Jeff Baena, an unbiased filmmaker finest identified for steering “Life After Beth” and co-writing “I Heart Huckabees,” died Friday, in response to the Los Angeles County medical expert. He was 47.
Baena had been married to actor Aubrey Plaza since 2021. The couple collaborated on a number of movies, together with in 2014’s “Life After Beth,” by which Plaza had a starring position.
He died by suicide at a house, in response to the medical expert’s data.
Baena graduated from New York University’s movie college and moved to Los Angeles to pursue his profession, in response to Deadline. He labored as a manufacturing assistant earlier than pivoting into an assistant editor position. It was on this position that he labored with director David O. Russell, Baena’s co-writer and the director of “I Heart Huckabees,” a 2004 darkish comedy with an ensemble solid that included Mark Wahlberg, Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin.
In an interview with Fast Company in 2016, Baena spoke about an accident that left him with an eye fixed damage — particularly cornea harm — being the catalyst for his co-writing relationship with Russell.
Russell requested Baena what he thought of an thought floated to him by a manufacturing firm, and the dialog took off from there, in response to the outlet.
“He allowed me to advocate for any concepts that had been in battle together with his concepts,” Baena informed Fast Company. “We had been on the identical wavelength, had the identical model and pursuits. He was actually a soul mate, as a cowriter.”
When it got here to his writing, Baena stated in an interview with ISA Insider that he was drawn to irony and that comedy “tends to have worlds constructed inside it.”
“Because I personally I really feel like, in essentially the most severe moments, there’s nonetheless comedy and the way in which individuals deal with dangerous issues is mostly by means of comedy,” Baena informed the outlet.
The Sundance Film Festival posted a tribute to Baena on X, extending “our heartfelt due to Jeff Baena for sharing his tales and contributing to the lasting recollections we’ve constructed collectively.”
“Jeff, we’ll miss your wit, humor, and daring imaginative and prescient. Rest in peace, buddy,” Sundance posted.
Comedian and podcast host Marc Maron stated on X that he’s “very unhappy in regards to the tragic lack of a real artist and candy man.”
If you or somebody you already know is in disaster, name or textual content 988 to achieve the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or chat reside at 988lifeline.org. You may go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/sources for added help.
Colin Sheeley and Rebecca Cohen contributed.