CNN
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Jeff Baena, a writer and director whose works 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 home in Los Angeles. His cause of death is listed as “deferred” in court records.

Baena was the husband of actor and comedian Aubrey Plaza. The two worked together on several projects, including the 2014 horror-comedy Life After Beth and the 2017 historical comedy The Little Hours.

More recently, the two worked together on the comedy series “Cinema Toast” (2021) and the film “Spin Me Round” (2022). Both projects also starred actress Alison Brie, who also starred in Baena’s 2020 drama Horse Girl.

Baena is known for co-writing the acclaimed 2004 film “I Heart Huckabees,” starring Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin, and writing and directing the 2016 dramedy “Joshy,” 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 People how the Covid-19 pandemic had strengthened their relationship.

“We were quarantined for months like everyone else,” she said at the time. “And we had fun. I think, of course, aside from all the disastrous things that are happening in the world, just on a personal level, on a relationship level, it was kind of nice to just be forced to be in one place for so long.”

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 worked on “Huckabees.”

“I think it’s rare to have as many opportunities as I have. I was lucky and I’m definitely grateful for that,” Baena said in a 2022 interview with Reel Talker. “I love films and I love filmmaking. I just celebrate it and hope that younger and new filmmakers also have the opportunity to express themselves.”

In the same interview, he reflected on working with Plaza.

“She’s great. I would work with her if she wasn’t my wife, but luckily she is,” he said. “To have that kind of shorthand and that kind of connection is amazing…The opportunities to create something together and do something creative where we’re both fulfilled, how rare that is.”

Baena is survived by Plaza, his parents and stepparents, and several siblings.

This story has been updated to include additional information.