Jeff Ayars is an American filmmaker and actor known for writing, directing, and performing in the comedy duo Cannibal Milkshake alongside Dan Rosen. He is also known for the film Philadelphia, Ti Amo (2011) starring Rebecca Rittenhouse,[1] his Tribeca Film Festival selection The Snapstory, his acting in FBI: International and his horror feature This Is Our Home.[2]

Jeff Ayars
Born
NationalityAmerican
EducationCornell University and University of Pennsylvania
Occupation(s)Filmmaker and actor
Known forCannibal Milkshake
Notable workPhiladelphia, Ti Amo (2011)
An Auteur Is Born (Comedy Central) (2019)
This Is Our Home (2019), FBI: International

Education

edit

Ayars grew up in Media, Pennsylvania, where he attended Penncrest High School and was one of 595 students in the country to receive a national writing award from the NCTE during his senior year.[3] Ayars went on to attend Cornell University from 2008 to 2013, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts.[4][5][6] During his time at Cornell, Ayars produced videos for The Cornell Daily Sun and other companies and campus organizations. While on a brief hiatus from Cornell, Ayars studied creative writing at The University of Pennsylvania, where he published a satire of Franz Kafka.[7] Ayars' film and pop-culture thesis was an exploration of personas in film using Ryan Gosling quotations.[8]

Career

edit

As a child, Ayars was in two television commercials for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1993 and 1994. His father, NBC Sports executive and Emmy Award winner Robert Ayars,[9] who at the time worked for the PRISM television network, shot and directed the commercials.[10]

Ayars has gone on to act, produce, direct, edit, and write for various forms of media such as online content, film, television, documentary, short film, and commercial.[10]

Cannibal Milkshake

edit

Cannibal Milkshake is a comedy partnership between Jeff Ayars and his Cornell University classmate Dan Rosen. The duo produces, writes, directs, edits, and acts in their videos, and are frequent contributors to The New Yorker.[11] Ayars and Rosen's sketches have also been featured by CollegeHumor, Funny or Die, Comedy Central, Fortune Magazine, and Elizabeth Banks' WhoHaHa network. Their work is largely tech-world satire and movie parodies, notably featuring Ayars performing as a crazed Bradley Cooper, Oscar Awards-hungry Leonardo DiCaprio, finance-bro Ryan Gosling, and James Bond as a stressed-out dad.[12] Ayars and Rosen have also performed live at New York City venues like the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre[13] and The People's Improv Theater, where Ayars performed live[14] with actor Richard Kind and comedian Judy Gold in 2021.[15]

Film

edit

Ayars' first short film during college starred Rebecca Rittenhouse and went on to screen at the Philadelphia Film Festival.[16][1] His work has subsequently been featured at the NYC Web Fest, New York City Independent Film Festival, Manhattan Film Festival, New Filmmakers Los Angeles, Cinequest Film Festival, The Lower East Side Film Festival,[17] and the Tribeca Film Festival.[18][10][19]

Ayars produced and starred in the 2019 psychological thriller feature, This Is Our Home. Written by Rob Harmon and directed by long-time friend and collaborator Omri Dorani, the film co-stars Simone Policano and tells the story of a struggling couple on a weekend away that takes a turn with the arrival of a mysterious child.[20] The film was executive produced by former Paramount Pictures executive Inga Vainshtein Smith, known for Hardcore Henry.

The subject of mental health is an important theme in Ayars' work.[21] He was one of 75 creators selected to attend the Kindred Mind Matters mental health summit sponsored by HBO.[22]

Ayars is developing a romantic comedy feature film GOLD BOY that deals with the subject of mental health and is inspired by his own struggles at Cornell University.[23] The film pitch was a finalist in the Yes, And Laughter Lab initiative to combine comedy and social justice sponsored by Comedy Central.[24]

Television

edit

Since 2013, Ayars has worked at Comcast NBCUniversal, and is currently working as a writer and producer for Morning Joe on MSNBC.[25][26] He previously worked producing EPKs and promos for NBCUniversal.

In 2022, Ayars made his network television debut as a guest star on Dick Wolf's CBS procedural FBI: International

Ayars has also starred in national television commercials, including a campaign for the Ad Council.[27] He starred as Thomas Jefferson in the 2022 Super Bowl ad for Clickup project management software.[28]

