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| Stacy Codikow, a former television and film producer in Hollywood,
says there are many lesbian and gay filmmakers who have so much to say and, up
until recently, not many places to say it. For the past five years, POWER UP,
the company she founded, has been working to fix that problem.
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Since 2000, POWER UP has produced 11 lesbian and gay films
that have traveled the gay film circuit. They are:
“Billy’s Dad is a Fudge-packer,” 2004
“Starcrossed,” 2004
“Prom-Trovsey,” 2004
“Intent,” 2003
“Little Black Boot,” 2003
“Zoe Cadwaulder,” 2003
“D.E.B.S.,” 2002
“Fly Cherry,” 2002
“Give or Take an Inch,” 2002
“Chicken Night,” 2001
“Breaking Up Really Sucks,” 2001
419 N. Larchmont Blvd., #283
Los Angeles, CA 90004
323-463-3154
www.power-up.net
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HOME > ENTERTAINMENT > FILM
By: SARAH KELLOGG COMMENTS
 
continued...
than that. This is a group of women who want to tell good stories and are willing
to help anyone who asks.”
The result has been compelling films with high production values and, more
importantly for some, famous names. The actors in POWER UP-financed films have
included Sharon Lawrence (“NYPD Blue”), Michele Greene (“LA
Law”), Tammy Lynn Michaels (“Popular”) and Amanda Bearse (“Married
with Children”).
SOME CRITICS SAY that POWER UP is less a club than a clique — think an
A-list lesbian sorority. But Codikow says there’s an important reason
why the same names keep appearing in the credits of POWER UP films: Those people
show up.
“Much of what we do is done for little or no pay,” she says. “We
keep calling on our friends, and they keep calling on their friends. If you’re
willing to give us your time and expertise for free, we’d love your help.”
The group caused a minor coronary in the lesbian filmmaking community when
it financed the film, “Starcrossed,” last year, not necessarily
because of its subject matter (sexually intimate brothers), but because a man,
James Burkhammer, wrote and directed it.
Codikow says POWER UP’s mission has never been about separatism; it was
and is about finding a voice for lesbian and gay filmmakers. “We aren’t
afraid to work with men, because their stories are important to all of us,”
she says.
But the real bread-and-butter for POWER UP these last five years has been the
rich, sometimes-painful and often-humorous, stories of women making their way
in a world that doesn’t always welcome diversity and dissent.
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