This week, in honor of the 30th anniversary of the 1995 UN Conference on Women and the NGO Forum on Women—where Hillary Clinton famously declared, “Women’s rights are human rights”—I had the privilege of speaking with Rachel Feldman, director of LILLY, our film about Lilly Ledbetter’s fight for equal pay. Rachel and I have been collaborating on this project since 2020, and it was such a joy to reflect together now five years later.
Having been with this project from its early days, I can say first hand that bringing LILLY to life was truly a labor of love—and it took a village. As the impact-focused producer on the team, I helped shape the vision for the project as a crucial story in our nation’s history, highlighting the power of cinema to drive justice. This perspective was key in garnering the resources needed to make the film, with support from a wide variety of passionate backers. Later, as we prepared for our theatrical release earlier this year, I co-led with producer Jyoti Sarda the film’s social action campaign, partnering with nonprofits, activists, and companies aligned with workplace equity.
It’s been an incredible ride and what a thrill to see the film still making its way in the world through film festivals, video-on-demand, and now educational, organizational and corporate screenings through the KINEMA platform.
Being part of both the creation and the outreach of this story has been an inspiring reminder that films like LILLY are not just artistic endeavors—they are collective acts of advocacy, resilience, and courage. I’m excited to share the excerpts below from our chat about Rachel’s creative process in bringing Lilly’s story to the screen, the resilience required to see the project through decades of challenges, and why Lilly’s journey remains so vital in today’s cultural and political moment.
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I’d love to start with your creative process, Rachel. You captured the heart of Lilly’s personal relationship with her husband Charles and her children beautifully AND on top of that Lilly’s over two decade legal and activist journey. What influences did you pull from while writing the script?
I love writing love stories. I’m a romantic at heart and I always say that even when I write thrillers, they are always a love story in disguise. But Lilly and Charles really did live a true love. I spoke with Lilly many times, saw photographs and read Lanier Isom’s book, “Grace and Grit” that beautifully chronicles their courtship and long-term marriage. Without Charles’s stability and belief in Lilly, I’m not sure she would have endured her journey in the same way. I have also been with my husband since we met in college in our 20s and he too is a sweet man who has always supported me in every way, it wasn’t hard to write about their marriage.
I remember when we first met, you had one of the greatest positive energies I’ve ever met in a filmmaker, regardless of the number of years you had been working to get your vision made. What kept you going all thru the process – from writing to our release this year?
Well, first of all, thank you! I love hearing that. I think what keeps me going is all the years of hearing “no,” all the years of closed doors, rejection and rude behavior in my industry. I know that I’m good at what I do, so after several decades of being underestimated, I have the same energy and enthusiasm as a newcomer – to prove “them” wrong.
Okay, I don’t think I ever asked you, how did you come up with the line “I know how to burn off a leech!”
The scene references “Doc Brewster’s Pond.” The Congressman, who is from the same place in Arkansas, is trying to butter her up with familiarity. But I wanted her response to reject that and then raise the stakes with specificity – to throw that back in his face, as if she’s saying, “You think you know me but I see right through you.” I love how it works.
When developing the character arcs, how did you handle any concerns about the film being political or about older women?
I never had any concerns at all. I’m proud to make a political film about an older woman. That was my intention, loud and proud!
You wore all three hats on this project writer, director and producer, and then some! What was the hardest part of this film for you as a director, as a writer, as a producer?
I’m a creative, a writer and a director by nature. I live in my head, I build worlds with my imagination, this is who I am and what I’m good at. Yes, I’m a producer on LILLY because I optioned her rights, developed the project, helped raise a substantial part of the budget, and cast the film, but I am not a producer by nature nor do I want to be one again. As a director/writer, it’s my job to go deep into a make believe, a place where I can stay and make creative decisions for days at a time without fatigue. But detail work is not my forte and doing many varied tasks at once exhausts me. I am so grateful for the amazing producers I had by my side!
Arguably, Lilly’s story is more potent and critical today as it was when President Obama signed the legislation. Speaking both for your characters but also particularly in America today, why does it feel like such a perfect fit to explore the themes LILLY faced through a movie lens? Did you expect to hit such a cultural zeitgeist?
I do think LILLY is the movie for the moment because awful things are happening in our country and noone knows exactly what to do to stop it. LILLY represents the force of standing up to monolithic systems of oppression. The movie’s themes are courage and making a difference. I do hope we will inspire hope to do the same.
In putting the film together —really any first feature — there have been so many challenges, times when it felt like it would never happen, or that it collapsed. How did you face those challenges and how did you find your way through?
Life is hard – so is movie making. I am, by nature, a resilient and tenacious person. But I’m also a Pollyanna, and a dreamer, and I think my ability to bounce back from adversity and find a new way forward is something I learned as a child. I also have a wonderful family life with love all around me. I don’t think anyone can do these hard things without that.
Movies are long term commitments for all involved, but mostly for you the director and producer. Can you share some of your own transformations creating and sharing the film?
I’ve known that I wanted to make movies since I was 22 and it’s taken me this long to get here. I wish I could go back and get some of that time back, but I can’t. But what I can say was that shooting the film was the kind of creative joy I’d always hoped for and I attribute much of that to our producer Allyn Stewart. I suppose the transformational aspect for me was that all the elements of skill that I’ve developed over time coalesced and I had the goods to deliver in the way that was needed for the film, and that feeling was very, very good.
As we take the film now into digital and internationally, what are your hopes and aspirations for the impact LILLY can make and its legacy?
I just hope people enjoy the movie, that they laugh, cry and shout, use up a box of tissues and stomp their feet to the music. I wanted to make a bittersweet, love story about an exceptional woman whose story might inspire others to be brave when life treats them unfairly. I wanted to make a movie about the complexity of women’s lives, that wives and mothers, can also be activists who change the world. I hope that’s Lilly Ledbetter’s legacy.