Alexander Payne

He later lived a few months in Medellin, Colombia, where he published an article about social changes between 1900 and 1930.

In the 1960s, Payne's father received a Super 8mm projector from Kraft Foods as a loyalty reward, and eventually passed it on to his son when Alexander was about 14 years old.

A short time after getting his MFA from UCLA Film School—and after his successful thesis film The Passion of Martin had attracted industry attention—Payne got a writing/directing deal with Universal Pictures.

The ensuing screenplay, which was turned down, ultimately became About Schmidt.

He says that he cleared about $60,000, which was enough to fund his simple lifestyle at the time for about five years.

Payne has said he sees his talent as being one of learned economy, referring to the essay written by Tennessee Williams on The Catastrophe of Success. During this time Payne worked in various capacities on films and television including directing several films for the Playboy channel.

Constantine Alexander Payne (born February 10, 1961) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer.

He is noted for his satirical depictions of contemporary American society.

Payne has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award and two Golden Globe Awards as well as a nomination for a Grammy Award.

The restaurant was destroyed in a fire in 1969; the W. Dale Clark Library was later built on the site.

Payne's paternal grandmother, Clara Payne (née Hoffman), was from a German Nebraska family from Lincoln, Nebraska.

In Omaha, Payne attended Brownell-Talbot School, Dundee Elementary School, and Lewis and Clark Junior High.

He graduated from Creighton Prep for high school in 1979.

At Prep, Payne wrote a humor column for his high school newspaper and was the editor of the high school yearbook.

Payne then attended Stanford University, where he majored in Spanish and History.

As a part of his Spanish degree, he studied at Spain's University of Salamanca.

Payne received his MFA in 1990 from the UCLA Film School.

After directing several short films, Payne made his feature film debut with the black comedy Citizen Ruth (1996).

Payne co-wrote and directed his first full-length film, Citizen Ruth, which was released in 1996.

The film is a satirical black comedy revolving around the issue of abortion rights.

The film stars Laura Dern as a dim witted woman with substance abuse issues who happens to get pregnant.

She unexpectedly becomes a pawn of figures from both sides of the abortion debate.

The film co-stars Kelly Preston, Burt Reynolds, and Tippi Hedren.

The film premiered at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival where it received favorable reviews.

In Janet Maslin of The New York Times review she wrote, "There's no easy way out of this predicament, though Mr. Payne does beg the question with skill. And Citizen Ruth can easily be forgiven for not finding a fully satisfying ending. It delivers more than enough lively, gutsy satire along the way."

His career progressed with the political satire Election (1999), for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and the comedy-drama About Schmidt (2002).

His second 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 received his first Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay nomination for Election.

Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half stars out of four, praising Witherspoon and Payne, and saying, "...here is a movie that is not simply about an obnoxious student, but also about an imperfect teacher, a lockstep administration, and a student body that is mostly just marking time until it can go out into the world and occupy valuable space".

Payne twice won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for co-writing his directorials Sideways (2004) and The Descendants (2011).

He was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for these two films and for the road film Nebraska (2013).

He has since directed the comedy-dramas Downsizing (2017), and The Holdovers (2023).

Payne was born in Omaha, Nebraska, to Peggy and George Payne, restaurant owners.

He is the youngest of three sons and grew up in the Dundee neighborhood.

He is of Greek ancestry.

Payne's paternal grandfather, Nicholas "Nick" Payne, anglicized the last name from "Papadopoulos".

His family comes from three areas in Greece: the island of Syros, Livadia, and Aegio.

Payne's family was part of the fabric of Omaha, which he refers to as part of his upbringing.

His grandfather was a founder of The Virginia Cafe, with Payne's father taking over the restaurant.

Payne went there regularly as a child.