Girl Dinner
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Comedy, Other
Girl Dinner is a dark comedy about young women’s relationships and how vital they are to self-identity. Our team celebrates female friendship as powerful, messy, and deeply human — not just background to romance or trauma.
Girl Dinner
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Comedy, Other
1 Campaigns | California, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $16,020 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
87 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
Girl Dinner is a dark comedy about young women’s relationships and how vital they are to self-identity. Our team celebrates female friendship as powerful, messy, and deeply human — not just background to romance or trauma.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Girl Dinner is a dark comedy about young women’s relationships and how vital they are to self-identity. Our team celebrates female friendship as powerful, messy, and deeply human, not just a background to romance or trauma.
OUR STORY
What’s friendship without a little felony?
It’s Fall of 2022. Two strangers sit side by side in a dimly lit teahouse in Downtown LA. Two girls from very different worlds, one Black from California and the other South Asian from New York. We didn’t know it then, but that moment, sitting next to each other and introducing ourselves, would mark the start of not only a friendship but a creative partnership. Our shared ties to our respective cultures, humor, and an unshakeable belief in the power of female friendship became the foundation that continues to shape our filmmaking today.
Our first dinner together was at a Chinese restaurant in LA, talking over veggie egg rolls about the mess of our recent romantic relationships and how let down we felt. One of us joked that the best relationships we’ve ever had were platonic, and the other said, “I’d kill a man for my friends.” Dramatic? Sure. But there was truth in it, the idea of being ride or die, of doing anything for your people. That night sparked what would become our collaboration with co-writer Javier, exploring that bond on a louder, more chaotic scale.
SYNOPSIS
After accidentally killing her boyfriend, Jo enlists her best friends, Karla and Rani, to hide the body.
Rani and Karla are Jo’s childhood best friends, but after ghosting them, they haven’t seen each other in months. With an unexpected call from Jo, the girls rush to her apartment to find her distraught and frantic. Rani and Karla enter the apartment, only to discover that Jo has welcomed them into a crime scene. And more specifically, Jo’s dead boyfriend, Dan, who is slumped at the dinner table.
Jo enlists her friends to help discard the body, Rani plunges into the chaos, and Karla struggles with her complicated feelings about the situation. The audacity to rope them into something so dangerous only further tests the brink of their relationship. And while the friends have to grapple with the most efficient way to discard a body, one thing is clear — they’re just girls. Can they put their differences aside to avoid jail time?
WHY THIS STORY?
Oftentimes in stories, relationships between women are a back-burner to the central story, flattening their stories to cliches or worse, pitting them against each other. With Girl Dinner, we wanted to celebrate the sacred, chaotic, and full-of-laughter bonds that keep us alive. It’s a love letter to women who carry each other through heartbreak, ambitions, and whatever life throws at us.
OUR GIRLS
JO - (Black Woman, Late 20s)
She’s the friend who always drags everyone into something wild. You don’t get her at first, and why she acts before thinking, but you eventually see her heart. Because Jo is the messy, impulsive part of you that feels deeply and fears being too much, only to learn her friends love her through the chaos, not despite it.
RANI - (South Asian Woman, Late 20s)
She’s the friend who’ll drop everything to help her people, no questions asked. But her loyalty is a double-edged sword, where she gives so much, people start expecting it. Rani is the part of you that is down for quick, messy solutions to keep the peace going between her friends, but she learns that doesn’t mean losing yourself in the process.
KARLA - (Latina, Late 20s)
She’s the friend who holds you accountable, with all the questions ready. Karla is the part of you that demands responsibility, the voice that won’t let chaos run unchecked, but she learns that softening and understanding her friends’ hearts can be just as powerful as keeping them in line.
PURPOSE
Girl Dinner explores the dynamics of female friendships, specifically revolving around women of color. In comparison to romantic relationships, platonic love is often overlooked, when in reality it’s one of the most earnest, heartbreaking, and beautiful relationships one can have. Inspired by the writers’ own found families they’ve cultivated throughout their lives, they wanted to explore that connection through an extreme and dark comedic lens.
How far can you actually go? Is it worth pulling your friends into chaos? In the midst of betrayal, hurt feelings, and dead boyfriends, does friendship transcend it all?
