Anika Hussen is a LA-based filmmaker who, like every New Yorker, loves to bring up how she was born and raised in NYC. Fortunately, her NYC upbringing did fuel her passion for telling rich, diverse stories centering women and people of color.

Her latest directorial project, Girl Dinner, co-created with Nia Raasikh, explores the lengths of female friendship in an absurd “How To Get Away With Murder” scenario. It’s playful, intimate, and blends a relatable feeling with an outlandish genre. Nia, who’s equally passionate about telling stories that dig into the common truths of the human experience, is Anika’s right-hand woman in this director/writer duo. Their first collaboration, Phone A Friend, set the tone for their honest, heartfelt, and genre-bending approach to storytelling.

With a background in entertainment technology, marketing, and post-production, she bridges the worlds of storytelling and technical execution at top companies like Marvel Studios, Dolby Laboratories, and Hulu. Her hybrid skillset fuels her work as a director and writer, allowing her to shape stories from both creative and operational angles.