INVADE: 5 Questions for Filmmaker Eunice Levis

by Le Anne Lindsay, Editor

Getting a chance to highlight a Philly project on the rise. Writer/director/producer Eunice Levis is a first generation Dominican American – born and raised in The Bronx, New York. Her career began at El Diario-La Prensa, a New York Spanish language daily newspaper. Since then Eunice has worked at several media and entertainment organizations including the New York Post, Urban Latino Magazine and Corbis. She’s also written, directed, and/or produced several public service announcements (PSA), short form; including two PSAs “Vote for Respect” and “Do I look Illegal?” produced for (National Council of La Raza) NCLR — an English, Spanish and bi-lingual announcement meant to stimulate the Latino vote. 

Recently Eunice finish shooting her bilingual sci-fi episodic series titled “InVade”.  In 2020 The pilot script made the second round of the 2020 Sundance Episodic Lab selection process. It also won a $20,000 grant from Independence Public Media Foundation.  However, additional funds are needed to complete the short in post-production – See InVade IndieGogo Campaign as 6/2/2021, it has 45 backers with 16 more days to go!

Eunice is friends with one of our other 5 Questions Interviewees Les Rivera , they will co-produce and co-host “Café Negro con Genre” a monthly podcast that will promote Latinx creatives.

SYNOPSIS: InVade is a sci-fi short about an undocumented scientist and his son who try to stop an environmental disaster.  Dominican Ultrasonic Engineer Dr. Ramon Luna comes out of hiding when he discovers a correlation between the government’s testing of super ultrasonic powered drilling in the Pennsylvania Appalachian mountains and low scale earthquakes along the coastal northeast. When the government plans to move forward with a full scale drill, Ramon’s only hope of stopping the drill is to convince an old colleague to present his evidence of the impending disaster. When that fails, all hell breaks loose and it’s up to Ramon and his 8 year old son Rudy to warn the public and stop the drilling. 

And Here’s 5 Questions for Eunice Levis

T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for InVade and/or the theme that is the heart of your film (series) ?

Eunice Levis: Can you think of any science fiction shows or films that narrate the life of an undocumented person in the United States who is not detained? And yet an estimated 12 million reside here. These people live silent lives, in shadows and limit their potential in an effort to remain undetected – but still they experience emergencies, pandemics and other civil turmoil just like other residents. 

The subject of immigration and undocumented people in the United States has always been urgent and the rhetoric largely toxic. It is easy to overlook how these people have contributed to the health and wealth of America. I felt compelled to tell this story of an environmental disaster through the narrative of characters that are typically voiceless or restricted to a small subset of genres.   

T&T: Tell us a bit about the music? OR Does food in anyway play a significant part? Or answer both.

Levis: The lead character is from the Dominican Republic, although it doesn’t play a significant part, culturally influenced music and food make an appearance.  For example, the restaurant scene takes place at “Parada Maimon” a Dominican spot in North Philadelphia.  While there we hear bachata music playing in the background while father and son share a small piece of flan (caramel custard dessert). Normalizing those cultural elements became essential to establishing who the lead character is and what’s important in his world.

T&T: Currently (started 5/17/2021) you have an Indiegogo Crowdfunding campaign happening for post-production on “InVade”, give us a little more detail on the types of visual effects you look forward to adding to complete the short?

Levis: Well, without giving away any spoilers, there are about 5 major visual effect scenes. We hope to develop 3 different scenes where we see earthquake damage. Including structural building damage, street cracks and large mushrooms of debris.  Although we did a lot of practical effects on set, we still need to do a fair amount of enhancements.  Visual effects take time, extensive planning, trial and error etc…  Ultimately, I want the quality to reflect the vision and ability of the entire team.  While also honoring the characters, community, subject matter and audience.

T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get this project shot and ready for post-production.

Levis: This has been the most collaborative production I’ve ever worked on and I loved every minute of it! From the production team which includes Elvis Nolasco, Berman Fenelus, Rachel K. Ofori and Matt Goldman, to my DP, Jason Chau, AD Kevin Hackenberg, Production Design Angela Leslie, Art Director Khadir Cade, Art Dept Aremo Massa, Wardrobe Anissa Roberson, Hair and Makeup James Jordan and Nyla Nolasco, VFX Editor Perry Kroll, Editor David Manzo and Music and Sound by Andre “DJ Dummy” Smith and Dragonfly Audio Post.

And last but not least my incredible talent, Elvis Nolasco, Justin De La Cruz, Chris Beetem and Brian Anthony Wilson.

T&T:  Name 5 of your favorite films, which influenced your desire to be a filmmaker?

Levis: Only 5!?  That’s so difficult! I’d say; The Sixth Sense, The Matrix, The Fly, Alien, and Pan’s Labyrinth.

InVade Socials : @InVade (Facebook) @invadetheseries | @ElWuel (Twitter) @inVade_series | e.l_wuel (IG)
 www.invadethemovie.com | Eunice Levis

WHILE YOU’RE HERE…

I AM was written by Florens Huhn, directed by Jerry Hoffmann, photographed by Lena Katharina Krause and produced by Stella Flicker. The German collective of four filmmakers have come together for a second time (after their first internationally acclaimed short “MALL”) to create this unique science fiction short about the special relationship between a woman and an android… READ MORE