VISUAL STYLE
Girl Dinner’s visual style is inspired by a blend of different films. While at its surface it’s a comedy, the visuals will be moodier and lean into the chaos of the situation, similar to Bodies Bodies Bodies, Saltburn, Drive, and Jennifer’s Body. We’ll use stylized composition as a secondary story, lingering on moments of discomfort, allowing the audience to absorb the subtle, intimate interaction between these close friends.
CAMERA MOVEMENT
We also plan to capture the chaotic energy of the night through dynamic cinematography, including whip pans, POV shots, and seamless one-shots.
WITH YOUR CONTRIBUTION
With your support, not only will you receive some fire perks, but you’ll also help bring emerging filmmakers’ visions to life. Your contributions will fund production design to build out Jo’s artsy apartment, create the dark, atmospheric forest where the girls end up, provide safe transportation and meals for our cast and crew, and cover camera, lighting, and costume costs to capture the chaos and essence of our dynamic characters.
We need roughly $15,000 to cover the cost of creating Girl Dinner!
THE STRETCH GOALS
While this would let us tell our story fully (while staying clever with our resources), keeping our team safe and fairly compensated, hitting our STRETCH GOALS would be truly incredible. With your contributions, here’s how you can help MAKE AN IMPACT on Girl Dinner:
- $15,000: Covers the bare production essentials, including cast, crew, and equipment, enough to finesse a realistic apartment and woods setup.
- $20,000: Allows us to film in actual woods around LA with proper permits and secure an Airbnb for Jo’s apartment. This budget also gives our department heads, especially our DP, the freedom to capture more complicated shots, like one-ers.
OUR PROMISE
Every dollar will go directly onto the screen! With your support, we can make a heartfelt short film on a micro-budget that showcases the directors’ vision, builds community, and creates opportunities for aspiring filmmakers, especially women of color.
After the campaign closes, we’ll begin filming in early December, securing locations, gear, and creative resources to bring the story to life. Once filming wraps and post-production is complete, we plan to share Girl Dinner with audiences through festival screenings in 2026–2027, creating spaces and communities to celebrate bold women-led stories.
THE TEAM
ANIKA HUSSEN
A NYC-born filmmaker and NYU alum who’s helped shape stories at Marvel Studios, Hulu, and Dolby. Blending art, tech, and a love for the absurd, she’s now channeling that experience into her own work. Her latest project, Girl Dinner, a dark comedy about friendship and chaos, marks her leap from corporate entertainment to bold, independent filmmaking. Support Anika as she brings her signature mix of precision and imagination to the screen.
NIA RAASIKH
A California-born filmmaker who’s gone from producing campaigns for Warner Bros., NBCUniversal, and Amazon to creating bold, character-driven stories of her own. Her latest project, Girl Dinner, a dark comedy about the chaos and connection of female friendship, brings her sharp storytelling instincts and emotional honesty to the screen. Support her film and help a rising filmmaker turn her unique vision into cinematic magic.
KAMERON ALEXANDRIA
An Atlanta-raised Howard University Film alum passionate about bold, POC-driven storytelling. She’s brought powerful narratives to life with the NAACP, BET, and National Geographic, and now at The Gersh Agency in Los Angeles, she’s turning her experience toward her own projects. Her latest film amplifies voices and stories that deserve the spotlight — support her and help bring this vision to the screen.
NICOLE MARIE ARCE
A Mexican-American producer passionate about bold, character-driven stories and championing diversity on and off screen. She’s honed her craft at Entertainment Tonight, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and Late Night with Seth Meyers. Following her festival-hit Lesbophilia (20, she’s now creating a new film and inviting you to help bring it to life.
Share our campaign page with Friends & Family!
Follow us on INSTAGRAM: Click Here: @girldinner.short
Follow us on TikTok: Click Here: @girldinner.short
Sponsor the film! A majority of our cast and crew reside in LA, so we’d love to partner with any brands, companies, or people, especially if you’re part of the LA Community!
Email us at [email protected]
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Locations
Costs $2,500
We have a few different scenes in different locations, but, more importantly, we have to shoot outside. That can get costly quickly.
