Tell me about yourself.
My name is Julia Ling and I’m a 17 year old
filmmaker from Connecticut, a small East coast
state in the US. I run a YouTube channel called
jujusquad where I post fashion and film related
things.
What are your plans after graduating school
this year?
My original plan was to go directly to university in
NYC for film, but instead I decided to move out to
LA to live with my older brother. I may only
spend one year out here but if things seem to be
working out, I might just stay ;) I just started
interning for a skate/art/film brand called Sex Los
Angeles. We have a lot of big things planned. It’s
so amazing working with other artists and I know
it’ll help me grow a lot.
What are you most passionate about?
You can probably already guess...filmmaking. But
on a less serious note, hot Cheetos, every single
Glossier product on the earth, vintage eBay
sunglasses, pink convertibles, my friends, Julian
Casablancas, and romanticized prom scenes in
movies.
Where and when did you learn to create and
edit videos?
I guess I could say I taught myself. I’ve been
editing video for about 4 years. I’m far from
calling myself an expert editor, I have endless
amounts of things to learn. I usually just force
myself to watch a lot of video tutorials.
Why do you dress the way you do?
It’s hard to say... A lot of people seem to think I
have a cohesive style but I honestly can never
figure out what I want my style to be. I just try to
wear things that make me happy and confident. I
feel like I can emulate at least a small part of my
personality to others through what I wear.
Who inspires your filmmaking, photography
and style?
So many people inspire me! My favorite directors
are Sofia Coppola, Michel Gondry, and Spike
Jonze. I also really love smaller Youtubers like
Rachel Cobb and Rian Phin. The small YouTube
community has been crazy good lately...It’s so
refreshing to see fashion/lifestyle channels that
don’t feel so artificial. Casey Neistat has also been
a long term inspiration to me. Style-wise, I really
love lilmixedhunny, Kiko Mizuhara, and Chloë
Sevigny.
What is your favourite video/film you’ve
created and why?
Every time I release a new video it becomes my
favorite. I think that’s a good thing, because it
means I’m improving...or at least I think I am. So
that being said, my favorite is the film I just
released, MY 17TH YEAR. I spent weeks trying
to think of a concept for the video and finally it
came to me in the middle of the night. I also was
really happy with how the graphics came out, I
think it made it feel really clean. It’s one of the
most emotional and nostalgic films I’ve ever
made. Some of the best people and moments of
my life are featured in it.
What genre of music and films do you listen to
and watch?
I honestly listen to all different types of music, so I
can’t name a specific genre. Sometimes I like to
listen to obscure things and other times I listen to
the Jonas Brothers lol... My current favorite songs
are Date with the Night by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs,
Cool by Gwen Stefani, and The Taste of Ink by
The Used (tbt). My favorite films are Where the
Wild Things Are, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless
Mind, and Mr. Nobody.