Filmography

edit
Year Title Type Director Writer Editor Producer Executive producer Actor Other Notes
2011 Philadelphia, Ti Amo Short Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes As Michael
2012 Quantum Short No Yes No No No Yes As Tyler
2013 Coming 2gether Short Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes As Bradley
2013 Christopher Walkenoma Short Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes As Jeffrey
2013 A Guilty Man Short No No No No No Yes As Dean
2014 MacGuffin Video short Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes As Jeffrey the Small-Town-Multi-Billionaire
2015 Isolation Short No No No No No Yes As Eric
2015 Pound: The Woof Dawg Story Short Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes As Woof Dawg
2015 Je Suis Charlie Video short Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes As Eric
2016 Two Girls One Show Digital series Yes No No No Yes Yes As Sassy bartender
2016 Ghost Friend TV Pilot Yes No Yes Yes Yes No
2017 The New Yorker: Shorts & Murmurs TV series Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes As Millennial hoarder, Intern Maht, Startup founder
2017 Hashtag Fireworks Video short Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes As guy who hates fireworks
2017 The Notebook Snapstory Video short Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes As Ryan Gosling
2017 To My Son Short No Yes No Yes No Yes
2017 Assholes No No No Yes No No associate producer
2017 NY NY Land Video short Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes As Finance Bro Gosling
2018 I, Nancy Video short Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes As Campbell's Soup Director
2018 Masterclass: Marvel CGI Acting Short Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes As Chris Evans
2018 Go Tell Your Fathers Short No No No Yes No No associate producer
2019 All Hail Beth TV series No No No No No Yes As Holden Hans
2019 Diagnosis Short Yes No Yes Yes No No
2019 Final Callback Short Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes As angry auditioner
2019 Dorris 85 Short No No No No Yes No
2019 On the Rocks Short Yes No Yes Yes No No
2019 DTF TV mini series Yes No Yes Yes No No
2019 This Is Our Home No No No Yes No Yes As Cory
2019 An Auteur Is Born Short Yes Yes Yes No No Yes As Bradley Cooper
2020 Borderline Coffee Short Yes No Yes Yes No No
2020 Nevertheless Documentary No No No Yes No No associate producer
2021 Actors No No No Yes No No associate producer
2021 International Falls No No No No Yes No
2021 Rifkin on Rifkin: Private Confessions of a Serial Killer TV special No No No No No Yes Joel Rifkin
2021 Being George Lucas: A Connor Ratliff Story Documentary No No No No Yes No executive producer post-production
2021 No Dye Short No No No Yes No Yes As Pat
2022 FBI: International TV series No No No No No Yes As Henry Martin
2019-2022 Morning Joe TV series No No No Yes No No field producer 507 episodes
TBD Imposter Syndrome Documentary Yes Yes No Yes No No filming
TBD The Abaddon Pit No No No No No Yes As Dave
TBD Mental Health and Horror: A Documentary Documentary No No No Yes No No associate producer filming
TBD What Are We? No No No No No Yes
TBD Supernigga Short No No No Yes No No associate producer completed
TBD Trust Short No No No Yes No Yes completed

References

edit
  1. ^ a b Love in Philadelphia. Cornell University. 2011-10-31. Accessed June 22, 2020.
  2. ^ "This Is Our Home Review". That Moment In. 2019-11-14. Retrieved 2022-05-14.
  3. ^ School Notes. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Accessed June 22, 2020.
  4. ^ "Molly Messersmith, Jeffrey Ayars, and Da Ying: Inapprorpiation". Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning. May 20, 2013. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  5. ^ "Ayars '13 not horsing around in 'Revenant' parody". Cornell Chronicle. February 29, 2016. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  6. ^ Stein, Jeff (February 26, 2015). "Cornell grads' 'American Sniper' parody makes national news". The Ithaca Voice. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  7. ^ University of Pennsylvania
  8. ^ Molly Messersmith, Jeffrey Ayars, and Da Ying: Inapprorpiation. Cornell Architecture Art Planning. Accessed June 22, 2020.
  9. ^ Rockets, Astros Find New Home With Comcast SportsNet Houston. Sportsvideo. 2012-09-28. Accessed June 22, 2020.
  10. ^ a b c Biography. IMDb. Accessed June 22, 2020.
  11. ^ Jeff Ayars. The New Yorker. Accessed June 22, 2020.
  12. ^ Domanico, Anthony (2015-11-11). "James Bond faces his toughest challenge yet: Being a dad". CNET. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  13. ^ Cannibal Milkshake. Accessed June 22, 2020.
  14. ^ Cristi, A. A. "Photos: Richard Kind And Judy Gold Featured In Live-Reading Of New Indie Film VOICES". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2022-05-14.
  15. ^ "Jeff Ayars & Dan Rosen: "Cannibal Milkshake"". Best New York Comedy. Retrieved 2022-05-14.
  16. ^ Dan Gross: Wendy Williams speaks out. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Accessed June 22, 2020.
  17. ^ "This Is Our Home". The Lower East Side Film Festival. 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  18. ^ Tribeca Film Festival. Accessed June 22, 2020.
  19. ^ "Full Line-Up Announced for BROOKLYN HORROR FILM FESTIVAL". Dead Central. 14 September 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  20. ^ This Is Our Home (2019). Accessed June 22, 2020.
  21. ^ Borderline Coffee. Accessed June 22, 2020.
  22. ^ HBO Partners With Social Impact Organization Kindred For Mental Health Event. Deadline. June 19, 2019. Accessed June 22, 2020.
  23. ^ No superpowers, just spandex: the other half of my story. Medium. Jul 14, 2019. Accessed June 22, 2020.
  24. ^ 2019 winners. Yes, And Laughter Lab. Accessed June 22, 2020.
  25. ^ 17 states submit proposals to host Hyperloop certification center. Morning Joe on MSNBC. Accessed June 22, 2020.
  26. ^ "Jeff Ayars". Muckrack. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  27. ^ "Drug-Impaired Driving Prevention". Ad Council. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  28. ^ Fleming, Jameson (February 3, 2022). "How ClickUp Created Its First Super Bowl Ad". Retrieved 2022-05-14.
edit