| Type: | 501(c)(3) non-profit organization |
| Founded Date: | 2000 |
| Founder: | K. Pearson Brown Stacy Codikow Amy Shomer [1] |
| Location: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Key People: | Stacy Codikow, Executive director Lisa Thrasher, President of Film Production & Distribution |
| Focus: | Motion pictures |
| Method: | Funding, producing |
POWER UP (the "Professional Organization of Women in Entertainment Reaching Up") is an American non-profit organization and film production company with the stated mission "to promote the visibility and integration of gay women in entertainment, the arts, and all forms of media". It was founded in 2000 by K. Pearson Brown, Stacy Codikow and Amy Shomer.[2] Its members include women and men, gay and straight.
POWER UP provides funding and assistance to filmmakers, as well as producing its own films. After several short films, its first feature film was the comedy Itty Bitty Titty Committee directed by Jamie Babbit.[3] In 2004, POWER UP was awarded the Leadership Award by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
In 2001 K. Pearson Brown, one of the founding members, brought a sexual harassment suit against another founding member, Stacey Codikow. Codikow counter-sued alleging that Brown had made sexual overtures towards her and accusing Brown of defamation. Codikow also demanded Brown's resignation on the grounds that she was bisexual, and Brown later resigned. Both suits were dropped in late 2002.[4] [5] [6]