Elevating Women in the Workplace

Initiative Lilly Movie Post Production, Lilly Movie Social Action Campaign

Grantee Partner The Film Collaborative

Women’s rights leader Lilly Ledbetter, namesake of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, waves during her address to the first session of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, September 4, 2012. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi

LILLY is a dramatic feature film based on the remarkable life of Fair Pay icon Lilly Ledbetter. As a tire factory supervisor, Lilly endured 20 years of discrimination, harassment, and unequal pay, but persevered to take her fight all the way to the United States Supreme Court and Congress. President Obama named the Fair Pay Act after Lilly, transforming her into a national icon.

Written and directed by Rachel Feldman, LILLY is a movie about the radical resilience of a woman, perhaps any woman, who is oppressed and cheated and gathers the inner resolve to fight another day. LILLY traces the journey of a little girl from Possum Trot, Alabama to a national activist who single-handedly changed law.

Academy Award nominee Patricia Clarkson has been cast in the lead role of Lilly. She is an actor who exists in that rarefied status of being lauded by critics and laden with prestigious awards and nominations for her skill, has popular recognition from a long and rich resume in both film and TV work, and has a deep passion for the subject matter.

Lilly Ledbetter herself is immersed in this project as the honorary chair of the LILLY Advisory Board created to inform the film’s impact campaign. She never fails to capture attention and inspire everyone who hears her message.

The LILLY Social Action Campaign is born of the credo “movies change the conversation; conversation changes culture and policy.” Therefore, the campaign will seek to influence culture first and policy second, by serving as a voice to convene non-profit organizations and activists, corporations and brands, workplace leaders and workers. Our mission is to forge a future of fair, equitable and safe workplaces.

As the film’s director and writer, my goal is to paint a portrait of a woman who without education or resources, suppressed by her time and place, and thwarted by one repressive patriarchy after another, finds it within herself to take on multiple monolithic institutions, figuring out how to hold onto love, and maturing through that arduous emotional journey
Rachel Feldman

Grant Purpose

LILLY plans to start production in October 2022, with The David and Lura Lovell Foundation grant supporting the film’s post production and seeding its social impact campaign. The LILLY Social Action Campaign co-exists alongside the movie’s release, with complementary activations during film festivals building up to outreach and engagement activities with partnering organizations.

Every aspect of LILLY is a demonstration point for equity in practice from the way the film’s funding was raised to staffing of the movie production crew to its messaging and inspiration. LILLY will be the first film to carry the Universal Music Group #SheIsTheMusic stamp of approval, celebrating our all-woman music team.

A myriad of outreach opportunities in addition to conventional channels for film distribution is intended to reach as broad of an audience as possible while also targeting key communities and stakeholders with a robust information resource and educational initiative. Several key non-profit and for-profit partners have been enrolled to provide either expert advice or by reciprocally amplifying messages. The planned outreach will benefit from an advisory board of prominent business leaders, subject matter experts, activists, and celebrities.

How You Can Help

Our mission for LILLY is to accelerate change for gender equity using the power of the motion picture spotlight.

Find out how you can create your own impact by joining our mailing list (send an email to info@lillymovie.com), or by clicking here to contribute to the campaign.

Funding

2022-2025 $100,000 for post production
$75,000 for Social Action Campaign with up to $25,000 match available

Future Need

LILLY’s release into the world will be magnified by a Social Impact Campaign focusing on women in the workplace, serving as a convener for advocates, policy makers, corporations, and brands on issues of pay equity, hiring and promotion, and sexual harassment.

Our organizational partners already include National Women’s Law Center, Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, The Female Quotient, Equality League, Equal Rights Advocates, and The Streisand Foundation. Many gender equity pioneers have joined our Advisory Board.

We have launched a dynamic opportunity for mission-driven donors, impact-focused investors, and issue-aligned foundations to join us in making a socially significant and commercially successful film with tax-deductible contributions through our non-profit partner, The Film Collaborative.

Contact

Jyoti Sarda

info@lillymovie.com

lillymovie.com/