Crafty
Costs $2,250
Our cast and crew can’t work 12 hour days without sustenance. We’d like to feed them healthy delicious meals for all their hard work.
Cast & Crew
Costs $5,600
We want to pay our team fair wages and give them adequate budgets for the amount of work they are doing. We couldn’t do this without them.
Camera Rentals
Costs $1,800
You can’t shoot a great movie without great cameras. Help us get them!
Set Deck & Hair, Make-Up & Wardrobe
Costs $1,495
A mouth full…or should we say, a hair full? But, seriously, we want our cast looking their best in front of the camera.
Production Costs
Costs $1,355
There’s a lot of little things at play. U-Haul rentals to transport equipment, additional rentals, and more. This helps us bridge the gaps.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
This team is women-led and POC promoting.
Anika Hussen is a NYC-born filmmaker known for crafting bold, immersive stories that blend emotion, humor, and spectacle. With experience at Hulu, Dolby, and Marvel Studios, she’s used to shaping culture through others’ lenses — now she’s bringing that vision to her own work. Her latest short, Girl Dinner, is a dark comedy exploring the chaos and beauty of female friendship — and your support will help bring it to life.
Nia Raasikh is a California-born filmmaker with a sharp eye for emotionally honest, character-driven stories. Having produced major campaigns for Warner Bros., NBCUniversal, and Amazon MGM, she knows how to create work that connects with audiences. Now bringing that expertise behind the camera, she co-wrote and co-directed Girl Dinner — a dark comedy that dives into the chaos and beauty of female friendship.
Kameron Harris is an Atlanta-raised, Howard University Film alum passionate about producing bold, POC-driven stories that blend art and culture. She’s worked freelance with major brands like the NAACP, BET, and National Geographic, bringing powerful narratives to life behind the scenes. Now at The Gersh Agency in Los Angeles, she’s channeling her experience into creating her latest film — a project amplifying voices and stories that deserve the spotlight.
Nicole Marie Arce is a Mexican-American producer passionate about bringing bold, character-driven stories to life and championing diversity on and off screen. With experience at Entertainment Tonight, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and Late Night with Seth Meyers, she’s honed her craft across top-tier productions. Her latest credit, Lesbophilia (2023), is making waves on the festival circuit and now she’s creating her most personal project yet, inviting you to help make it happen.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Girl Dinner is a dark comedy about young women’s relationships and how vital they are to self-identity. Our team celebrates female friendship as powerful, messy, and deeply human, not just a background to romance or trauma.
OUR STORY
What’s friendship without a little felony?
It’s Fall of 2022. Two strangers sit side by side in a dimly lit teahouse in Downtown LA. Two girls from very different worlds, one Black from California and the other South Asian from New York. We didn’t know it then, but that moment, sitting next to each other and introducing ourselves, would mark the start of not only a friendship but a creative partnership. Our shared ties to our respective cultures, humor, and an unshakeable belief in the power of female friendship became the foundation that continues to shape our filmmaking today.
Our first dinner together was at a Chinese restaurant in LA, talking over veggie egg rolls about the mess of our recent romantic relationships and how let down we felt. One of us joked that the best relationships we’ve ever had were platonic, and the other said, “I’d kill a man for my friends.” Dramatic? Sure. But there was truth in it, the idea of being ride or die, of doing anything for your people. That night sparked what would become our collaboration with co-writer Javier, exploring that bond on a louder, more chaotic scale.
SYNOPSIS
After accidentally killing her boyfriend, Jo enlists her best friends, Karla and Rani, to hide the body.
Rani and Karla are Jo’s childhood best friends, but after ghosting them, they haven’t seen each other in months. With an unexpected call from Jo, the girls rush to her apartment to find her distraught and frantic. Rani and Karla enter the apartment, only to discover that Jo has welcomed them into a crime scene. And more specifically, Jo’s dead boyfriend, Dan, who is slumped at the dinner table.
Jo enlists her friends to help discard the body, Rani plunges into the chaos, and Karla struggles with her complicated feelings about the situation. The audacity to rope them into something so dangerous only further tests the brink of their relationship. And while the friends have to grapple with the most efficient way to discard a body, one thing is clear — they’re just girls. Can they put their differences aside to avoid jail time?
