Jeff Baena, writer, director, and husband of Aubrey Plaza, died at age 47
Jeff Baena, a writer and filmmaker whose films include "Life After Beth" and "The Little Hours," has died, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. He was 47.
Baena died on Friday at his Los Angeles home. The circumstances behind Baena's death remain unknown at this time.
Baena was the spouse of Aubrey Plaza, an actor and comedian. The two collaborated on multiple projects, including 2014's horror-comedy "Life After Beth" and 2017's historical comedy "The Little Hours."
More recently, the couple worked together on the 2021 comedy series "Cinema Toast" and the 2022 feature "Spin Me Round." Both films included actor Alison Brie, who also appeared in Baena's 2020 drama "Horse Girl."
Baena is best known for co-creating the critically praised 2004 film "I Heart Huckabees," which starred Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin, and for writing and directing the 2016 dramedy "Joshy," starring Thomas Middleditch.
The pair married in a secret ceremony in 2021 after being together since 2011.
Around that time, Plaza told People how the Covid-19 epidemic had deepened their bond.
“We were quarantined for months and months like everybody else,” she said at the time. “And we did enjoy it. I think it was, obviously other than all of the catastrophic things happening in the world, just on a personal level, relationship level, was kind of nice to just be forced to be in one place for that long.”
Plaza claimed the wedding commemorated their tenth anniversary together.
"I just said 'It's our 10-year anniversary, we should do something, get an ice cream cone, you know, do something special. And then I joked about getting married and he's like 'Well, we probably couldn't get married that fast,'" she said. "He was like 'We probably couldn't get married that fast.' I said 'Wouldn't it be nice to get married on our actual anniversary? And then I Googled it, and I found OneHourMarriage.com, and then I called around 5 p.m., and I said 'Can you come in an hour and marry me in our yard?'"
Baena graduated from NYU Tisch Film School. After relocating to Los Angeles to pursue a career in entertainment, he worked as a production assistant for Robert Zemeckis and assistant editor for David O. Russell, with whom he collaborated on "Huckabees."
“I think it’s rare to have as many opportunities as I’ve had. I’ve been lucky and I’m definitely appreciative of that,” Baena said in a 2022 interview with Reel Talker. “I love movies and I love filmmaking. I just celebrate it and I hope younger filmmakers and new filmmakers also have a chance to express themselves.”
During the same interview, he discussed his time working with Plaza.
“She’s awesome. I would be working with her if she wasn’t my wife, but luckily she is,” he said. “Having that sort of shorthand and that sort of connection is amazing… The opportunities to create together and do something creative where we’re both fulfilled, how rare is that.”
Plaza, Baena's mother Barbara Stern, stepfather Roger Stern, father Scott Baena, stepmother Michele Baena, and brother Brad Baena, as well as stepsiblings Bianca Gabay and Jed Fluxman, survive him.
