I Heart Huckabees is a 2004 independent black comedy film directed and produced by David O. Russell, who cowrote the screenplay with Jeff Baena.
Used Cars is a 1980 American satirical black comedy film co-written and directed by Robert Zemeckis. The story follows Rudy Russo, a devious salesman, working for affable, but monumentally unsuccessful used-car dealer Luke Fuchs. Luke's principal rival, located directly across the street, is his more prosperous brother, Roy L. Fuchs, who is scheming to take over Luke's lot. The film also stars Deborah Harmon and Gerrit Graham, and the supporting cast includes Frank McRae, David L. Lander, Michael McKean, Joe Flaherty, Al Lewis, Dub Taylor, Harry Northup, Dick Miller, and Betty Thomas.
William Todd Field is an American filmmaker and actor. He is known for directing In the Bedroom (2001), Little Children (2006), and Tár (2022), which were nominated for a combined fourteen Academy Awards. Field has personally received six Academy Award nominations for his films; two for Best Picture, two for Best Adapted Screenplay, one for Best Director, and one for Best Original Screenplay.
Alessandro Antine Nivola is an American actor. He has been nominated for a Tony Award and an Independent Spirit Award and has won a Screen Actors Guild Award, a British Independent Film Award (BIFA), and the Best Actor Award at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival among others.
Safety Not Guaranteed is a 2012 American science fiction comedy film directed by Colin Trevorrow and starring Aubrey Plaza and Mark Duplass. It was inspired by a joke classified ad that ran in Backwoods Home Magazine in 1997. The film was screened at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. It received generally positive reviews. In fall 2024, the film’s musical adaptation will have its world premiere at Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Eric Caudieux is a French sound engineer and producer. An accomplished player of the keyboards and rhythm guitar, he is best known for his work with Joe Satriani, appearing on many of his albums and as a member of his backing group when he is on tour. As an engineer, editor, producer and composer he has worked with other artists including Guns N' Roses, Katy Perry, Dido, Brad Mehldau and Blake Mills. As a guitarist, he is left handed.
Aubrey Christina Plaza is an American actress and producer. She began acting in local theater productions as a teenager and performed improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. After graduating from New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Plaza made her feature film debut in Mystery Team (2009) and gained wide recognition for her role as April Ludgate on the NBC political satire sitcom Parks and Recreation (2009–2015).
Alison Brie Schermerhorn is an American actress. Her breakthrough came with the role of Trudy Campbell in the drama series Mad Men (2007–2015), which earned her a Screen Actors Guild Award. She gained recognition for her role as Annie Edison in the sitcom Community (2009–2015) and voicing Diane Nguyen in the animated comedy series BoJack Horseman (2014–2020). For playing Ruth Wilder in the comedy-drama series GLOW (2017–2019), she received nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and two Critics' Choice Awards.
The End of Love is a drama film written and directed by Mark Webber. It stars Michael Cera, Amanda Seyfried and Mark Webber. It premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically in the United States on March 1, 2013.
Life After Beth is a 2014 American zombie comedy film written and directed by Jeff Baena. The film stars Aubrey Plaza, Dane DeHaan, Molly Shannon, Cheryl Hines, Paul Reiser, Matthew Gray Gubler, and John C. Reilly. The film premiered in competition at 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2014, and was given a limited release on August 15, 2014. This was Garry Marshall's final film appearance, although he continued to write and direct films and act in television until his death in 2016.
The 2016 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 21 to January 31, 2016. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 2, 2015. The opening night film was Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You, directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady. The closing night film was Louis Black and Karen Bernstein's Richard Linklater: Dream Is Destiny.
Joshy is a 2016 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Jeff Baena. It stars Thomas Middleditch, Adam Pally, Alex Ross Perry, Nick Kroll, Brett Gelman, Jenny Slate and Lauren Graham. It was shown in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. The film was released on August 12, 2016, by Lionsgate Premiere.
The Little Hours is a 2017 American medieval black comedy film written and directed by Jeff Baena. The film is loosely based on the first and second stories of day three of ten of The Decameron, a collection of novellas by Giovanni Boccaccio, a 14th-century Italian writer. It stars an ensemble cast featuring Alison Brie, Dave Franco, Kate Micucci, Aubrey Plaza, John C. Reilly, and Molly Shannon.
Ingrid Goes West is a 2017 American black comedy drama film directed by Matt Spicer and written by Spicer and David Branson Smith. The film stars Aubrey Plaza, Elizabeth Olsen, Billy Magnussen, Wyatt Russell, Pom Klementieff, and O'Shea Jackson Jr., and follows a young woman who moves to Los Angeles in an effort to befriend her Instagram idol.
American actress, producer, and comedian Aubrey Plaza began her career performing improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. She made her feature film debut in the 2009 comedy film Mystery Team and gained recognition for playing April Ludgate on the political satire mockumentary sitcom Parks and Recreation (2009–2015). She had her first lead film role as a magazine intern investigating a classified ad in the science fiction comedy Safety Not Guaranteed (2012) and voiced characters in the animated film Monsters University (2013) and television series The Legend of Korra (2013–2014). In 2014, she starred in the horror comedy Life After Beth and Hal Hartley's drama film Ned Rifle.
Happiest Season is a 2020 American romantic comedy film directed by Clea DuVall, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mary Holland. Starring an ensemble cast consisting of Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis, Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza, Daniel Levy, Mary Holland, Victor Garber, and Mary Steenburgen, the film follows a young woman who struggles to admit to her conservative parents that she is a lesbian while she and her girlfriend visit them during Christmas. A semi-autobiographical take on DuVall's experiences with her family, Happiest Season is the first lesbian Christmas rom-com produced by a major Hollywood studio.
Horse Girl is a 2020 American psychological drama film directed and produced by Jeff Baena, from a screenplay written by Baena and Alison Brie. It stars Brie, Debby Ryan, John Reynolds, Molly Shannon, John Ortiz, and Paul Reiser.
Spin Me Round is a 2022 American dark comedy film co-written by Jeff Baena and Alison Brie and directed by Baena. It premiered at the 2022 South by Southwest festival on March 12, 2022. It was released on August 19, 2022, by IFC Films in theaters and by AMC+ on video on demand.
Emily the Criminal is a 2022 American crime thriller film written and directed by John Patton Ford in his feature directorial debut. It stars Aubrey Plaza as the titular character, alongside Theo Rossi, Megalyn Echikunwoke, and Gina Gershon in supporting roles. The film follows Emily Benetto, a young woman saddled with student debt and locked out of the job market due to a criminal record, who gets involved in a credit card scam that pulls her into the criminal underworld of Los Angeles.
The following is a list of unproduced David O. Russell projects in roughly chronological order. During his career, film director David O. Russell has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these productions fell in development hell or were cancelled.
