Stars Making a Social Impact: Why & How Kamala Lopez of Heroica Films Is Helping To Change Our World
An Interview With Edward Sylvan
…From 2009 to 2016 I worked on the documentary Equal Means Equal which looked at how the lack of legal equality was affecting women in real life — from domestic violence and rape to unequal pay and reproductive rights. Then I used the film to re-ignite a movement for the completion of the Equal Rights Amendment which would provide equality for all Americans, regardless of sex. From 2016 to 2020 my film was used in community screenings, theaters, colleges and house parties to educate, activate, mobilize and organize American women.
As a part of our series about stars who are making an important social impact, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kamala Lopez.
Kamala Lopez, a filmmaker, actress and activist, is president of the pro-ERA organization Equal Means Equal, and the lead plaintiff in a federal lawsuit to protect ratification of ERA. Ms. Lopez directed and starred in the 2016 documentary, Equal Means Equal, and has since organized and shepherded the successful campaign to get the last three states needed, Nevada, Illinois and Virginia, to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.
Thank you so much for joining us on this interview series. Can you share with us the backstory that led you to this career path?
I started acting as a child in Caracas, Venezuela where I grew up, and when we moved back to the United States I immediately began my professional career as an actor. It was much much later that I discovered that some of the discrimination I suffered as a female performer of color in Hollywood was a result of basic inequality in American society — specifically the lack of legal equality for women under our Constitution. I realized that until this basic inequality was addressed and dealt with, women in entertainment, along with all other women, would be operating at a systemic disadvantage disguised to appear as the normal “status quo.” Until there is an explicit rejection of sex discrimination, as presently sanctioned by our laws, with real penalties and actual intent by the government to improve the matter, women can expect to work more for less money and experience more violence ad infinitum.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your career? What was the lesson or takeaway you took out of that story?
When I was very young, about fourteen, I had just arrived in New York City from Venezuela and after enrolling in acting classes at the Herbert Berghof Studios in lower Manhattan where Herbert and his wife Uta Hagen taught, I was determined to get myself an agent. I had been doing professional theater in Caracas as well as commercials, and I was impatient to get going on my career. At that time, there was a small booklet called The Ross Reports, that simply listed all the agencies in New York City along with their addresses and the names of the particular agents. I remember going to a newsstand and buying myself that little book and setting off to the first agency listed.
I had new headshots that I was really proud of and I felt like a real actor in the Big Apple, walking the city with my portfolio. I went up the elevator to the first office and announced to the woman at the front desk that I was an actor looking for an agent. She took my portfolio and flipped through the pages disdainfully, making little disparaging noises as she glanced at the pictures. At the end, she looked up and said, “These pictures are no good. You need new pictures.” I knew that was not true because I loved them. I just leaned over the desk, closed my portfolio and yanked it back from her. I said to her completely shocked face, “Well, I like them,” and walked out of the office.
I wasn’t even at the elevator when the agent himself, from the back room, came running out after me. I was signed on the spot. I may have been fourteen, but I had enough self-possession to be able to hold my ground against powerful adults and that was an asset as a child actor.
The takeaway was not that this was a good way to get an agent — it wasn’t, they were terrible. But they did get me my first audition for Sesame Street, which I booked, and that started my career in the U.S. The actual takeaway was to have your own opinions, your own reality and not allow others to define you to yourself. If you do not do that in this industry, especially as a woman, your sense of self will be slowly and surely ground down and disfigured until you do not even recognize yourself anymore. It’s not an easy lesson to hold onto as this business puts a great deal of pressure on women to do things that they do not necessarily feel that great about doing or even comfortable doing. From my POV, this is precisely why it is so important. Stand up for yourself. You are not a widget or an object or a prize — you are a full human being deserving of respect.
What would you advise a young person who wants to emulate your success?
Be yourself. Find yourself. Know yourself. Don’t compare yourself to other people — it will make you very unhappy. Set goals for yourself based on what you actually want, not what you think you should want, what your peers want or say they want, or what your parents want for you. Do the hard work and be masterful at whatever it is you love to do so that a professional career is possible for you. Never do anything that you feel compromises who you are and what you believe — it is never worth it no matter how it may appear in the moment.
Is there a person that made a profound impact on your life? Can you share a story?
When I was in my early twenties I moved to Los Angeles to continue pursuing acting after college. I had a great deal of admiration for Martin Sheen, not only for his work as an actor but for what he stood for and who he was as a human being. I had just completed my first feature lead role and I wanted him to come to the premiere as my guest, so I wrote a letter to his manager.