WHY THIS STORY?
Oftentimes in stories, relationships between women are a back-burner to the central story, flattening their stories to cliches or worse, pitting them against each other. With Girl Dinner, we wanted to celebrate the sacred, chaotic, and full-of-laughter bonds that keep us alive. It’s a love letter to women who carry each other through heartbreak, ambitions, and whatever life throws at us.
OUR GIRLS
JO - (Black Woman, Late 20s)
She’s the friend who always drags everyone into something wild. You don’t get her at first, and why she acts before thinking, but you eventually see her heart. Because Jo is the messy, impulsive part of you that feels deeply and fears being too much, only to learn her friends love her through the chaos, not despite it.
RANI - (South Asian Woman, Late 20s)
She’s the friend who’ll drop everything to help her people, no questions asked. But her loyalty is a double-edged sword, where she gives so much, people start expecting it. Rani is the part of you that is down for quick, messy solutions to keep the peace going between her friends, but she learns that doesn’t mean losing yourself in the process.
KARLA - (Latina, Late 20s)
She’s the friend who holds you accountable, with all the questions ready. Karla is the part of you that demands responsibility, the voice that won’t let chaos run unchecked, but she learns that softening and understanding her friends’ hearts can be just as powerful as keeping them in line.
PURPOSE
Girl Dinner explores the dynamics of female friendships, specifically revolving around women of color. In comparison to romantic relationships, platonic love is often overlooked, when in reality it’s one of the most earnest, heartbreaking, and beautiful relationships one can have. Inspired by the writers’ own found families they’ve cultivated throughout their lives, they wanted to explore that connection through an extreme and dark comedic lens.
How far can you actually go? Is it worth pulling your friends into chaos? In the midst of betrayal, hurt feelings, and dead boyfriends, does friendship transcend it all?
VISUAL STYLE
Girl Dinner’s visual style is inspired by a blend of different films. While at its surface it’s a comedy, the visuals will be moodier and lean into the chaos of the situation, similar to Bodies Bodies Bodies, Saltburn, Drive, and Jennifer’s Body. We’ll use stylized composition as a secondary story, lingering on moments of discomfort, allowing the audience to absorb the subtle, intimate interaction between these close friends.
CAMERA MOVEMENT
We also plan to capture the chaotic energy of the night through dynamic cinematography, including whip pans, POV shots, and seamless one-shots.
WITH YOUR CONTRIBUTION
With your support, not only will you receive some fire perks, but you’ll also help bring emerging filmmakers’ visions to life. Your contributions will fund production design to build out Jo’s artsy apartment, create the dark, atmospheric forest where the girls end up, provide safe transportation and meals for our cast and crew, and cover camera, lighting, and costume costs to capture the chaos and essence of our dynamic characters.
We need roughly $15,000 to cover the cost of creating Girl Dinner!
THE STRETCH GOALS
While this would let us tell our story fully (while staying clever with our resources), keeping our team safe and fairly compensated, hitting our STRETCH GOALS would be truly incredible. With your contributions, here’s how you can help MAKE AN IMPACT on Girl Dinner:
- $15,000: Covers the bare production essentials, including cast, crew, and equipment, enough to finesse a realistic apartment and woods setup.
- $20,000: Allows us to film in actual woods around LA with proper permits and secure an Airbnb for Jo’s apartment. This budget also gives our department heads, especially our DP, the freedom to capture more complicated shots, like one-ers.
OUR PROMISE
Every dollar will go directly onto the screen! With your support, we can make a heartfelt short film on a micro-budget that showcases the directors’ vision, builds community, and creates opportunities for aspiring filmmakers, especially women of color.
After the campaign closes, we’ll begin filming in early December, securing locations, gear, and creative resources to bring the story to life. Once filming wraps and post-production is complete, we plan to share Girl Dinner with audiences through festival screenings in 2026–2027, creating spaces and communities to celebrate bold women-led stories.
