Alethea Jones
{{short description|Australian director}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Use Australian English|date=February 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Alethea Jones
| image = Alethea Jones Tropfest 2012 (6902264535).jpg
| alt =
| image_size = 200px
| caption = Jones at Tropfest 2012 in Sydney, Australia
| birth_name =
| birth_date =
| birth_place =
| death_date =
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| nationality = Australian
| other_names =
| occupation = Film director, producer, screenwriter
| years_active =
| known_for = Lemonade Stand (2012)
Fun Mom Dinner (2017)
| notable_works =
}}
Alethea Jones is an Australian film and television director. She is best known for her films Lemonade Stand (2012) and Fun Mom Dinner (2017), and the TV series Queen America.
Career
Jones's first short film, When the Wind Changes (which she directed and edited), premiered at the 2010 Melbourne International Film Festival and in 2011 won the prestigious Inside Film (IF) Award for Best Short Film as well as the Most Popular Film Award at Flickerfest and Best Comedy and People's Choice awards at the St Kilda Film Festival.{{cite web |title=One To Watch: Alethea Jones |url=https://www.harpersbazaar.com.au/fashion/one-to-watch-alethea-jones-2421 |website=Harper's Bazaar}}
Her big break was directing the short film Lemonade Stand, which won first prize at the 2012 Tropfest Film Festival. Tropfest founder and director, John Polson said: "Lemonade Stand is an incredibly well made film and a favourite amongst the judges. There was intense discussion in the judging room, and some really interesting debates. Alethea should be very proud to have been selected by some of the industry's greatest talent."{{cite web |title=Alethea Jones wins Tropfest with Lemonade Stand |url=https://www.if.com.au/alethea-jones-wins-tropfest-with-lemonade-stand/ |website=if.com.au|date=20 February 2012 }}
Her first feature film was Fun Mom Dinner, starring Toni Collette, Paul Rudd, Molly Shannon, Adam Scott, and Adam Levine. The film had its world premiere at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival,{{Cite web|url=https://www.sundance.org/projects/fun-mom-dinner|title=Fun-mom-dinner}}
In August 2017, it was announced that Jones would develop and direct the live action Barbie film, starring Anne Hathaway based on a script from Olivia Milch and produced by Sony.{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/sony-set-date-spider-man-spin-silver-black-sicario-2-1029051|title=Sony Sets Dates for 'Spider-Man' Spinoff 'Silver & Black' and 'Sicario 2'|website=The Hollywood Reporter|date=11 August 2017}}{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2019/01/09/barbie-movie-goes-from-amy-schumer-to-anne-hathaway-to-margot-robbie-goes-from-sony-to-warner-bros/|title=Will Margot Robbie's 'Barbie' Movie Ever Actually Get Made?|last=Mendelson|first=Scott|website=Forbes|language=en|access-date=2019-03-16}} In October 2018, Sony lost the rights to the film and it moved across to Warner Brothers with Margot Robbie to star.{{cite web |title='Barbie' Zooming From Sony To Warner Bros; Margot Robbie In Early Talks |url=https://deadline.com/2018/10/anne-hathaway-barbie-movie-to-open-2020-1202267729/ |website=Deadline Hollywood |date=5 October 2018 |access-date=15 January 2019}} A new creative team was assembled with the studio change and Hathaway, Jones and Milch did not go across for contractual reasons.{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2019/film/news/greta-gerwig-noah-baumbach-barbie-write-margot-robbie-1203267621/|title = Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach to Co-Write 'Barbie' Starring and Produced by Margot Robbie|date = 15 July 2019}} Jones is also attached to direct the period musical The Big Gay Jamboree, to be produced by LuckyChap Entertainment, from a script being written by Marla Mindelle and Jonathan Parks-Ramage.