SHELBY BLAKE BARTELSTEIN is a writer/director now based in Los Angeles after living in New York City for the last decade. Originally from the North Shore of Chicago, her love for deep dish pizza, The Cubs, and John Hughes still remain sincerely intact.

In 2020, Shelby’s narrative debut “Pretty People,” which she penned, directed + starred in, premiered at The Tribeca Film Festival, where she was also selected as one of the five Episodic “Emerging Creators” for Tribeca N.O.W. 2020 (in partnership with HBO). “Pretty People” also screened at Oscar Qualifying Festivals, including Nashville International Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, Cleveland International Film Festival, HollyShorts, New Orleans Film Festival, and Flicker’s Rhode Island International Film Festival.

Shelby discovered filmmaking through advertising, where she revitalized the branded musical with the viral hit “I Can’t Wait to Wash My Face: The Musical!,” from Olay on the 2018 MTV VMAs. Shelby then brought Olay to Broadway for a night with an all-new musical “The Road to Glow!” (quoted by Cracked! as the “Avenger’s: End Game of Face Wash Brands”) It starred comedy legend Ana Gasteyer (SNL, Mean Girls, Netflix’s Wine Country), alongside the hottest names on Broadway.