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Constantine Alexander Payne (born February 10, 1961 in Omaha, Nebraska) is an Academy Award winning American film director and screenwriter. His films are noted for their dark sense of humor and satirical depictions of contemporary American society. His films also revolve around adultery in marriage and relationships. He also tends to set his films in Omaha, Nebraska. He has scenes of historical landmarks and museums in his films, and tends to use actual people for minor roles (real cops play cops, real teachers play teachers, etc.). He frequently incoporates telephone monologues as a dramatic device. He also tends to cast actor Phil Reeves in his films. He is on the short list of directors who have final cut rights for their films. In 2005 he became a member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Directors Branch). His writing partner is Jim Taylor.

Payne, a Greek American (his grandfather's family name was Anglicized from Papadopoulos), grew up in the same neighborhood as billionaire Warren Buffett. He went to Creighton Prep for high school, where he was a member of a broadcasting club where members worked in different capacities for Omaha radio station KFAB. He attended Stanford University, where he double majored in Spanish and History. As a part of his Spanish degree, he studied Spanish Philology at the University of Salamanca (Spain). After finishing up his undergraduate studies, Payne took a few years off before he went back to school in 1988 for graduate studies. He cites Hal Ashby as his influence to pursue film. Payne got his MFA in 1990 from the UCLA Film School. He worked in various capacities on films and television and worked as a script editor for Universal Studios before he wrote and directed his first full-length film Citizen Ruth in 1996.

His film Election, starring Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon, which takes aim at politics and education in America, attracted attention when New Yorker film critic David Denby named it the best film of 1999. Payne was nominated for an Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay for Election. In 2000 he did an uncredited polish-up of the screenplay for the comedy hit Meet The Parents. In 2001 Payne wrote Jurassic Park III. In 2003 he received a Golden Globe for his screenplay for About Schmidt which also won the Best Adapted Screenplay award from the Writer's Guild of America. To the surprise of many who kept track of Hollywood news, Payne and his writing partner Jim Taylor were not nominated for an Oscar for the About Schmidt screenplay. He won both the Academy Award and Golden Globe in 2005 for Best Screenplay for Sideways while the film also won the Golden Globe for Best Picture - Musical or Comedy. In total, Sideways received five Academy Award Nominations. Payne will next direct the upcoming film Nebraska and serve as an executive producer on the new films The King of California and The Savages. He also is teaming up once again with writing partner Jim Taylor to write the screenplay for the upcoming film I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, a comedy directed by Dennis Dugan starring Adam Sandler and Kevin James.

He is good friends with fellow directors Jay Roach, Spike Jonze and David O. Russell.

He married Korean-Canadian actress Sandra Oh in 2003 and directed her in Sideways. On March 12, 2005, the couple's publicist comfirmed their separation.

Filmography

All of the following were cowritten with his writing partner Jim Taylor:

* Citizen Ruth (1996)
* Election (1999)
* About Schmidt (2002)
* Sideways (2004)

Payne is also one of the writers who worked on Jurassic Park III (2001). He also did an uncredited polish-up to the screenplay of Meet the Parents.

A segment of the film, Paris, je t'aime, written and directed by Payne takes place in the 14th arrondissement, or Montparnasse district, of Paris.

Upcoming Project:

* I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007)

Latest news about Alexander Payne

George Clooney in Talks for Alexander Payne's Next Film :: Movies ... George Clooney is in talks to play the lead role in the first feature film Alexander Payne has directed in five years, the follow-up to 2004's Sideways. Payne also directed 1999's Election and currently executive produces HBO's series ... Continue reading George Clooney And Alexander Payne Team Up For 'The Descendants ... Variety reports that Clooney is in talks to headline "The Descendants" for director Alexander Payne, the filmmaker behind the critically acclaimed "Sideways" and "Election." The screenplay, penned by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, ... Continue reading George Clooney in Talks for Alexander Payne's 'The Descendants ... Variety reports that the actor is in talks to star in the new Alexander Payne dramedy The Descendants. His first feature since Sideways, the film got cooking back in August and follows a rich landowner and father who decides to grab his ... Continue reading Clooney One of Alexander Payne's 'Descendants' - Get The Big Picture - Alexander Payne, its good to see you back, and Clooney seems like a sure fire thing, I was at the theater not too long ago waiting for An Education to start (BRILLIANT FILM) his trailer came on for Goats, and everyone was seriously ... Continue reading :: The Playlist ::: Script Review: Alexander Payne's Next Film ... This pacing could be trouble for others, but here we think screenwriters Faxon and Dash have catered this adaption to play to Alexander Payne's strengths (his characters, his patient approach to their arcs). By the time Alex tells her ... Continue reading George Clooney in talks for Alexander Payne's 'The Descendants ... George Clooney is in talks to take the lead role in Alexander Payne's The Descendants, Variety reports. He would play a wealthy landowner who takes his daughters on a search for his wife's lover, in an attempt to keep the family ... Continue reading The Potential is There for George Clooney to Star in Alexander ... Alexander Payne must choose his films very carefully because he has directed only four of them in over thirteen years. Sideways was possibly his best and most complete film yet, and so his followup has been anticipated. ... Continue reading George Clooney May Join Alexander Payne's 'Descendants' In August, it was announced that Alexander Payne had shelved his high concept midgets little people comedy, "Downsizing," in favor of his semi-long-gestating adaptation of Kaui Hart Hemmings' "The Descendants" that Fox Searchlight ... Continue reading George Clooney and Alexander Payne could pair up for 'The Descendants' George Clooney under the direction of Alexander Payne? Sounds like a winning combination to me. Clooney is known for choosing atypical comedies, and Payne's movies are darkly comedic, yet George_clooney_8 embraced by a wide range of ... Continue reading George Clooney considers Alexander Payne's Descendants Now comes word from Variety that Clooney is considering the lead in the Alexander Payne family dramedy The Descendants. You can see him before that in The Men Who Stare as Goats this Friday (Nov. 6) and the upcoming films Fantastic Mr. ... Continue reading Hollywood Actors Jessica alba Alexander Payne pictures and Alexander Payne biography

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