Jeff Baena is gone, but the creative family he nurtured lives on

I could never put into words what Jeff Baena meant to those who called him friend—and maybe I shouldn’t even try. I was a guest in Jeff’s life and in his home. Others live closer to him, literally and otherwise. I live in New York. Jeff hates New York. Even if he were here, he wouldn’t venture far. You’ve seen Jeff at Jeff’s house, but that’s not where he lives – Jeff’s house is a social relationship that exists wherever he is.

Jeff is gone now, but the house he built will remain. His life’s work – I realized over the past few days – was to create for dozens (maybe hundreds?) of people a sense of community that reflected all aspects of his personality. There’s Jeff basketball. (I never knew him.) Poker Jeff. (I saw him passing by while at his house when I came home from a late night.) Game night Jeff. (I know him well. Jeff is probably the most widely known. To me, this means Codenames, Balderdash, Rummikub, and Scrabble. He is undefeated—and invincible—at Scrabble. It’s amazing and crazy to play him, and I’m phenomenal at Scrabble.) Movie lover Jeff. (We argued, argued, agreed, went around.) And the Jeff that the public could and still has access to: Jeff the filmmaker.

I had the honor of being persuaded to spend a month with this Jeff. He asked me to star in his second film, Joshy. I knew him for less than a year. We had bonded over our shared love of games, and he wanted me to be a character not unlike myself: on a single weekend, mostly avoiding strippers and booze. to clear the game table. I didn’t want to do that because I was intimidated by the film’s improvisational structure and having to go up against undeniable comedic powerhouses like Thomas Middleditch, Adam Pally, Nick Kroll, And Brett Gelman.) Joe Swanberg said I had no other choice: “Be the one who helps the filmmaker make the film he sees in his head.” Jeff saw it Joshy in his head and I’m in it. So I was in there.

Do Joshy Being in Ojai meant staying at Jeff’s house for a month. Every night is game night. Each day ends with the cast eating together and listening to music curated by Jeff and only Jeff. “Work” was his chance to sit at the head of the table and not get up for weeks. Host, manage, introduce, nurture. These are Jeff’s goals, whether staying at his house for a night or going on a photo shoot for weeks.

I was with Jeff when he built a house in Baltimore. We were at the 2017 Maryland Film Festival, and he was furious because he forgot to bring Codenames. Having that many filmmakers in one place and not having game nights is unthinkable. And so he spent all day creating, from the beginning, A handcrafted deck of Codenames cards sat in a multi-purpose room on the top floor of the hotel—a place we weren’t allowed to enter—everyone could be a guest at Jeff’s exclusive game night.

by Alex Ross Perry.

I talked to many people who knew and loved him to try to understand Jeffs that I also didn’t know or didn’t know. I asked Alison Brie—with whom he made four films, co-writing and producing the last two, Horse girl And Spin around me—what she thinks thing about him made him special to all of us. “He wanted us to have the whole experience, not just on camera,” she said. “When I think about our two trips to Italy in Small time And Spin me around, Its social aspect is equally if not more important. Really wanted to get people out. Some people like it Paul Reiser will fly to Italy for one day to film and then fly back to the US. There’s something magical about working with Jeff – he can convince people in this magical artistic situation. It’s not a question of ‘let’s see if this person can play this role.’ It was about ‘let’s get a great group of people together and play with them.’”

Jeff loves Robert Altman. California Division is a favorite. I remember hearing a story (possibly apocryphal) that when Altman called his regular cast and collaborators for a new film, he would say something like, “We’re organizing Another party.” Jeff hosts parties at his house twice a week – poker night and game night. About every 18 months he hosts a filmmaking party. You just need to go to Jeff’s house. Not because you have to – you want to. You want to stop. You want to travel, even if just for a day. The people around you have been invited by someone who has very clear standards of who will be energetic, so you will have a good time with great friends.