Died at 48
male
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.
On Christmas Eve, Megan and Kiera are awakened that night by a noise on the roof. While investigating, Megan startles Mrs. Claus, who falls off the roof and dies. Her body vanishes, leaving behind a red suit and business card stating that if anything were to happen to her, someone should put on the suit and the reindeer will know what to do. Megan and Kiera find Santa’s sleigh and reindeer on the roof. At Kiera's request, Megan reluctantly dons the suit and spends the rest of the night delivering gifts before the reindeer take them to the North Pole. They discover that Megan is subject to a legal technicality known as "the Mrs. Clause," and has accepted all of the late Santa's duties and responsibilities. The head elf, Annette, gives Megan 11 months to get her affairs in order before reporting back to the North Pole on Thanksgiving. Overwhelmed, Megan changes into pajamas provided to her and falls asleep. Over the next year, Megan undergoes a drastic change; she gains a massive amount of weight and develops an increased fondness for sweets, particularly milk and cookies. Her hair rapidly turns white in spite of attempts to dye it. During a pitch meeting, Megan is angered at a proposal to make a teen soap opera about Mrs. Claus. Megan also begins to recount 'naughty' and 'nice' children by name when she sees them.
