Lorene Scafaria

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Lorene Scafaria
Scafaria in September 2019
Scafaria in September 2019
Born (1978-05-01) May 1, 1978 (age 45)
Holmdel, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation
  • Filmmaker
  • playwright
  • musician
  • actress
Years active1999–present

Lorene Scafaria (born May 1, 1978) is an American filmmaker, playwright, musician, and actress. She wrote and directed the films Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012), The Meddler (2015), and Hustlers (2019), as well as writing the film Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008).

Scafaria directed the Succession (2018–2023) episodes "Too Much Birthday", "Living+", and "Honeymoon States". She earned nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for "Too Much Birthday" and "Living+", in addition to a nomination for the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Drama Series for "Too Much Birthday".

Early life

Scafaria was born in Holmdel, New Jersey, on May 1, 1978, the daughter of Gail (née Kiernan) and Joseph Scafaria (1939–2009). Her mother is a Canadian-American, while her father was an Italian immigrant from Gioia Tauro. She has a brother named Vincent. She became interested in writing when she began making a book report on a fake book every month in order to win Pizza Hut gift certificates from her school. By the age of 17, she had written and staged her first play in Red Bank, New Jersey. After graduating from Holmdel High School in 1995, she attended Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. Unable to afford the tuition fees, she soon transferred to Montclair State University in Montclair, New Jersey, where she earned a BA in English with a minor in theater.

Career

After moving to New York City, Scafaria wrote and directed a play at the Producer's Club Theatre called That Guy and Others Like Him, in which she also acted. She had a small role in the acclaimed short film Bullet in the Brain, which won awards at festivals and was produced by CJ Follini. Her writing agent had still yet to find her a job, so she took on more acting roles, appearing in many theater productions in addition to films such as Big Helium Dog and A Million Miles.

Seeking new representation for her writing career, she sent out queries to 20 different agents; one of the agents who replied said that they required her to move to Los Angeles. Although she did not anticipate real success with the agent, she moved there and became roommates with screenwriter Bryan Sipe, whom she had previously met while making a film in her native New Jersey. Neither of their work was considered "commercial" enough by studios, so they paired up to write a children's adventure film called Legend Has It. The screenplay was purchased by Revolution Studios; however, after the studio asked the pair to make changes to the script which Scafaria described as "far less interesting", the project was shelved.

In 2005, Scafaria was hired by Focus Features to adapt the book Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist into a film of the same name. It was her ninth screenplay but her first adaptation. She told MovieMaker, "I grew up in suburban New Jersey, so I immediately identified with the characters, especially Norah. Everything from feeling uncomfortable in my own skin to having a father who's larger than life (even if only in your mind), her plight really spoke to me and seemed like it would speak to a lot of young girls. It wasn't hard to get inside the characters' heads—the authors' voices are so strong." She said the film Before Sunrise was a big inspiration for the structure of her adaptation and said that she wanted to bring a nostalgic take on the teen comedy: "It was just a real challenge to kind of bring it back to those movies that I grew up on in the '80s, John Hughes movies and Cameron Crowe."

In 2012, the "Fempire" (a trio of writers consisting of Scafaria and her close friends Diablo Cody and Liz Meriwether) received the Athena Film Festival Award for Creativity and Sisterhood. Scafaria wrote the Iraq War docudrama Sweet Relief for Paramount Pictures and The Mighty Flynn, a spec script which she set up at Warner Brothers. She also wrote the film Man and Wife, which had Gabriele Muccino attached to direct.

During the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Scafaria recorded an album called Garden Party, featuring original songs she sang and played on the piano. The 2009 film Whip It! features her song "28" in the closing credits. She released her second album, Laughter and Forgetting, in April 2010.

In 2009, Mandate Pictures bought Scafaria's script Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, a romantic comedy focusing on a man's quest for a meaningful connection during the apocalypse. It was the first film Scafaria also directed, and was released in June 2012. In an interview, she said, "Two people at the end of the world—all the chaos that's around them that they're sort of wheeling through—and obviously some people are just mowing their lawn and other people are doing heroin... but there's something to me that becomes even more romantic, and that's what I was excited to explore and see. I love relationships. I love intimate stories about people; whether it's a guy and a girl or whatever it is, I like intimate stories of people and how they relate to each other."

