Garry Marshall parodies himself by wanting to turn Jenny's dramatic film into a romantic comedy, which is his forte. He even compares her character to a Princess: he directed The Princess Diaries. This is followed by Jenny caustically suggesting they should basically turn her story into a lesbian version of Marshall's most popular movie, Pretty Woman.
The crude, "visual" director at the beginning of the episode is real-life director John Stockwell who actually did direct Blue Crush, Into the Blue, and Crazy/Beautiful, as Tina mentions. He also directed 4 episodes of The L Word. Coincidentally, this episode also guest stars Bruce Davison whose credit appears on screen just as Tina mentions Crazy/Beautiful- a movie in which Davison also starred.
Director John Stockwell isn't just a director making a cameo and going out of his way to act. He's a former actor who then became a director. His credits include Christine, Losin' It and Top Gun (the last two starring Tom Cruise). So acting is second nature. (For that matter, even director Garry Marshall has acted, a few times before he became a director and a lot of times during.)
Director John Stockwell (who plays himself) directed guest star Bruce Davison in Crazy/Beautiful. Also, Eric Roberts and Bruce Davison starred together in It's My Party.
Lawrence Bender is the third and final director auditioning for Jenny's movie, who's mostly known for being Quentin Tarantino's producer (from Reservoir dogs to Kill Bill): Bender mentions owning two 35mm prints of classic lesbian films, fitting within his (and, for that matter, Tarantino's) nostalgic tastes.