Jeff Baena, a writer and director whose credits include โLife After Bethโ and โThe Little Hours,โ has died, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner.
He was 47.
Baena died at his home in Los Angeles on Friday. His cause of death is listed as deferred on coroner records.
Baena was the husband of actor and comedian Aubrey Plaza. The two worked on several projects together, including the 2014โs horror-comedy โLife After Bethโ and the 2017 historical comedy โThe Little Hours.โ
More recently, the pair collaborated on the 2021 comedy series โCinema Toast,โ and the 2022 film โSpin Me Round.โ Both of those projects also featured actor Alison Brie, who additionally starred in Baenaโs 2020 drama โHorse Girl.โ
Baena is known for co-writing the acclaimed 2004 film โI Heart Huckabees,โ which featured Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin, and for writing and directing the 2016 dramedy โJoshyโ starring Thomas Middleditch.
CNN has reached out to representatives for Baena and Plaza for comment.
The couple married in a private ceremony in 2021 and had been together since 2011.
Around that time, Plaza told Peopleย about how the COVID-19 pandemic strengthened their relationship.
โWe were quarantined for months and months like everybody else,โ she said at the time. โAnd 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.โ
Baena was a graduate of NYU Tisch Film School. After moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in entertainment, he worked as a production assistant for Robert Zemeckis and as an assistant editor for David O. Russell, with whom he collaborated on โHuckabees.โ
โI think itโs rare to have as many opportunities as Iโve had. Iโve been lucky and Iโm definitely appreciative of that,โ Baena said in a 2022 interview with Reel Talker. โI 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.โ
He reflected on working with Plaza in that same interview.
โSheโs awesome. I would be working with her if she wasnโt my wife, but luckily she is,โ he said. โHaving that sort of shorthand and that sort of connection is amazingโฆ The opportunities to create together and do something creative where weโre both fulfilled, how rare is that.โ
Baena is survived by Plaza, his parents and stepparents, along with several siblings.
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This story has been updated to include additional information.
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