Alexander Payne

Alexander Payne grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. He studied History and Spanish Literature at Stanford before earning an MFA in Film Directing at UCLA. His nine feature films include Election, Sideways, The Descendants, About Schmidt, Nebraska, and The Holdovers. His movies have been nominated for a total of 24 Oscars, including four times for Best Picture and three for Best Director. He has won two Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay, and two of his movies have won the Golden Globe for Best Picture. Five of his movies were filmed at least partially in Nebraska, where he continues to live, dividing his time among Omaha, Los Angeles and Athens. His newest movie, Et Sted Derude (Somewhere Out There), shot in Denmark and in Danish language, will be released in fall of 2027.