Women hope new organization will help them help Hollywood become more fair, less homophobic. 

Fed up with Hollywood’s ubiquitous glass ceilings and passive homophobia, a trio of gay women Oct. 11 launched a national networking organization for lesbians in the entertainment industry.

With over 200 membership applications, the Professional Organization of Women in Entertainment Reaching Up (Power Up) has already attracted several familiar Hollywood names to what promises to be one of the most prominent associations for Lesbians in the industry. “It seemed like it was just missing in Los Angeles, ” K. Pearson Brown of On the Scene Productions said. “It’s amazing that in this city, where there’s as many lesbians as there are, that there isn’t an organization already. But we wanted to do something involving some of the heavy hitters — women that actually do have some power in Hollywood.” Organizers secured a full-page ad announcing the arrival of Power Up in Variety’s ‘Gay Hollywood’ issue which fittingly hit newsstands Oct. 11 — National Coming Out Day.

The organization was founded by producer-writer Stacy Codikow (“Under the Hula Moon,” “Fatal Instinct,” “Hollywood Heartbreak”), Amy Shomer, live event and commercial producer, and Brown. “It’s a man’s world,” Codikow said. “The pay is not fair to begin with and gay women tend to take a back seat to heterosexual women in the field.” Codikow said they needed an organization where women could network and offer resources to those women who are very successful, as well as those just starting out. “We observed the power of positive images of gays in the media, and we realized that there are many successful gay women in all facets of the industry who could benefit from a support system,” said Codikow.

Its board of directors include such luminaries as: Jan Oxenberg, a producer (“Chicago Hope,” “Once and Again”); Lee Rose, a director (“Truth About Jane,” “It’s a Girl Thing”); Andrea Sperling, producer (“But I’m a Cheerleader,” “Prozac Nation”); Jehan F. Agrama, vice-chair (“Bold New World” and “Harmony Gold”), Jamie Babbit, director (“But I’m a Cheerleader,” “Popular”); Marcus Hu, (co-president, Strand Releasing); Debra Chasnoff, Academy Award Winning director (“It’s Elementary,” “Deadly Deception”); Leslie Belzberg, executive producer (“Honey I Shrunk the Kids,” “Coming to America”), and Roberta Bennett, partner in the law firm Anderson & Bennett.

“I want to see gay women in this town helping each other,” Brown said. “Helping each other build careers, networking.” An entertainment publicist, Brown says she came out on her most recent job interview. She wanted her employer to know she was a lesbian before being hired, she said, in an effort to prevent any potential discrimination issues after she arrived.

The trio of founders met while assisting in the production of the 2000 Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Media Awards. The ceremony was featured on an E! television special, “The Stars Come Out.” “Power Up is a strong ally to GLAAD because they, too, are increasing the visibility of gays in the entertainment industry,” said Joan Garry, GLAAD’s executive director. “We both work behind the scenes in our unique ways.”

While some lesbians still experience blatant homophobia in the industry, others like Brown see a steady, but more subtle form of discrimination. “No one is going to come out and say they don’t like gays,” she said. “They’re just not going to hire you. For instance, if a straight man or a straight woman were hiring, and an openly gay woman was equally qualified, they’ll probably go with the candidate they’re more comfortable with, which would be the straight woman. But if there’s more visibility and lesbians out there openly, we’re going to start chipping away at those biases little by little.”

Currently, organizers are relying on word of mouth to attract membership. Codikow said the group is preparing a mailing to over 500 women in the business. How did they target the women? “Some are just common knowledge,” Codikow said, “But the three of us [founders] are all going through our Roledex's. We think we’re going to get a lot of people from New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.”

Power Up will maintain a resume bank and membership directory. It also will host networking events, offer a mentoring program, and provide grants for filmmaking. Membership is open to producers, directors, writers, studio executives, actors and any other entertainment industry personnel. Activities and membership information will be posted on www.power-up.net, which organizers hope to have up and running within a week.

As part of the membership agreement, anyone who receives a filmmaking grant must hire all the women from Power Up’s resume bank. “This way, all our memberships can participate,” Brown said. “It’s the best part.”

Besides networking opportunities Brown said, “The social opportunities will be terrific.” The organization plans to hold events in Los Angeles, New York, South Carolina, Chicago and San Francisco. Eventually, organizers say, they’d involve every major metropolitan city in the U.S.

Power Up will hold their kick off party, Dec. 5 at Ciudad, a lesbian-owned restaurant in Los Angeles. (For more information, e-mail joinPOWERup@aol.com.)