Dua Lipa presented the Power of Women producer of the year award to LuckyChap Entertainment, the minds behind films and TV series that celebrate women’s stories including “Barbie,” “Promising Young Woman” and “Maid.”
“Since 2014, LuckyChap has been championing female filmmakers,” Lipa said Thursday night at the Variety Power of Women dinner, presented by Lifetime. “This mission is part of the company’s ethos – celebrating female storytellers and strong female characters, and employing female HODs – but if you speak with Margot [Robbie], Tom [Ackerley] and Josey [McNamara] they’ll tell you – it’s just good business.”
“As filmmakers, the LuckyChap team lead with humor, empathy and heart every step of the way,” the singer continued. “They are involved in every facet of their projects — from creating immersive practical environments on set, which became home to a truly epic dance party in the film, to heartful moments where audiences around the world were challenged with the idea of what it means to be human.”
Lipa credited their global success to the incredible visionaries behind LuckyChap who, “two years ago, had the foresight to push forward on what could’ve been a risky move,” the billion-dollar blockbuster, “Barbie.”
After thanking their fellow honorees, McNamara and Ackerley revealed that they would be speaking for their producing partner Robbie, who lost her voice days ago. The actor and producer then produced a speech that she wrote recently and never shared with either of them.
The first reveal from Robbie’s speech? That her LuckyChap partners, “use her as a bit of a crutch for these public-facing sort of things,” Ackerley read.
“You’re right Tom we do,” McNamara continued. “And that’s not fair, just because she performs for a living it doesn’t mean that she doesn’t find public speaking just as terrifying as we do.”
“We know that so I vow here and now, in front of all these people and Dua Lipa (who I have a secret crush on), to not leave all the speeches to Margot for now on,” Ackerley said.
The jokes continued on pointing out the oddity of two “dudes” speaking for a woman at a Power of Women event, which Robbie tackled head-on, “But it’s me, Margot writing this. I have to say the only thing I love more than seeing women supporting women is seeing men supporting women. I have watched for the last 10 years as these two dudes have dedicated their careers to supporting women in this industry and nothing could make me love them more.”
Robbie founded LuckyChap in 2014 with her husband Ackerley and friends McNamara and Sophia Kerr.