‘Group Chat’ Premieres in Dayton, Ohio

I had a chance to catch the premiere of ‘Group Chat,’ a series created by Jenna Valyn of Campfire Films, at The Neon. It was followed by a Q&A with the cast. The first episode is available now on YouTube!

The Story So Far

We start off with an established friend group preparing to help vet a potential partner for Lyla. Of course, it’s revealed that each person has their own web to weave and we start to see some of that come through by the close of episode one.

The story is inspired by romance books and that makes perfect sense – I felt very invested in what comes next just like a bestselling page-turner. Think friends-to-lovers themes and your favorite rom-coms. One of the actors called the story “pure, genuine, and earnest.”

The Background

Many of the people involved in Group Chat were also a part of Nerve Theatre (formerly The Playground) – a group of individuals who put on great theatre performances in Dayton in the 2010s and into the 2020s before founders Jenna Valyn and Chris Hahn moved to Chicago for a reset. Now that they’re back, they’re wasting no time in creating more performance magic – this time focusing on film instead of live theatre.

What’s Next

Campfire Films is working to complete more episodes soon. They explained that they wanted to establish a body of work they can be proud of to help seek out funding and support.

Keep tabs on their progress and updates by following them on Instagram and subscribing to their YouTube channel.

Read much more about the project in this Dayton Daily News article.