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Sister Act Erin Eckles, a marketing writer for a Redwood City software company, will be taking a few vacation days next month: Her screenplay, Trapped, was one of three chosen to be made into short films by Power UP, the 2-year-old L.A.-based organization created to assist lesbians in making a leap in their movie careers. Eckles' script focuses on a complicated family reunion over a holiday weekend, as the central character returns with her partner and two kids to see her siblings, including a sister going through a sex change.

"It's a humorous look at lesbian sexuality in a long-term relationship, and how someone making this kind of life change shifts all the relationships in the family," Eckles explains. "It's not a change the person is making alone if they choose to stay in their family." The question for her protagonist, Eckles says, is, "How do you find a loving response to something you should be OK with that maybe you're not?" Lee Friedlander, the Southern California director of The Ten Rules (A Lesbian Survival Guide), was tapped by Power UP to direct Trapped, which Eckles acknowledges is autobiographical.

The Kansas native, who moved to the Bay Area six years ago, isn't making plans to trade her day job for a Santa Monica suite with an Underwood. "That would be great, but it's not very realistic," Eckles says. "It's a tough business. It's even tougher than working in Silicon Valley right now."