Martin, who later became a friend, didn’t come to the opening of Break of Dawn but he did send his manager, Glennis Liberty and she became my manager, friend and mentor for a decade. Glennis taught me to expand my knowledge base in Hollywood and become a writer/director/producer — not just an actor. She had me subscribe to the trade magazines and stay up on the business side of things. She explained that content creation was critical for women to stay in the game and not be put out to pasture when they hit thirty. This was back in the early 90’s so that was pretty prescient thinking. I formed Heroica Films in 1994, and I credit Glennis for getting me thinking beyond simply working in front of the camera and on the stage and move into writing my own stories and creating my own opportunities as an artist.
How are you using your success to bring goodness to the world? Can you share with us the meaningful or exciting causes you’re working on right now?
I have been singularly focused on one particular cause since 2009 when I discovered that men and women do not have equal rights in the United States of America under our Constitution. I found this really shocking. In fact, in the beginning, I really didn’t believe it! It was only after doing my own research that I finally had to accept the truth: I am living in a country that pretends to be progressive about women’s rights when in fact that is a lie. As someone who grew up as a North American in South America, it is very sad and difficult to come to terms with that. I was very proud to be a “gringa,” in part because I believed that women were equal and were treated equally under the law in my country. To find out that not only is this not the case, but that my own government has made sure that no one is aware of this, makes me extremely angry and determined to change the situation.
From 2009 to 2016 I worked on the documentary Equal Means Equal which looked at how the lack of legal equality was affecting women in real life — from domestic violence and rape to unequal pay and reproductive rights. Then I used the film to re-ignite a movement for the completion of the Equal Rights Amendment which would provide equality for all Americans, regardless of sex. From 2016 to 2020 my film was used in community screenings, theaters, colleges and house parties to educate, activate, mobilize and organize American women. These groups that formed after the screenings worked to ratify ERA in their states and complete the amendatory process. There had been absolutely no movement on the ERA since 1982 when it had only 35 of the states needed to complete the process, now there are active movements in all the unratified states. In 2017 Nevada successfully ratified ERA and Illinois did in 2018. The final historic victory came when, on January 27th of 2020, Virginia became the 38th and final state needed to amend the Constitution to include women.
But unfortunately, instead of parades, champagne and TV Talk shows, it has been lawsuits, protests and pushback… As soon as ERA was ratified in Virginia, then-President Donald Trump ordered his Department of Justice to block the amendment by telling the U.S. Archivist not to publish it. Equal Means Equal has been in court ever since, fighting to get the amendment published.
Can you share with us a story behind why you chose to take up this particular cause?
I was showing my first feature film A Single Woman at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC. It was a very exciting moment and I felt extremely successful and powerful. My husband and I arrived a bit early at the museum to take a look at the exhibit, which included the subject of my film, first U.S. Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin. It was called Women of Our Time and had photos and artwork of important female historical figures throughout the huge lobby. There were also actors dressed in historically accurate costumes who were walking around and interacting with the guests. I saw a woman dressed as a suffragist and I thought I should talk to her. I wondered how she got the acting job. I wondered how much it paid. I wondered if I was going to end up doing this kind of work one day and if I would like it… What I did not wonder was if she was going to completely change my life — which she absolutely did.
I said to her, “Hi there! Who are you?” She stared me dead in the eyes and said, in a very strong tone: “My name is Alice Paul and I am back to haunt you because you have done nothing to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment and women and men still do not have equality of rights under our Constitution.”
It was a moment of complete cognitive dissonance: here I was believing myself a fabulously empowered director at a prestigious museum in our nation’s capital when in fact I was not even a full citizen deserving of equal legal rights. I felt like the floor had fallen out from under me — that I had been living a lie.
As a graduate of an Ivy league university and a feminist, the fact that I could have gotten this far along in my life and not known that I did not have equal rights was deeply disturbing to me. I had always been taught that as an American woman I could be, do and have anything I wanted — the sky was the limit. There was no real sex inequality anymore — it was a pure meritocracy.
Finding out that this was nonsense made me feel deeply betrayed by our country and our government. I felt I was being laughed at — that women were being made the fools. When 95% of the population believes something is true that is false (that women and men are legally equal in the USA) it is extremely dangerous and completely undemocratic. I also felt indignant that most women would just think it was their personal inadequacies and shortcomings that were to blame for their lack of success or fulfillment and then internalize these incorrect analyses and lose self-esteem. I really felt that I had no choice but to embark on this journey and right this huge wrong.
Can you share with us a story about a person who was impacted by your cause?
If the Biden administration publishes the ERA, as is their obligation, there will be 330 million people directly impacted. In fact, I would posit that the entire human population would benefit, given the impact ERA would have, not only on U.S. policy but on the international policy as well.
The ERA mandates equal pay and equal enforcement of our laws. What this means, in real terms, on the ground, is that society will no longer be able to get away with paying women less than men for equal work or work of equal value, insurance companies will no longer be able to charge women more for the same policies simply because they are female, companies will no longer be able to discriminate against pregnant workers, the 99% of rapists that go without doing a day in prison would be living on borrowed time, the children being trafficked would have some hope of justice… The list is endless and it doesn’t just affect women and children — men too would be provided with equality under the law regardless of sex and this could impact areas where they are presently discriminated against, for example in family law issues.
