Narrative | Comedy | Music Video
Lovers
Producer
Two women return to their hometown for the funeral of a friend who has taken his own life. They find themselves reconnecting with their old community at Lovers, the local dive bar music venue that hasn’t changed in the years since they left. The friends face their shared loss, and are reminded of the power of coming together through music.
Directed by Taylor McFadden
Retro Show Productions
Co-Founder
Retro Show Productions is a partnership between sisters Maris Jones and Lavinia Jones Wright to create magical narrative and live projects. Previously two thirds of the Motion Color Company, The Jones Sisters have several feature films and web series in development, as well as the Jones Family Retro Show LIVE.
Recent projects include: Allison Ponthier "Character Development" music video, Time Machine Time web series, Speelburg "Gwyneth (Get Up!)" music video, Spaceface "Pina Collider" music video, Biden/Harris Campaign "The Poll of Destiny"
Connect with The Motion Color Company on Instagram
Website Coming Soon
The Jones Family Retro Show
Co-Creator | Producer | Performer
The Jones Family Retro Show is two sisters - Maris Jones & Lavinia Jones Wright - making retro-inspired rock and roll comedy in videos, an acclaimed live variety show and a TV pilot currently in development.
We parody any and all retro culture - everything from 50s sitcoms to 90s commercials - through live and filmed sketch comedy. We also dress as famous rockstars (The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, and Queen to name just a few) and parody rock and roll through classic concert recreations, music video parodies, fake interviews, lip sync, original music and sketch
Our live variety show at the Knitting Factory Brooklyn highlights the weirdest, most wonderful performers of characters, drag, sketch comedy, musical performances, puppets, burlesque and more that NYC has to offer.
Gothamist named The Jones Family Retro Show LIVE one of
"The Best Things to do In NYC"
The Magic Within (In Development)
Co-Creator | Producer | Performer
A rock and roll musical series currently in development, written by Maris Jones and Lavinia Jones Wright with music by Grammy-nominated producer Justin Craig.
The Magic Within is an 80s-style adventure comedy about a fictional 70s rock band and the eventful day in 1974 when their magic guitar was stolen. Through original music, exciting storytelling, beautiful visuals and a sharp point of view, this film explodes with love for creativity and originality while poking fun at the way we romanticize the past.
Ant Trapezoid (In Development)
Producer | Performer
Ant Trapezoid is a feature-length rock and roll horror film written by Kristin Kennedy, directed by Maris Jones and starring Maris Jones and Lavinia Jones Wright and featuring a kickass all-original soundtrack.
Acting for Film, TV & Theater
Film & TV
In addition to personal film projects (see: The Jones Family Retro Show, The Magic Within, and Love All Alices), most recently, Lavinia can be seen in In the Heights (In theaters and on HBO Max), The Affair (Showtime) and 50 Central (BET).
Click here to view Lavinia Jones Wright's acting reel on Vimeo.
Theater
Lavinia is a member of the Board of Directors for the late legendary acting teacher Alice Spivak's OnTheRoad Repertory Company (OTR). She appeared most recently as Kayleen in OTR's production of Gruesome Playground Injuries and as Mrs. Martin in Lou Gherig Did Not Die of Cancer. Under the direction of Alice Spivak, Lavinia appeared as Elizabeth in OTR's 2015 production of Laundry and Bourbon and in OTR's 2019 staged reading of I Am Us. Additionally Lavinia has appeared in OTR ensemble performances of the work of Anton Chekhov. She is currently producing and directing various upcoming productions for the company.
Documentary Projects
Love All Alices (In Production)
Director | Producer | Performer
Love All Alices is a feature length hybrid documentary film and full-scale theatrical piece, and Lavinia's directorial debut.
Love All Alices is an ensemble biographical portrait of Alice Spivak, a performance piece written with Spivak before her death, containing the greatest stories of her fascinating life. Director Lavinia Jones Wright interviewed Spivak over the course of four years, shaping monologues from her stories with the idea that Alice would perform them for a film and onstage as a solo performance. Alice passed away suddenly of a heart attack on November 9, 2020, just eleven days before the camera would roll on her movie.
Now, a cast of more than 50 actors performs the piece, each as a different version of Alice in her absence, narrating her greatest stories and lessons. Beginning in winter 2021, with the pain of Alice’s loss still very fresh, and culminating in a full performance on the anniversary of her death the following Fall, the cast of Love All Alices comes together to explore the process of grief through performance, the joy of honoring someone you love by embodying them, the challenge in creating a portrait of a complex, self-mythologizing person, and the universality of human experience as this diverse group of actors rehearses and performs together, personalizing the material through their shared love of Alice.
The 78 Project
Co-creator | Producer | Writer | Recordist
The 78 Project is an acclaimed feature film, web series and recording journey, co-created with director Alex Steyermark, inspired by Alan Lomax and his quest to capture music where it lived throughout the early 20th century. Our project brings the spirit of his work into the present as we pair breakthrough musicians with the songs and the fascinating recording technology of the past. With just one microphone, one authentic 1930’s Presto direct-to-acetate disk recorder, and one blank lacquer disc, musicians are given one take to cut a record anywhere they choose. What we have found is that the film, music and feelings that result defy space and time, living music inspired by ghosts.
World Premiere: SXSW Film Festival 2014
Official Selection: BFI London Film Festival 2014, Independent Film Festival Boston 2014, Nashville Film Festival 2014, Marché du Film Festival de Cannes 2013, Power to the Pixel Cross Media Forum London 2012, Independent Film Week Spotlight on Documentaries 2012