PowerUP's 2006 Gala Premiere

Photos from this year's PowerUP Premiere

By Pamela Cole

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The silent auction had some very interesting works of art available, such as a Renoir, a Svengali, and a large photo of Katherine Hepburn in her prime, signed by the photographer. There were also smaller items available, like a massage for your dog.

(Everyone in Beverly Hills seems to have a dog that they take along in the car wherever they go. I never saw so many doggies hanging their heads out of convertibles! Of course the weather was classic Californian—totally sunny, nearly 80 during the day, one percent humidity. Like a dope, I forgot my sunglasses, a required accessory in Hollywood, day or night, and nearly went blind before we found a Seven-Eleven store in West Hollywood with a decent selection. Ha!)

Anyway…there were about 500 famous and not-so-famous lesbians (and a few gay men and assorted heteros) in the foyer, hanging out at the cash bar and waiting to enter the Crystal Ballroom for dinner and the awards presentation. As my girlfriend and I perused the silent auction items, I bumped into Honey Labrador, stumbled over Amanda Bearse, and exchanged cards with several wannabe writers/filmmakers like myself.

Once the silent auction was over, we entered the Crystal Ballroom and were served the first course of our meal, a butternut squash soup. It was fair. Everyone was offered wine. The tables were beautiful, and the scenery was astonishing as beautiful women flitted around the room greeting each other. Poor Michele Balan, the comedian from New York, had a hard time getting anyone’s attention from the stage during her comedy routine. But she was pretty funny. Honey Labrador had better luck once she took the stage. It’s hard not to pay attention to Honey Labrador, who was as sweet as her name implies, first commenting about how cold it was in the ballroom, no doubt concerned about all the scantily clothed lesbians in the audience (YAY!), and then promising that we would get the rest of our dinner after a little more fundraising from the stage. “I know you’re all starving,” Honey said kindly, which indeed, my girlfriend was, grumbling, despite all the marvelous scenery. It was nearly 9 p.m. before they brought out the next course (that’s midnight Atlanta time), after conducting a “live auction” for a trip for two to the Vancouver Gay Pride festivities. I think it finally sold for $4,000.

I watched as honoree Jenny Shimizu jumped from table to table, hugging friends. Daniela Sea also seemed to know lots of folks, hugging people and introducing others. She brought her mom and her girlfriend, Bitch, to the event, which was pretty cool. Everyone was very nice and polite and un-Hollywood.

Power Up showed a behind-the-scenes video of the making of the Itty Bitty Titty Committee, which will no doubt end up on the DVD. We were hoping for an actual clip from the film, but I guess they are holding all that for Sundance, which Codikow said they should hear from soon. The film’s logline reads: “High School grad and all American gal, Hannah, finds her purpose and herself after she hooks up with radical feminists in The Itty Bitty Titty Committee.” It looks like a funny lesbian film and has lots of cute dykes including Sea. It’s directed by Jamie Babbit (who also directed But I’m a Cheerleader) and Codikow boasted it used an all-woman crew. Watch for it soon.

The Power Up Premiere was a fun, lesbian event with real Hollywood flair. For more info about this organization, go to www.power-up.net.