THE TEAM
ANIKA HUSSEN
A NYC-born filmmaker and NYU alum who’s helped shape stories at Marvel Studios, Hulu, and Dolby. Blending art, tech, and a love for the absurd, she’s now channeling that experience into her own work. Her latest project, Girl Dinner, a dark comedy about friendship and chaos, marks her leap from corporate entertainment to bold, independent filmmaking. Support Anika as she brings her signature mix of precision and imagination to the screen.
NIA RAASIKH
A California-born filmmaker who’s gone from producing campaigns for Warner Bros., NBCUniversal, and Amazon to creating bold, character-driven stories of her own. Her latest project, Girl Dinner, a dark comedy about the chaos and connection of female friendship, brings her sharp storytelling instincts and emotional honesty to the screen. Support her film and help a rising filmmaker turn her unique vision into cinematic magic.
KAMERON ALEXANDRIA
An Atlanta-raised Howard University Film alum passionate about bold, POC-driven storytelling. She’s brought powerful narratives to life with the NAACP, BET, and National Geographic, and now at The Gersh Agency in Los Angeles, she’s turning her experience toward her own projects. Her latest film amplifies voices and stories that deserve the spotlight — support her and help bring this vision to the screen.
NICOLE MARIE ARCE
A Mexican-American producer passionate about bold, character-driven stories and championing diversity on and off screen. She’s honed her craft at Entertainment Tonight, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and Late Night with Seth Meyers. Following her festival-hit Lesbophilia (20, she’s now creating a new film and inviting you to help bring it to life.
Share our campaign page with Friends & Family!
Follow us on INSTAGRAM: Click Here: @girldinner.short
Follow us on TikTok: Click Here: @girldinner.short
Sponsor the film! A majority of our cast and crew reside in LA, so we’d love to partner with any brands, companies, or people, especially if you’re part of the LA Community!
Email us at [email protected]
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Locations
Costs $2,500
We have a few different scenes in different locations, but, more importantly, we have to shoot outside. That can get costly quickly.
Crafty
Costs $2,250
Our cast and crew can’t work 12 hour days without sustenance. We’d like to feed them healthy delicious meals for all their hard work.
Cast & Crew
Costs $5,600
We want to pay our team fair wages and give them adequate budgets for the amount of work they are doing. We couldn’t do this without them.
Camera Rentals
Costs $1,800
You can’t shoot a great movie without great cameras. Help us get them!
Set Deck & Hair, Make-Up & Wardrobe
Costs $1,495
A mouth full…or should we say, a hair full? But, seriously, we want our cast looking their best in front of the camera.
Production Costs
Costs $1,355
There’s a lot of little things at play. U-Haul rentals to transport equipment, additional rentals, and more. This helps us bridge the gaps.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
This team is women-led and POC promoting.
Anika Hussen is a NYC-born filmmaker known for crafting bold, immersive stories that blend emotion, humor, and spectacle. With experience at Hulu, Dolby, and Marvel Studios, she’s used to shaping culture through others’ lenses — now she’s bringing that vision to her own work. Her latest short, Girl Dinner, is a dark comedy exploring the chaos and beauty of female friendship — and your support will help bring it to life.
Nia Raasikh is a California-born filmmaker with a sharp eye for emotionally honest, character-driven stories. Having produced major campaigns for Warner Bros., NBCUniversal, and Amazon MGM, she knows how to create work that connects with audiences. Now bringing that expertise behind the camera, she co-wrote and co-directed Girl Dinner — a dark comedy that dives into the chaos and beauty of female friendship.
Kameron Harris is an Atlanta-raised, Howard University Film alum passionate about producing bold, POC-driven stories that blend art and culture. She’s worked freelance with major brands like the NAACP, BET, and National Geographic, bringing powerful narratives to life behind the scenes. Now at The Gersh Agency in Los Angeles, she’s channeling her experience into creating her latest film — a project amplifying voices and stories that deserve the spotlight.
Nicole Marie Arce is a Mexican-American producer passionate about bringing bold, character-driven stories to life and championing diversity on and off screen. With experience at Entertainment Tonight, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and Late Night with Seth Meyers, she’s honed her craft across top-tier productions. Her latest credit, Lesbophilia (2023), is making waves on the festival circuit and now she’s creating her most personal project yet, inviting you to help make it happen.