Live action directors Jeff and Jackie Schaffer have joined the roster of integrated production company Tool of North America. The filmmaking team brings extensive experience in producing and directing television and feature film entertainment, most recently creating FX’s comedy The League, now in its seventh season.
Jeff is a five-time Emmy nominee who has worked with Larry David to write, produce and direct series such as Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Jeff has also co-written several feature films including The Dictator, Bruno and the HBO original Clear History. In 2010, Jeff was nominated for a DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy on the strength of the “Seinfeld” episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO).
In addition to her work as writer, producer and director on The League, Jackie also has credits as a film producer–including Disturbia and EuroTrip, which Jeff co-wrote and directed.
“We’ve been huge fans of Jeff and Jackie’s work for some time. Both individually and as a team, they have an innate ability to deliver quality entertainment that resonates with audiences,” said Oliver Fuselier, managing partner, live action, at Tool.
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More