Kamala Lopez

Kamala Lopez is an American filmmaker, actress, writer, director, and political activist. She has had starring roles in Black Jesus, Medium, 24, Alias, NYPD Blue, Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice, and 21 Jump Street. She has been a featured actress in films including Born in East L.A., Deep Cover, The Burning Season, Clear and Present Danger, Lightning Jack, and I Heart Huckabees.^[1]

Kamala Lopez
Lopez in 2019
Alma mater	Yale University
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1980–present

As a filmmaker, her feature film debut, A Single Woman, about the life of first US Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin, won the 2009 Exceptional Merit in Media Award from the National Women's Political Caucus. In 2013, her short Spanish-language film Ese Beso won the Jury Award at the Senorita Cinema Festival and the Audience Award at the Boyle Heights Latina Film Festival. In 2016, her follow-up feature, the documentary Equal Means Equal, won Best U.S. Documentary (Audience Award) at Michael Moore’s TCF Festival, and was a New York Times Critics' Pick. The film was the catalyst behind a national civil rights movement pushing for the ratification of the 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution: the Equal Rights Amendment.^[2][3]

Early life

Kamala Lopez attended Yale University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in philosophy and theater studies.^[4]

Career

Lopez has worked as an actor in more than thirty feature films, including I Heart Huckabees (2004), Born in East L.A. (1987), Deep Cover (1992), and The Burning Season (1994);^[3] and more than seventy television shows, including 21 Jump Street, Lie To Me, Alias, Star Trek: Voyager, NYPD Blue, and It's Garry Shandling's Show.

In 2007 Lopez hosted Wired Science on PBS, a production of KCET Los Angeles in association with Wired, along with comedian Chris Hardwick.^[5][6][7]

Lopez directed the Spanish-language short film Ese Beso in Madrid, Spain, starring Daniel Freire and Lia Chapman. She directed A Single Woman (2008), about the life of the first US congresswoman, Jeannette Rankin.^[8] The film was adapted from the play of the same name, written by Jeanmarie Simpson, a relative of Lopez.^[9]

Lopez produced the new media series Speechless Without Writers with director George Hickenlooper during the Writers Guild of America strike of 2007.^[10]

Political activism

In 2009 Lopez created the ERA Education Project, a national media campaign to raise awareness about the Equal Rights Amendment in the United States.^[8] She interviewed women nationwide about how civil rights issues such as equal pay and domestic violence affect their daily lives.^[11]

In October 2013, she launched a Kickstarter campaign for the documentary Equal Means Equal.^[12] This project about the status of women in America also meant to revive public support for the ERA.^[13] Gloria Steinem appears in the film, along with more than 100 interviewees.

Lopez blogs for The Huffington Post.^[14]

Awards and recognition

• 2019 - YaleWomen Impact Award for Excellence^[15]
• 2016 - Champion of Justice - National Civil Rights Group Equal Rights Advocates^[16][17]
• 2016 - Best U.S Documentary Audience Award - Traverse City Film Festival^[18]
• 2016 - Latino Spirit Award for Achievement in Advocacy and Entertainment - State of California^[19]
• 2015 - Woman of the Year Award - Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the Women's Commission^[20]
• 2013 - Jury Award - Senorita Cinema Festival^[21]
• 2013 - Audience Award - Boyle Heights Latina Film Festival^[22]
• 2012 - Named one of the 21 Leaders for the 21st Century by Women's eNews^[23]
• 2011 - Woman of Courage Award from the National Women's Political Caucus^[8]
• 2009 - Retrospective for Work as an Actor and Director - Museum of Latin American Art^[24]
• 2009 - Exceptional Merit Media Award for A "Single Woman" - National Women's Political Caucus^[25]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Born in East L.A.	Dolores
1989	Night Children
1990	Total Recall	Additional Voices	Voice
1991	Dollman	Debi Alejandro	Video
1992	Deep Cover	Belinda Chacon
	Exiled in America	Amy / Marla Soto
	Small Kill	Jenny
1994	Erotique	Rosie (segment "Let's Talk About Love")
	Lightning Jack	Pilar
	Clear and Present Danger	Venezuelan Telephonist
1996	Wedding Bell Blues	Pregnant Woman
1997	Tupperware Party	Katie	Short film
1998	Where's Marlowe?	Penny
1999	Love and Action in Chicago	Anna
	Black and White	Carmela
2000	Burglars		Short film; director
2003	The $cheme	Laura
	Filet of 4		Short film; director
2004	I Heart Huckabees	Molly Corn
2005	The Circle	Hilga
	Meet Me in Miami	Marta
2007	Game of Life	Nadia
	Permanent Vacation	Iris Garcia
2008	Ese beso		Short film; director
	A Single Woman		Director, producer, editor
2009	The Intervention	Rachel
	Mark in Argentina	Maria	Short film
2012	Any Day Now	Agent Martinez
	Got Rights?		Short film; director
	Los Tienes?	Herself	Short film; director, producer, writer
	Dark Knight Aurora		Short film; co-director, editor, writer
2015	Slob90X		Short film; producer
2016	Equal Means Equal	Herself	Director, producer, writer[26]
2020	6 Rounds of Chloë	Stella Gupta	Associate producer