In 2015, Scafaria wrote and directed the comedy-drama film The Meddler. The film tells the story of a mother and daughter trying to move on with life after the loss of their husband and father. Scafaria told The New York Times, "There's a reason that it's all from Marnie's perspective because I never wanted to get a break from her. More than anything I wanted it to inspire empathy from people who might find themselves in this situation, whether it's through loss or some other circumstance that creates strife. Once I started showing people the script, that there was something so relatable about being the adult child of someone and trying to stay best friends."

In 2019, Scafaria wrote and directed the crime drama film Hustlers, which was based on a 2015 New York magazine article by Jessica Pressler. The film was a critical and commercial success. Scafaria said to Vox on the real story, "There are a lot of movies that I think have touched upon these themes—The Wolf of Wall Street or movies like The Big Short—which explain from the bullpen. But I'm really interested in seeing the impact that the 2008 recession had on these women who worked in Wall Street's backyard." When mentioning the relationship between Destiny and Ramona, she said, "It felt like there was something more in between the lines—the story of these two women who became friends and formed this business together, and then here they are being interviewed separately years later." In a 2019 interview, the real-life stripper who went through the events of the film told her side of the story and discussed how accurate it was while praising Scafaria.

Between 2021 and 2023, Scafaria directed three episodes of the HBO series Succession. For its third season, she directed the episode "Too Much Birthday", for which she received a Directors Guild of America Award nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series as well as a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series. For the fourth and final season of the series, Scafaria directed the episodes "Honeymoon States" and "Living+", with the latter earning her another nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series.

Personal life

Scafaria lives in Los Angeles. She dated comedian Bo Burnham from 2013 until 2022.

Filmography

Films

Year Title Actress Writer Director Producer Composer Role Notes
1999 Big Helium Dog Yes No No No No Chastity
2001 A Million Miles Yes No No No No Jodi
Mayhem Motel Yes No No No No Abby
Bullet in the Brain Yes No No No No Eager Student Short film
2004 Unbound Yes No No No No Girl Short film
2007 The Nines Yes No No No No Game Night Guest
2008 Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist Yes Yes No No Yes Drunk Girl in Yugo Soundtrack credit: "12 Gays of Christmas"
2009 Whip It No No No No Yes Soundtrack: "28"
1045 Mercy Street No Yes No No No Short film
2012 Seeking a Friend for the End of the World No Yes Yes No No
2013 Coherence Yes No No No No Lee
2015 Ricki and the Flash No No No Yes No Executive producer
The Meddler No Yes Yes No No
2019 Hustlers No Yes Yes Yes No Co-producer
2022 Jennifer Lopez: Halftime Yes No No No No Herself Documentary
2023 Under the Boardwalk No Yes No Yes No Executive producer

Television

Year Title Writer Director Producer Role Notes
2010 Childrens Hospital Yes No No Episode: "Show Me on Montana"
2012 Made in Hollywood No No No Herself Episode #7.30
Ben and Kate Yes No Yes Writer ("Career Day")
Consulting producer (3 episodes)
Soundtrack writer (2 songs)
2013–2014 New Girl No Yes No 3 episodes
2021–2023 Succession No Yes No 3 episodes

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref.
2012 Athena Film Festival Athena Award (shared with Diablo Cody, Dana Fox and Elizabeth Meriwether) — Won
2016 Alliance of Women Film Journalists Best Woman Screenwriter The Meddler Nominated
Women's Image Network Awards Film Written by a Woman Nominated
2019 Chicago Film Critics Association Best Adapted Screenplay Hustlers Nominated
Dublin Film Critics' Circle Best Director Nominated
Best Screenplay Nominated
Gotham Awards Best Feature Nominated
San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
2020 Alliance of Women Film Journalists Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
Best Woman Screenwriter Nominated
Austin Film Critics Association Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
Independent Spirit Awards Best Director Nominated
Georgia Film Critics Association Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
Hollywood Critics Association Best Female Director Nominated
Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
Online Film Critics Society Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
2022 Directors Guild of America Awards Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series (for "Too Much Birthday") Succession Nominated
Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series (for "Too Much Birthday") Nominated
2023 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series (for "Living+") Nominated

References

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External links

Wikious
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