spread with
POWER UP. When asked to assemble a group of their members,
the group made sure that their male members were
represented. In the shot, you see one tall guy, head and
shoulders above the ladies. That is board member Melamed.
In the photographer’s studio between shots, Melamed and
his POWER UP gal pals danced to disco music and kidded
around like a big brother with his fun-loving sisters. A
scene that would surely make Mom and Dad proud.
“Be a lesbian. It’s fabulous,” proclaimed Melamed.
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