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Miami Vice	Maria Rojas	Episode: "Definitely Miami"
	Spenser: For Hire		Episode: "In a Safe Place"
1987	It's Garry Shandling's Show	Maria Herrera	Episode: "Garry Met a Girl Named Maria"
	Police Story: The Freeway Killings	Lydia Chacon	TV movie
	Hill Street Blues	Lola Martinez	Episode: "A Pound of Flesh"
1988	Stones for Ibarra	Manuela Reyes	TV movie
	CBS Schoolbreak Special	Alicia Rojas	Episode: "Gangs"
	Break of Dawn	Linda	TV movie
1989	Protect and Surf	Ramona Diaz	TV movie
	Hunter	Maria Gonsalves	Episode: "The Nightmare"
1989-1990	Tour of Duty	Susanna Lozada	3 episodes
1990	Equal Justice	Brenda	Episode: "Cop's Story"
1989-1990	21 Jump Street	Marta	2 episodes
1991	Shoot First: A Cop's Vengeance		TV movie
	Crazy from the Heart	Alcira Zavala	TV movie
1992	Murder, She Wrote	Rosa García	Episode: "Day of the Dead"
	Beverly Hills, 90210	Beth Nielsen	Episode: "The Back Story"
	Wild Card		TV movie
1993	Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman	Carmen Alvarado	Episode: "Pilot"
1994	Walker, Texas Ranger	Mary Wells	Episode: "The Legend of Running Bear"
	Lifestories: Families in Crisis	Jeannie	Episode: "A Body to Die For: The Aaron Henry Story"
	The Burning Season: The Chico Mendes Story	Ilzamar	TV movie
1995	NYPD Blue	Maria Galvan	Episode: "Vishy-Vashy-Vinny"
1998	Vengeance Unlimited	Elena Amayo	Episode: "Security"
2000	Star Trek: Voyager	Tincoo	Episode: "Virtuoso"
1995-2000	The Eddie Files	Aunt Rosa	16 episodes
2000	JAG	Princess Fatima 'Fannie' al-Amatula	Episode: "The Princess and the Petty Officer"
2000-2001	Resurrection Blvd.	Sulinda Serrano	5 episodes
2001	Ice		TV movie
2002	Alias	Dr. Lemon	Episode: "Rendezvous"
	The Division	Connie	Episode: "Secrets, Lies and Weddings"
2003	The Handler	Carlita	Episode: "Hardcore"
2004	24	Theresa Ortega	Episode: "Day 3: 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m."
	Judging Amy	Ms. Nunez	Episode: "Accountability"
2005-2007	Medium	Walter Paxton's Attorney / Paxton's Attorney / Miss Romney	3 episodes
2006	Sideliners		TV movie; director
2009	Lie to Me	Inez	Episode: "Control Factor"
2013	The Mentalist	Woman in Chapel	Episode: "Red John"
2014	Perception	Kenny's Foster Mom	Episode: "Brotherhood"
2019	Black Jesus	Judge	Episode: "The Compton Carter"

See also

• List of female film and television directors

References

1. "'Equal Means Equal' Director Kamala Lopez On The Hard Truths Of Her Gender Equality Documentary – Springboard by Kristy Puchko, August 26, 2016". US News/Associated Press. 26 August 2016. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
2. "Lawsuit Seeks to Ease Adoption of Equal Rights Amendment - January 7, 2020". US News/Associated Press. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
3. Gonzalez, Luis Manuel (January 29, 1995). "Kamala Lopez-Dawson", La Opinión 69 (136): 1D.
4. "Yale Alumni". Yale Alumni Magazine. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
5. "Wired Science". PBS. Retrieved March 13, 2012.
6. Torres, Vicglamar (October 4, 2007). "La Ciencia al Alcance de Todos", Hoy Nueva York.
7. (October, 2007). "Latina Plugs In For Wired Science" Latino Perspectives Magazine "LP Journal".
8. "Kamala Lopez defends women's rights". The Times of India. July 26, 2011. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved March 13, 2012.
9. Cynthia Schwartz - Advancing Women Peace Artists (May 26, 2011). "Civilization Needs Peace as Bread Needs Yeast-Jeannette Rankin, Back in the Kitchen". PRLog. Retrieved March 13, 2012.
10. "The Striking Writers Speak!". Time. November 24, 2007. Archived from the original on November 25, 2007. Retrieved November 24, 2007.
11. Profile Archived April 2, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, more.com; accessed April 18, 2015.
12. Lopez, Kamala,"How They Did It: Documentary Equal Means Equal Made 158 Percent of its Goal on Kickstarter", moviemaker.com, February 4, 2014. Retrieved April 18, 2015.
13. Equal Means Equal (film), un.org. Retrieved April 18, 2015.
14. "Kamala Lopez". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved March 13, 2012.
15. "YaleWomen Award 2019". YaleWomen. Retrieved 2020-05-11.
16. "Latino Spirit Awards | California Latino Legislative Caucus". Latinocaucus.legislature.ca.gov. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
17. "Kamala Lopez, 2016 Champion of Justice". Equal Rights Advocate. Archived from the original on January 22, 2019. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
18. "TCFF XII". TCFF XII. 31 July 2016. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
19. "2016 Latino Spirit Awards: Kamala Lopez". Vida En El Valle. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
20. "Commission for Women > Events > Annual Events > Women of the Year". Archived from the original on March 8, 2015. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
21. "Kamala Lopez-Global Compact Network Canada". Global Compact. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
22. "Boyle Heights Latina Independent Film Extravaganza". BHLIFE. Archived from the original on October 30, 2012. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
23. WeNews Staff (January 1, 2012). "Women's eNews Announces 21 Leaders for the 21st Century 2012". Women's eNews. Retrieved March 13, 2012.
24. "Museum of Latin American Art homepage". MOLAA. Archived from the original on March 15, 2012. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
25. Staff (November 6, 2011). "2011 Exceptional Merit in Media Awards (EMMAs) | National Women's Political Caucus". Nwpc.org. Archived from the original on February 14, 2014. Retrieved March 13, 2012.
26. "Equal Means Equal". The Film Collaborative. 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2020.

External links

• Kamala Lopez at IMDb