{{cite web |last1=D'Alessandro |first1=Anthony |title=Margot Robbie's LuckyChap Mounting Period Musical 'Big Gay Jamboree' At Paramount |url=https://deadline.com/2019/02/margot-robbie-big-gay-jamboree-paramount-1202567510/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190301025450/https://deadline.com/2019/02/margot-robbie-big-gay-jamboree-paramount-1202567510/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 March 2019 |website=Deadline Hollywood |date=28 February 2019 |access-date=13 March 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://moviehole.net/margot-robbie-sets-up-musical-with-paramount/|title=Margot Robbie sets up musical with Paramount|last=Ali|date=2019-03-01|website=Moviehole|access-date=2019-03-16}} In October 2022, Jones was announced as the producer and first episode director of Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies on streaming service Paramount+.{{cite web |last1=Del Rosario |first1=Alexandra |title='Grease: Rise Of The Pink Ladies': Justin Tranter, Jamal Sims, Alethea Jones Board Paramount+ Prequel Series' Creative Team |url=https://deadline.com/2021/10/grease-rise-of-the-pink-ladies-justin-tranter-jamal-sims-alethea-jones-paramount-prequel-series-creative-team-1234850003/ |website=Deadline |date=5 October 2021 |access-date=5 October 2022}}
Awards
- 2011 - When the Wind Changes - Best Short Film, Inside Film (IF) Awards
- 2012 - Lemonade Stand - First Prize, Tropfest Short Film Festival{{cite web|url=https://www.if.com.au/submissions-open-soon-for-tropfest-australia-2019/|title=Submissions open soon for Tropfest Australia 2019|date=2018-10-10|website=IF Magazine|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-16}}
- 2017 - Breakthrough Award (joint winner), Australians in Film{{cite web |last1=Sophie Ted |first1=Manson |title=From Katherine Langford to Alethea Jones: meet the home-grown talent taking over Hollywood |url=https://www.vogue.com.au/culture/features/from-katherine-langford-to-alethea-jones-meet-the-homegrown-talent-taking-over-hollywood/news-story/bcd01d9b7fddbd7755a047dcd9d0c5e7 |website=Vogue |date=12 January 2018 |publisher=Vogue Australia}}
Personal life
Jones grew up in Northern New South Wales, Australia and graduated from the Victorian College of Arts in 2007.
She currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband, Emmy-award nominated sound designer PK Hooker.{{cite web |title=Alethea Jones talks Fun Mom Dinner and life as a Hollywood director |url=https://precinct.finearts-music.unimelb.edu.au/2017/08/08/alethea-jones-talks-fun-mom-dinner-and-life-as-a-hollywood-director/ |website=University of Melbourne |date=8 August 2017 |publisher=University of Melbourne |access-date=15 January 2019}}{{cite web |title=PK Hooker - Emmy Awards |url=https://www.emmys.com/bios/pk-hooker|website=Emmy Awards}}
Filmography (as director)
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||
| Year | Film and television | Notes | {{Abbr|Ref.|References}} |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | When the Wind Changes | Short Film | |
| 2011
|Cop Hard |TV series (5 episodes) | | |||
| 2012 | Lemonade Stand | Short Film | |
| 2013 | The Elegant Gentleman's Guide to Knife Fighting | TV Mini-Series (3 episodes) | |
| 2015 | A History of Radness | TV movie | |
| 2017 | Fun Mom Dinner | Film | |
| rowspan="2" | 2018 | Wrecked | TV series (2 episodes) | |
| American Woman | TV series (1 episode) | ||
| 2018-19 | Queen America | TV series (10 episodes) | |
| rowspan="2" |2019 | Dollface | TV series (2 episodes) | |
| Lodge 49 | TV series (guest director) | ||
| 2020 | Dispatches from Elsewhere | TV series (1 episode) | |
| 2021 | Made for Love | TV series (2 episodes) | |
| rowspan="2" |2023 | Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies | 3 episodes; also executive producer | |
| Mrs. Davis | 3 episodes; also executive producer | ||
| 2024 | High Potential | Director; also executive producer | align="center" |{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2023/05/high-potential-abc-series-kaitlin-olson-drew-goddard-upfronts-1235367759/|title=ABC Picks Up Kaitlin Olson-Led 'High Potential' Series From Drew Goddard|work=Deadline Hollywood|first1=Rosy|last1=Cordero|first2=Nellie|last2=Andreeva|date=May 16, 2023|access-date=June 23, 2024}} |
| 2025 | Peacemaker | Director (season 2) |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20120119213034/http://www.alethea-jones.com/ Official website]
- {{IMDb name|nm2370148}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Alethea}}
Category:Australian women film directors
Category:Australian film directors