Alexander Payne

Alexander Payne
Payne at the 2015 Munich Film Festival
Born
Constantine Alexander Payne

(1961-02-10) February 10, 1961 (age 63)
Citizenship
  • United States
  • Greece
EducationStanford University (BA)
University of California, Los Angeles (MFA)
Occupations
  • Film director
  • screenwriter
  • producer
Years active1985–present
Spouses
  • (m. 2003; div. 2006)
  • Maria Kontos
    (m. 2015; div. 2022)
Children1
AwardsFull list

Constantine Alexander Payne[1] (born February 10, 1961)[2] 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.

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

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Metro:Ak-Sar-Ben2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cunningham, John M. "Alexander Payne: American writer, director, and producer". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on August 19, 2020. Retrieved November 19, 2020.