After jail time, 12-step programs and five marriages, Annie begins her acting career in her mid-fifties with the help of a young director she met at a Burger King in Queens. In this show within a show, Annie tackles both her gigs as an actor and the role of herself in her own life story.

Interview with Director/Writer/Actor Sophia Peer

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

I met Annie at a Burger King in Queens, close to where we both grew up. We connected very quickly, and Annie told me she was just starting her acting career in her 50s after abuse, addiction, prison, and other hardships. Annie is confident that she’ll beat the odds and climb her way to the top, and I totally believe her. The series as a whole deals with the very meaning of success, and the ever-changing path towards the ever-changing target of success. Since I’ve met Annie, she has been on lots of big shows like Inventing Anna, High Fidelity, Betty, The Watcher, Billions, and many more, but it’s rare that Annie has any speaking parts.

This series gives Annie all the roles she’s trying to get- so basically anything with lines- and also gives Annie the chance to tell her life story, past and present. Her present includes the very act of making this series. Annie gets to represent herself in this meta-show within a show.

Annie's character is like a real-life Joe Pesci character- a total wild card, mildly threatening and hilarious. After 20+ years drug-free, her new addiction is acting. Annie has a great deal of energy, optimism and straight-up chutzpah, and each scene will serve as a test of just how much that counts when trying to achieve a goal, while also revealing all the ways in which passion and drive come with some serious blind spots. Annie is perpetually hitting up against obstacles, often creating them herself. She is a round character, learning and changing with each conflict, but the trauma from what she refers to as her “prior life” has left her with permanent trust issues.

Sophia's character is masterminding this entire operation. She’s a petite 30-something with curls, but she’s a force of nature as she fights to level up in her career. Sophia has a “by any means necessary” approach to all her life goals, often lying, manipulating or taking shortcuts that get her into trouble. Her purpose is consistent, but her methods are unpredictable.

In real life, Annie and I have formed a bond, in and out of production. We rehearse for scenes in Annie’s backyard, sometimes playing basketball, and we took acting classes together taught by Chazz Palminteri. We did a shoot involving Annie in the backseat of a car in the rain, and of course, it was Hurricane Ida. We were submerged in water watching buses plummet into the floods and still remained confident that we would get through it safe and sound. Everything we go through on this journey is material for the next script.

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

This is Annie’s second (or sixth?) chance at life after surviving family abuse and domestic violence that almost killed her. Her boyfriend when she was still a teenager was arrested for attempted murder after the last time he beat Annie. With her body and self-esteem destroyed, Annie's heroin addiction began. She was then incarcerated several times for various crimes that supported her drug habit. After more than 20 years sober, Annie has been working almost full-time as a professional extra.

In Who’s Annie? Annie plays herself- a middle-aged woman who is struggling to get acting roles, accepting any part she can get. When Annie meets a young director, Sophia, at a Burger King, their respective goals combine into the making of this series. Sophia’s scripts are inspired by Annie’s life story but she also creates fictional characters giving Annie all the roles she could ever want, and even some that she doesn’t.

The series portrays dramatized versions of their actual journey, both in the production of this series and off set. Annie continues to accept acting gigs outside of the show, landing hapless roles like the dead body in a CSI type-show, a senior in a life insurance ad and a homeless street dweller. Sophia is broke, living with her grandparents and plotting nefarious strategies to fund the pilot. They are both counting on this series to make all their dreams come true. In this meta show-within-a-show, Annie is always on a set that is being masterminded by Sophia, often sparring with the very director who put her there.

Sophia takes things to the next level and hires an actor named Kim who is younger, naive and cloyingly desperate, to play her in this series, and Sophia is never pleased with Kim’s performance. Annie gets surly, Sophia is perpetually anxious, and Kim is constantly being put in the crosshairs of the conflicts, unable to catch a break. These three women from different generations and backgrounds try to get their piece of the pie via the creation of this series. Along the way, there’s theft, money laundering, injuries, betrayals, and misunderstandings.

Annie’s story and the telling of it is the main plot, but it’s also a comedy about a trio of misfits, sometimes odious, sometimes audacious, but ultimately lovable and relatable in their frenzied attempts, and the mistakes they make as a result of their single-minded goal of making a TV show. The series follows Annie (A plot), Sophia (B plot) and Kim (C plot) as they try to create a show, barely scraping by at every turn.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

In this show-within-a-show, I'll direct Annie, the rarely seen middle-aged female ex-con protagonist, in a wide variety of scenes, some based on her real life, both past and present and some fictional. She re-enacts a recent audition, she plays her teenage self in the 70s, she’s the dead body at a crime scene, and the fictive scenes harmonize with her real stories. I’ll also be directing an actor who is playing the role of me, making appearances as myself, bringing this show to a meta-meta level. Within this framework, the audience is thrust into scenarios confronting the conflicts head-on. Annie’s limited experience creates challenges for both her and the director to overcome. She takes on roles that are both difficult and ill-suited for her, and as a result, Annie fluctuates between gratitude and frustration towards the director.

Annie often says she’s “climbed out of the NYC sewer” and that there’s “no place to go but up.” She spent her whole life hustling in this city and Who’s Annie? is equal parts love letter and scathing review of New York. Both the real-life Annie and Sophia and the characters based on them, meet in Queens where they were born and raised during different decades. The series takes a deep dive into Annie’s past in NY and Annie’s present is filled with a wide variety of film and TV shoots in NY, visits with her mother on Long Island, her relationship with her fifth husband, Lenny, and her Pomeranian Jocco Casanova.

