LFG: A Conversation with Best Friends + Change-Makers: Molly Levinson & Abby Greensfelder
LFG is the Sports Emmy Nominated documentary that follows the 2019 US Women's Soccer team as they sue their employer, US Soccer, for equal pay.
We teamed up with Julianne Goldman, journalist and founder of MamaDen for this virtual conversation with Molly Levinson, spokeswoman for USWNT and the architect behind the campaign, and Abby Greensfelder, CEO of Everywoman Studios and a producer of the film.
BTW, LFG is a must watch for everyone - an adrenaline rush from start to finish, featuring soccer superstars Megan Rapinoe, Jess McDonald and so many more. This is about so much more than sports, it's about the world we want to live in.
Below we recap the most memorable moments from our conversation — click here to watch the event in full.
"All Good Things Come From A Good Friendship."
Abby & Molly are best friends whose work-worlds collided in the making of the LFG documentary. With Molly leading the communication and PR strategy for the US Women's team, and Abby producing the film, this friendship was a critical player in bringing this story to the world.
You probably know that Superkin cofounders are also longtime BFFs so we were especially moved by this comment!
"There are definite reasons why the story hadn't been told before."
Abby and team got incredibly creative in finding ways to get past the traditional barriers to access game film. From asking the players to film with their iPhones (they have rights to their own likeness) to getting SUPER creative press passes, the film really came together thanks to some brilliant and entrepreneurial producing.
"The '99ers... were really the first team to popularize soccer, women's sports in a big way, that they pressed to try and get a professional League set up, they pressed to tour."
Remember this iconic pic of Brandi Chastain at the 1999 World Cup? Consider two teams, 20 years apart, fighting for gender equity. Many of the 2019 teammates were inspired to play soccer professionally because of players like Julie Foudy, Chastain and Michelle Akers. Abby and Molly reflected on the poignant moment where the two teams met up IRL in Los Angeles, emphasizing the importance of cementing the team's story.
On COVID... "They couldn't train. They didn't have to fly around the world day after day after day, playing game after game after game while they were trying to fight a lawsuit and while they had to work another job just to make ends meet... that time that they had to step back with their families and think about more than just the next game and the next flight and the next thing made a profound difference in this effort."
COVID hit the sports world particularly hard, with even the 2020 Summer Olympics postponed. But there were some silver linings when it came to the lawsuit.
"The people that drive the movement forward, they're there the whole time. Other people come in and out when it's sexy or it's fun or it's interesting or it's dramatic. But the players and Molly and all the team that were behind it, it was a grind."
The fight for paid leave, for gender equity, these aren't always sexy either. But so inspiring to hear these women affirm the need to stay in the fight.
"To me, strength is being able to feel the emotion and then be able to pull together and go and fight and get what you deserve, which Molly did."
In a pivotal moment in the documentary, wee see Molly cry upon hearing some bad news with respect to the lawsuit. It was incredible to see a badass leader emote like that, and FUN FACT the footage was captured by Molly's son, who was obsessed with movie equipment and was the best person to film that day due to COVID restrictions. Working Mom WIN!
SO many incredible moments captured in our conversation as well as the film. If you want to see the full 1 hour conversation, click here. The LFG Trailer can be viewed here. The film is available to stream on HBO Max.
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