
Directing
Jeff Baena
Born 1977-06-29 · Miami, Florida, USA
Jeff Baena (June 29, 1977 – January 3, 2025) was an American screenwriter and film director known for Life After Beth (2014), Joshy (2016), The Little Hours (2017), Horse Girl (2020), Spin Me Round (2022), and for co-writing I Heart Huckabees (2004). He was known for his frequent collaborations with actresses Alison Brie and his wife Aubrey Plaza. After graduating NYU Film School, Baena moved to Los Angeles to start building his career. He became a production assistant for Robert Zemeckis, working on a number of films. After working with Zemeckis, Baena took a job as an assistant editor for writer-director David O. Russell. After a year-and-a-half of working together, a minor car accident injured one of Baena's eyes. Partially to keep his spirits up and pass the time during his recovery from that, Russell began discussing story ideas with Baena. The two ended up collaborating on four scripts together. One of those four scripts was I Heart Huckabees, which Russell directed in 2004. At the same time, Baena began to focus his career on writing and wrote the zombie comedy Life After Beth, which would wind up being his debut feature as a director. Baena had planned for Joshy to be his directorial debut, but actor and collaborator Adam Pally had to pull out for personal reasons. Baena then decided to work on Life After Beth, which he had begun writing in 2003. The next film for Baena was The Little Hours, which was released in 2017. The film features actors Alison Brie, Dave Franco, Kate Micucci, Aubrey Plaza, John C. Reilly and Molly Shannon along with multiple cameos. Baena's film Horse Girl, which he wrote with Alison Brie, who stars in the film, had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2020.
Acting credits
5.2Tim and Lee are married with a young child. The chance to stay at a fancy home in the Hollywood Hills is complicated by Tim's discovery of a bone and a rusty old gun in the yard. Tim is excited by the idea of a mystery, but Lee doesn't want him to dig any further, preferring that he focus on the family taxes, which he promised to do weeks ago. This disagreement sends them on separate and unexpected adventures over the course of a weekend, as Tim and his friends seek clues to the mystery while Lee searches for answers to the bigger questions of marriage and parenthood.
Digging for Fire
2015
6.1Mark is a struggling actor stuck between the life he once knew and the one waiting for him. When the mother of his two-year-old son suddenly passes away, Mark is forced to confront his shortcomings. Their fates, now intertwined, hang in the balance as Mark grapples with his ability to grow up. When he meets Lydia, a young mother, he is no longer able to live in the comfort of denial.
The End of Love
2013
Behind the camera
4.9When the manager of an Italian restaurant chain wins the opportunity to attend the franchise’s educational immersion program in Italy, what she thought would be a romantic getaway devolves into chaos and catastrophe.
Spin Me Round
2022
4.9When the manager of an Italian restaurant chain wins the opportunity to attend the franchise’s educational immersion program in Italy, what she thought would be a romantic getaway devolves into chaos and catastrophe.
Spin Me Round
2022
4.9When the manager of an Italian restaurant chain wins the opportunity to attend the franchise’s educational immersion program in Italy, what she thought would be a romantic getaway devolves into chaos and catastrophe.
Spin Me Round
2022
6.3A husband-and-wife team play detective, but not in the traditional sense. Instead, the happy duo helps others solve their existential issues, the kind that keep you up at night, wondering what it all means.
I ♥ Huckabees
2004
5.9Garfagnana, Italy, 1347. The handsome servant Masseto, fleeing from his vindictive master, takes shelter in a nunnery where three young nuns, Sister Alessandra, Sister Ginevra and Sister Fernanda, try unsuccessfully to find out what their purpose in life is, a conundrum that each of them faces in different ways.
The Little Hours
2017
5.9Garfagnana, Italy, 1347. The handsome servant Masseto, fleeing from his vindictive master, takes shelter in a nunnery where three young nuns, Sister Alessandra, Sister Ginevra and Sister Fernanda, try unsuccessfully to find out what their purpose in life is, a conundrum that each of them faces in different ways.
The Little Hours
2017
5.7A socially awkward woman with a fondness for arts and crafts, horses, and supernatural crime shows finds her increasingly lucid dreams trickling into her waking life.
Horse Girl
2020
5.7A socially awkward woman with a fondness for arts and crafts, horses, and supernatural crime shows finds her increasingly lucid dreams trickling into her waking life.
Horse Girl
2020
5.7A socially awkward woman with a fondness for arts and crafts, horses, and supernatural crime shows finds her increasingly lucid dreams trickling into her waking life.
Horse Girl
2020
5.5Zach is devastated by the unexpected death of his girlfriend, Beth. When she mysteriously returns, he gets a second chance at love. Soon his whole world turns upside down...
Life After Beth
2014
5.5Zach is devastated by the unexpected death of his girlfriend, Beth. When she mysteriously returns, he gets a second chance at love. Soon his whole world turns upside down...
Life After Beth
2014
5.6After his engagement ends badly, Josh decides to take advantage of his bachelor-party plans in Ojai, California, with the few friends still willing to join him. Focused on drugs and their own hangups, his self-absorbed friends refuse to confront the elephant in the room and ask Josh how he’s feeling. As welcome and unwelcome guests stop by, Josh will attempt to find some closure over this weekend with the guys.
Joshy
2016
5.6After his engagement ends badly, Josh decides to take advantage of his bachelor-party plans in Ojai, California, with the few friends still willing to join him. Focused on drugs and their own hangups, his self-absorbed friends refuse to confront the elephant in the room and ask Josh how he’s feeling. As welcome and unwelcome guests stop by, Josh will attempt to find some closure over this weekend with the guys.
Joshy
2016