Chelsea Frei’s Debut ‘Get Off Your Phone’ Wraps — SkimNews
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- Get Off Your Phone wrapped principal photography, making the satirical horror-comedy Chelsea Frei’s feature directorial debut.
- Chelsea Frei wrote the screenplay and stars as canceled influencer Daniela, alongside Maria Bakalova and Jon Rudnitsky; she also shares producing duties with five co-producers.
- Maria Bakalova plays Rada, the mysterious stranger whose arrival gives Daniela and Jackson’s attempt to disconnect from the digital world an unsettling turn; Bakalova is identified as an Oscar nominee, with The Apprentice listed among her credits.
- Jon Rudnitsky plays Jackson, the boyfriend accompanying Daniela to rural Wisconsin; Saturday Night Live is listed among Rudnitsky’s credits.
- Phiphen Pictures produced the film with Framehound and Doom and Gloom, while Molly Conners, Amanda Bowers, Andi Matichak, Emma Thorne, Gillian Williams and Frei are listed as producers.
- Get Off Your Phone is described as a social satire with psychological horror and dark comedy, exploring increasingly blurred boundaries between digital identities and people when no one is watching.
- Chelsea Frei said she began writing during the pandemic after her own screen time reached “truly alarming” levels, wanting to take collective phone obsession to the extreme.
Why it matters: Chelsea Frei now has a feature whose principal photography has wrapped and on which she wrote, directed, starred and produced, making her one of six listed producers. Her four-role overlap places her at the center of the film’s creative work, while Phiphen Pictures, Framehound and Doom and Gloom each back a production that has moved past filming.
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