Are there three things or are there things that individuals, society, or the government can do to support you in this effort?
- Donate at www.equalmeansequal.org and help us finish this fight. It’s not over yet! We are fighting in court against the government who is trying to avoid publishing the Equal Rights Amendment. We had hoped that when Trump was gone, Biden would do what he said he would do: complete ERA, but he has not. We really are facing strong opposition and mass ignorance and need all the help we can get.
- Watch and share the film Equal Means Equal and tell all your friends, family and colleagues that women in the United States are legally unequal and need international support to raise awareness and pressure the U.S. Government to publish the E.R.A. immediately. There is a media blackout on the subject within the United States. The economic stakes are extremely high; we need your help pressuring our government from the outside.
- Help me get more light on the subject: the only way the U.S. government can continue to get away with this is if people continue to know nothing about it. If you know journalists, international lawyers, human rights organizations, celebrities or influencers who want to help us raise the profile of his crucial issue, please have them contact us at info@equalmeansequal.com
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started”
- Meditate
- Learn yoga
- Don’t automatically believe “experts” –come to your own conclusions — trust yourself and your truth. Listen to your body — sometimes it knows more than your intellect, at the moment. Don’t suppress what it is telling you or ignore it.
- Take 5% of every paycheck you get and put it somewhere you cannot access it. Make it automatic and forget it exists.
- Don’t take things too seriously — none of us really know what is going on in life and we’re all in the same boat. Be kind to people and think of what it must be like to be them. Everyone’s going through something no matter what it looks like from the outside.
You’re a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
I would love to unite women worldwide to work together to heal the earth and achieve balance. I believe that women are potentially the solution to a world in crisis. I think that it is time for women to come into our own gentle power and use it to bring about the evolution of the human species to its true dharma — non-violence.
I dream of having a month-long symposium, somewhere very isolated and beautiful, for women to come together, talk, listen and create an actionable plan to save the earth and the men from their destructive nature. I envision bringing together great feminist thinkers, teachers and activists from all over the world to share knowledge and create the future.
The beauty of the idea of turning global power over to women, now that men have had many many centuries to try running things their way, is that generally speaking, women have absolutely no desire to hold power over anyone.
Being mothers may play a part in women’s recognition of the power of delegation and task-sharing. This communal way of looking at things also frees the men from the perceived yoke of full responsibility and allows them the space to investigate who they are and want to be, absent from the extremely strong social roles historically prescribed to them.
To be more plain, I think that if women take over the world, the men will love it. Certainly, the children, the animals, the oceans, the air and the earth will all benefit from a new perspective on human governance.
Can you please give us your favorite life lesson quote? And can you explain how that was relevant in your life?
When Bette Davis was asked how best an actress could get ahead in Hollywood she famously said, “Take Fountain.” Fountain Avenue used to be a somewhat less trafficked way to get from the east side to the west side of Hollywood and since, as an actress, you were constantly going to auditions from one side of town to the other, this was actually great advice. But what I really take it to mean is: stick to the practical.
We are blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
Indra Nooyi — I am also of South Indian descent and I would really like her mentorship and help with my International Women’s Symposium idea!
Angela Merkel — I would love to have her participation in this forum.
Thank you so much for these amazing insights. This was so inspiring, and we wish you continued success!
About The Interviewer: Growing up in Canada, Edward Sylvan was an unlikely candidate to make a mark on the high-powered film industry based in Hollywood. But as CEO of Sycamore Entertainment Group Inc, (SEGI) Sylvan is among a select group of less than ten Black executives who have founded, own and control a publicly traded company. Now, deeply involved in the movie business, he is providing opportunities for people of color.
In 2020, he was appointed president of the Monaco International Film Festival, and was encouraged to take the festival in a new digital direction.
Raised in Toronto, he attended York University where he studied Economics and Political Science, then went to work in finance on Bay Street, (the city’s equivalent of Wall Street). After years of handling equities trading, film tax credits, options trading and mergers and acquisitions for the film, mining and technology industries, in 2008 he decided to reorient his career fully towards the entertainment business.
With the aim of helping Los Angeles filmmakers of color who were struggling to understand how to raise capital, Sylvan wanted to provide them with ways to finance their creative endeavors.
At Sycamore Entertainment he specializes in print and advertising financing, marketing, acquisition and worldwide distribution of quality feature-length motion pictures, and is concerned with acquiring, producing and promoting films about equality, diversity and other thought provoking subject matter which will also include nonviolent storytelling.
Stars Making a Social Impact: Why & How Kamala Lopez of Heroica Films Is Helping To Change Our… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.