Independent filmmaker Lynn Shelton has died, as Variety reports. The influential film and television director, who helmed films like Humpday and Sword of Trust in addition to episodes of Little Fires Everywhere, GLOW, Mad Men, and more, passed away from a blood disorder. She was 54 years old.
After getting her start in the industry as a film editor, Shelton made her directorial debut with the independent film We Go Way Back in 2006. Humpday, a 2009 comedy starring Mark Duplass and Joshua Leonard, premiered at Sundance and is considered to be her breakout project and made Shelton a leading figure in the low-budget mumblecore genre. In the following decade, she would direct episodes of New Girl, The Good Place, and Fresh Off the Boat, as well as films like Your Sister’s Sister and Outside In
Prior to her death, Shelton was writing a new film with creative and romantic partner Marc Maron. (She directed the comedian’s recent Netflix special End Times Fun.) “She was a beautiful, kind, loving, charismatic artist. Her spirit was pure joy,” Maron wrote in a statement, according to IndieWire. “She made me happy. I made her happy. We were happy. I made her laugh all the time. We laughed a lot. We were starting a life together. I really can’t believe what is happening. This is a horrendous, sad loss.”
