Chelsea Peretti makes directorial debut with aptly named First Time Female Director

Blake Anderson, Kate Berlant, Jak Knight, Megan Mullally, Benito Skinner, and Megan Stalter will co-star in the meta comedy

By Mary Kate Carr  |  July 15, 2022 | 6:30pm
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Chelsea Peretti makes directorial debut with aptly named First Time Female Director
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Chelsea Peretti Photo: Frazer Harrison

Beloved comedian and Brooklyn Nine-Nine alum Chelsea Peretti will make her feature film directorial debut with First Time Female Director. Peretti also wrote and stars in the meta-comedy about–well, you know.

Per Deadline, Peretti plays a “newly minted female director” of a local theater in Glendale, California where she “struggles to fill the shoes of her male predecessor, putting her Southern rural drama in jeopardy.” Joining her ensemble is a truly stellar cast of comic actors, including Blake Anderson, Kate Berlant, Jak Knight, Megan Mullally, Benito Skinner (a.k.a. Benny Drama) and Megan Stalter.

Not only that, but the film will also feature appearances from Max Greenfield, Brad Hall, Tim Heidecker, Natasha Leggero, Andy Richter, Xosha Roquemore, and Amy Poehler, who will produce the film through her company Paper Kite.

“This is the project of a lifetime for me—a chance to have my voice embodied by a truly brilliant ensemble of comedic actors,” Peretti says in a statement to Deadline. “I am so moved to have a prolific, beloved and sharp comedy collaborator like Amy Poehler as a producer and actor. And grateful for my champions at MarVista, who took this from script to screen. Our dream was to watch a laugh-out-loud comedy film and I cannot wait to share what we have made with audiences as soon as possible! Also, I love my lawyer. She’s great.”

“Paper Kite is thrilled to help support the hilarious Chelsea Peretti and her deeply unique and funny film. We also have loved working with MarVista and are grateful they helped make this all happen,” adds Poehler.

Truly devoted fans of Peretti may wonder if the show-within-a-show might in fact be her play Rain’s Comin’ In, a rural family drama she debuted on her podcast Call Chelsea Peretti in 2017. (First Time Female Director stars Berlant and Roquemore were both featured in the play’s reading on the pod.) In any case, Peretti is sure to make even more of a splash in the film industry than she did the theater world with that seminal play.

 
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