Sophia moves in with her grandparents in Flushing, Queens, where she tries to get back on her feet after taking a lot of career risks. Her grandmother blindly supports her as Sophia does things like use their basement as a vacation rental. Sophia finds ways to get access to wild shoot locations for the series. The fictional scenes take place all around the world but we are always on a set that exists in New York.

The men in their lives are seen and not heard, never getting lines, existing as sounding boards. For example, Lenny, Annie’s fifth husband, is only shown from behind, revealing only his beefy frame and shaved head. This world is run by women who are doing everything and anything they can to fight against the odds and get the opportunity to represent themselves in a medium that has never represented them.

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?

This initially began as an exercise in giving Annie all the roles she couldn't get. While at The Gotham’s Episodic Lab, it became clear that the stories about Annie and I working together on the pilot were compelling and abundant, so the script shifted to include our relationship and dynamic. I cast a young curly-haired woman, Sofia Dobrushin, to play me in this now meta show. While tweaking scenes, the pilot co-writers Annie Sicherman and I, realized that we could pull back another layer and include the “real” Sophia directing both Annie and the actor she hired to play her.

Behind the scenes of Who's Annie? - Annie Pisapia

What type of feedback have you received so far?

The biggest positive feedback I've received is from all the talented people who've signed on to work (hard) on this self-funded project. I also got a lot of support from The Gotham. I have yet to screen this for a large audience and I can't wait for Slamdance and the other festivals that may follow.

After seeing this pilot, people have compared me to heroes such as Charlie Kauffman, Federico Fellini, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Maria Bamford.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

The biggest challenge I faced was when I only had the deck and script. It's a layered metatextual show and without seeing it, I think the description alone was confusing.

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

Ultimately, I want to be able to be supported as we film the rest of the series and have it air on a great streaming platform or network.

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

All of the above. I've been juggling many roles taking big financial risks. Press and festivals bring attention to the series which brings entertainment companies and distribution.

Behind the scenes of Who's Annie? - Annie Pisapia getting her close up shot in front of the Burger King where she met Sophia Peer. Crew: Annie Sicherman, Manon Carrie, Adam Uhl, Daniele Sarti, Erica Magrey, AJ Strauman-Scott

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

As a shorthand, I’ve been using the term Kaufman-esque to describe this series, referencing projects made by men, starring men. Annie will be representing all different kinds of women including herself, challenging traditional roles because this time, a hard-as-nails woman in her 50s is portraying them. Placing Annie in these roles will highlight the ridiculousness of society's expectations, while also allowing Annie and I to break down the discriminatory barriers we’ve been battling as two women from different generations who’ve been handed some raw deals.

My goal is for this series to go from festivals to a network or streaming platform, maintaining Annie as the actor portraying herself. Annie saw the series longline and got worried that people wouldn’t like her, or would be scared to work with her because of her past. I promised Annie that this was a redemption story and that everybody loves those. I want to continue working with the incredible female-run team that has brought this pilot to where it is now, and show the world who Annie really is.

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?

Where is the line between what's real and scripted?

Why make the decision to have this as a scripted work rather than a documentary?

What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?

I'm currently working on a doc/scripted series in collaboration with Jigsaw Productions, a surreal comedy series called Danny's Food Corner with queer comedian Lily Marotta (Celebrity Book Club Podcast), and a lifestyle show starring and about rapper and entrepreneur, Despot (Chillin Island).

Annie Sicherman, the co-writer, has been working on another series, Doctor Babies.

Interview: January 2023

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

Who's Annie?

Length: 30:00

Director: Sophia Peer

Producer: Ryan Cunningham

Writer: Sophia Peer and Annie Sicherman

About the writer, director and producer:

SOPHIA PEER (she/her) was born and raised in Queens. She was awarded the NYFA 'Made In NY' grant and participated in The Gotham’s Episodic Lab and Gotham Week, for Who’s Annie?, a series she’s creating, co-writing and directing. Sophia’s work has been screened at Hauser & Wirth, the Whitney, The Queens Museum and MoMa, and she has directed music videos for artists such as Julien Baker, Paramore, The National and Interpol.

ANNIE SICHERMAN (she/her) is an award-winning queer screenwriter from Queens, NY. She is the co-writer of Who’s Annie?, a pilot that was awarded the NYFA "Made in NY" Grant, accepted into The Gotham’s Episodic Lab, and a finalist in the ScreenCraft Film Fund. Recently, Annie’s comedy pilot Doctor Babies advanced in the Austin Film Festival.

RYAN CUNNINGHAM (she/her) is an Emmy and Peabody award-winning producer who launched the development company Running Woman. She has 20 years of experience producing 25 different comedy TV series. TV producer credits include Broad City, Inside Amy Schumer, Search Party, The Last O.G., and stand-up specials for Comedy Central, Showtime, Amazon, Netflix, and HBO. Ryan was also the Director/EP on specials for Ilana Glazer, Alan Cumming, and the docuseries Expecting Amy.

Key cast: Annie Pisapia (Annie), Sophia Peer (Sophia), Sofia Dobrushin (Kim)

Looking for: buyers, producers, film festival directors and journalists

Instagram: @imsophiapeer

Website: sophiapeer.com

Other: Vimeo

Made in association with: Running Man Productions, PS260, Great City Productions

Funders: Self Funded with support from The Gotham and New York Foundation of the Arts

Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?

Slamdance Film Festival/Park City, Utah, Treasure Mountain Inn - 1/22/23
Slamdance Film Festival/Park City, Utah, Treasure Mountain Inn - 1/26/23