Invasive Species
A young sound artist grapples with her imposter syndrome as it takes on new extremes at her first ever artist's residency.
Interview with Writer/ Director/Editor Annie Ning
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Invasive Species is definitely inspired by being in the film industry and the arts in general and feeling imposter syndrome, and I wanted to make a film that explored the funny, ridiculous and also hideous parts of that feeling as a young woman. I made Invasive Species as I wrestled with my own imposter syndrome and feelings of anxiety and self-doubt - panicked about "finding my own voice" and panicked about being seen as an "artist." I found an absurdity and irony in this situation that I wanted to capture. The film tries to capture this very specific feeling of wanting approval and resenting our own desire for it at the same time.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
I hope you find something entertaining and relatable in it! Whether you've been to an artist's residency or have just been in a situation where your own feelings of inadequacy, comparison or judgement are punched up to extremes, I hope this offers a way to see it that's serious but not too serious.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
The film came from feelings that were very true to me, but I also see that these feelings are actually so common and have been immediately recognizable to many people, no matter who they are or how similar they might be to the protagonist in the film. I love that stories have the ability to connect so many different versions of the same experience, and I hope the film is able to externalize a feeling that might be familiar and make it strange, or take a strange feeling and make it familiar.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
The world of the film and the residents grew and became more real through the whole process because of the location and our actors. While writing the script I felt that the conversations of the residents should flow and give a feeling to the environment that wasn't necessarily present in my own writing. So my co-writer, who worked at a residency, wrote a lot of background chatter with me and we handed loose pages of extra dialogue to the actors on set, and they added their own improv to make it their own. So as it always does, being on set at this beautiful real-life residency together and playing around made the whole film a much fuller world.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
It's been so fun sharing this film with an audience! Some screenings have been very quiet and serious, and some have been filled with laughter, which was something that surprised me as I never thought the film could be funny, like at all. Absurd and amusing at times maybe, but it was so surprising and wonderful to me that certain moments provoked genuine laughter from people, it's the best response I could've imagined.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Absolutely. Of course, it does - I feel like our projects inevitably take on a new life after it's handed to an audience. I hope it's always like that.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I'm just excited to share the film with more people! There are so few places to watch shorts and I'm very happy that the film will be online, and I hope that people will come across it.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
If you like this film, I hope that our paths will cross one day in future projects as well!
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I just hope people will enjoy it and find intention within it. It was a small, low-budget project made with a mostly student crew, and I hope that our collaborators continue to expand as we make more and more projects...
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
"What's your community? What are your dreams?" Just kidding, hehe.
Would you like to add anything else?
The residency in the film is completely completely fictional! In fact, I've never even been part of an artist's residency before, and I'm sure that it's a more positive experience than is imagined in the film. I'd love to try it.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I'm currently working on my next short, Lake Superior, which is set in a gated community for expats in Shanghai in 2008, where a 7-year-old German-American-Chinese girl gets bitten on the finger by a mysterious creature in her neighborhood lake. Her mother becomes hellbent on finding out what’s lurking in the waters, and hysteria, cultural clashes and absurdity ensue throughout the neighborhood. We're currently seeking US-based and international EPs and will be shooting in the fall later this year.
Ruby Rose Collins, our producer-extraordinare, is also an amazing director, and she's about to shoot her project, All the Love I Could Handle. It's a deeply personal story that follows filmmaker Kathleen Collins and her children as they navigate the intimate sacrifices and complex tensions between our duties and our dreams. She's crowdfunding now! https://seedandspark.com/fund/all-the-love-i-could-handle#story
Interview: February 2024
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
Invasive Species
A young sound artist grapples with her imposter syndrome as it takes on new extremes at her first ever artist's residency.
Length: 13:24
Director: Annie Ning
Producer: Ruby Rose Collins, Aisha Amin
Writer: Annie Ning
About the writer, director and producer:
ANNIE NING is a filmmaker from Suzhou, China and Wheaton, IL, currently based in NYC. She graduated from Wesleyan University in 2020 with a BA in Film and English and is currently pursuing an MFA in Directing/Screenwriting at Columbia University. She was a 2020 Fellow at the Creative Visions Foundation’s Women Excel Project, and participated in the Bay Area Video Coalition’s Serial Storyteller Fellowship in development of a docuseries on end-of-life care in China. She is passionate about the power of cinema to move storytelling far beyond representation, and creating playful and complex experiences above all else. She has produced and edited work for clients such as Vogue China, Tory Burch, EDAS, & Eny Lee Parker.
RUBY ROSE COLLINS is a filmmaker and screenwriter passionate about merging nonfiction with genre-bending spectacle. She was a 2020 Fellow at the Creative Visions Foundation Women Excel Project and is currently working on her feature directorial debut. Her producing work has aired on ABC, A&E, and Hulu. Most recently, she helped produce the Nipsey Hussle documentary series with Lebron James’ Springhill Entertainment and Jay Z’s RocNation. She has worked on a wide slate of short films, which have premiered at festivals globally, including Sarajevo Film Festival, Outfest, Rooftop Films, NoBudge, and Teen Vogue. Outside of producing, she has worked at HBO and Universal Studios, with short stints at production companies Big Beach and QC Entertainment.
AISHA AMIN was selected as a Director in Color Creative's inaugural For Your People Program. She is a 2023 Cine Qua Non Screenwriting Fellow. She is a 2022 recipient of the NYFA's Women's Fund and Tomorrow Land Grant. She was a recipient of the 2019-2020 Sally Burns Shenkman Woman Filmmaker Fellowship at the Jacob Burns Film Center where she directed two short documentaries. She is also a recipient of The Shed's Open Call Fellowship. Her short film Simone premiered on Short of the Week and her short documentary Friday is a Vimeo Staff Pick.
Key cast: Emily May Jampel, JJ Paul, Pascal Yen-Pfister, Katya Golvin, Stuart Green, Eve Austin
Looking for: sales agents, distributors, journalists, producers, buyers, film festival directors
Instagram: @anniening
Website: anniening.com
Other: Vimeo
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?
Vimeo Staff Pick Premiere - March 6th, 12PM EST