“I don’t really care about status or being important.” I have a ‘no assholes’ policy, not just professionally, but in life.”
There are very few people left in New York willing to openly mock the world they live in. But Jill Kargman has built an entire career doing exactly that.
She’s an insider, an outsider, a participant and a critic. Whatever you call Kargman, she is undoubtedly a true original. Born and raised on the Upper East Side, she’s had access New York’s rarefied circles her entire life, but has always done things her own way, never following the unspoken rules that govern so many in the city’s social strata.
The daughter of Arie Kopelman, the recently deceased and highly esteemed head of Chanel, Kargman grew up understanding implied status symbols, social climbing, the charity circuit and the constant performances that come with wealth and social visibility. But she’s never been interested in protecting the illusion. Kargman is the funniest woman at the dinner table, seeing through everybody’s performance, including her own.
All of that comes alive in Influenced, Kargman’s sharp, irreverent new comedy. Influenced follows a wildly image-obsessed clique of UES moms navigating the absurd pressures of influencer culture, status, parenting, and New York society in 2026. There are cameos by Gwyneth Paltrow, Drew Barrymore and Matt Damon and hilarious turns by Justin Bartha, David Krumholtz and Laura Bell Bundy. Kargman co-wrote the film and stars as Dzanielle, an over-the-top Upper East Side “Momfluencer” consumed with follower counts and social status.
Outrageous and New York-centric, Influenced recalls the sharp, fast-paced, fearless satire that made Mel Brooks so iconic. Like Brooks, Kargman has an uncanny ability to ridicule a world without condemning the people inside it. Her characters may be ridiculous, but they are rarely cruel. Even at their most narcissistic, they remain strangely human. – TED HILDNER
What made you want to tell this story?
Influencer culture, crossing over with the Upper East Side, was yielding this treasure trove of caricatures. People are flaunting wealth now in a way I never saw growing up. In the ’80s, rich kids got dropped off two blocks away from school because they didn’t want attention. Now, people are posting the private jet window, so everyone knows they’re flying out of Teterboro.
The movie is hilarious, but there’s also real affection in it.
I don’t really like mean comedy. I wanted it to feel silly and escapist. I just wanted people to laugh for 88 minutes and not think about the dumpster fire we’re living through.
You’ve been writing about this world since Odd Mom Out.
Social media changed everything. Instagram amplified this endless need for outside validation. It’s basically people saying, ‘Please like me.’ Everything is filtered and curated now, and that’s not real human connection.
What’s funny is that you live in this world, but you also seem completely detached from it.
I’ve always had one foot in and one foot out. I know the culture because I grew up here, but I also think a lot of it is ridiculous. I don’t really care about status or being important.” I have a ‘no assholes’ policy, not just professionally, but in life.
You also don’t really behave like a traditional influencer, despite having a huge following.
Because I don’t think of myself that way at all. I don’t monetize my Instagram. I don’t do sponsored posts or affiliate links or any of that stuff. I just post whatever I want, whenever I want. I don’t care about algorithms or engagement.
There’s an authenticity to that.
People can feel when something’s forced. There are actual content creator rules about what time you’re supposed to post things for optimal eyeballs. I don’t care. I just throw things up whenever.
One thing I loved was how much the movie pokes fun at performative New York culture — the charity events, the social climbing, even the dog walkers.
The dog world on the Upper East Side is insane! There are dog influencers, dog walkers wearing Rick Owens, people treating their dogs like celebrities. There used to be a charity event called Central Barkers, and all the dogs had society names. I was crying laughing at it.
“I do not set foot in the Hamptons. My kids used to ask why we didn’t have a house there, and I’d say, ‘You get to travel and experience, you get to go to London…. You’re welcome.’”
Your character Dzanielle is ridiculous, but also lovable.
I didn’t want her to be cruel. She’s thirsty and ridiculous and desperate for validation, but underneath it she still has heart.
Did you base her on real people?
None of the characters are direct copies of anybody. It’s more behaviors you observe — the name dropping, the social climbing, the constant need to project perfection.
You also touched on how disconnected social media can make people feel.
There are so many people now who think they’re friends because they follow each other online, but that’s not friendship. Friendship is calling someone crying at two in the morning because your father is sick. Real connection isn’t filtered and curated.
You made a point that New York can be less socially intense than smaller communities.
In New York, there’s anonymity because there are a million different scenes. In smaller towns, there’s often one social hierarchy and everyone knows exactly where they stand. That can feel way more intense.
You’re famously anti-Hamptons.
I do not set foot in the Hamptons. My kids used to ask why we didn’t have a house there, and I’d say, ‘You get to travel and experience, you get to go to London…. You’re welcome.’
You also seem unusually grounded considering the world you grew up in.
Perspective matters. We worked hard with our kids about that. We made them volunteer at food pantries from a very young age because I didn’t want them growing up in a bubble.
What was the best part of making Influenced?
The sense of family. Writing is very isolating, but being on set every day with everybody, shooting on the streets of New York, eating lunch together, laughing all day. It felt joyful and collaborative.
What do you ultimately hope people take away from the movie?
I want people to escape and laugh. Everybody’s trying to make things with giant messages now. I don’t feel the need to do that. We’re all going to die. We may as well laugh while we have the time.
