First things first, from Damien Chazelle’s Wikipedia page:

Damien Sayre Chazelle (born January 19, 1985) is a French-American film director, producer, and screenwriter.[3] He is best known for his films Whiplash (2014), La La Land (2016), and First Man (2018). For La La Land, he received several accolades, including the Golden Globe Award and the Academy Award for Best Director; making him the youngest person to win either award at age 32.

I’d love to hear the backstory on how Apple brought Chazelle to this project. No matter, fire this up on your iPhone, it’s a great experience. Can’t help but wonder if we’ll someday see a director’s cut of a movie designed for your phone. An excellent experiment.

Embedded below the movie is a behind-the-scenes, Chazelle talking about the project and shooting vertically.