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. 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.

Early life

Kamala Lopez attended Yale University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in philosophy and theater studies. She was born in New York City on April 15, 1964.

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); 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. 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. The film was adapted from the play of the same name, written by Jeanmarie Simpson, a relative of Lopez. Lopez produced the new media series Speechless Without Writers with director George Hickenlooper during the Writers Guild of America strike of 2007.

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. She interviewed women nationwide about how civil rights issues such as equal pay and domestic violence affect their daily lives. In October 2013, she launched a Kickstarter campaign for the documentary Equal Means Equal. This project about the status of women in America also meant to revive public support for the ERA. Gloria Steinem appears in the film, along with more than 100 interviewees. Lopez blogs for The Huffington Post.

Awards and recognition

Filmography

Film

Television