Lorene Scafaria (born May 1, 1978) is an American filmmaker and actress. She wrote and directed the films Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012), The Meddler (2015), and Hustlers (2019), and wrote the film Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008).
Scafaria's television work includes directing episodes of Succession, New Girl, and Childrens Hospital. She directed the Succession episodes "Too Much Birthday" (2021), "Honeymoon States" (2023), and "Living+" (2023), earning nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for "Too Much Birthday" and "Living+", as well as a nomination for the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Drama Series for "Too Much Birthday".
Scafaria is also a singer, songwriter, and pianist who has released two albums of original songs called Garden Party and Laughter and Forgetting. Some of her songs have been featured in films such as Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist and Whip It! (2009).
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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 transferred to Montclair State University in Montclair, New Jersey, where she earned a BA in English with a minor in theater.
Career
Scafaria moved to New York City and wrote, directed, and acted in a play at the Producer's Club Theatre called That Guy and Others Like Him. She had a small role in the acclaimed short film Bullet in the Brain, which won awards at festivals. 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.
Seeking a new writing agent, Scafaria sent out queries to 20 different agencies, one of whom replied that they would represent her if she moved to Los Angeles. Although she did not anticipate real success, she moved there and became roommates with fellow screenwriter Bryan Sipe, whom she had previously met while making a film in 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, which was purchased by Revolution Studios; however, the project was shelved after the studio asked them to make changes to the script which Scafaria described as "far less interesting".
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 and 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 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 for 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; it was not officially released until 2010. The 2009 film Whip It! features her song "28" in the closing credits. She released her second album Laughter and Forgetting in April 2010.
Personal life
Scafaria lives in Los Angeles. She was in a relationship with musical comedian Bo Burnham from 2013 to 2022.
Filmography
Film
Acting roles
Television
As herself
Made in Hollywood (2012) (1 episode)