Jim Taylor (writer)

Jim Taylor (born 1963)[1] is an American producer and screenwriter who has often collaborated on projects with Alexander Payne. The two are business partners in the Santa Monica based Ad Hominem Enterprises, and are credited as co-writers of six films released between 1996 and 2007: Citizen Ruth (1996), Election (1999), Jurassic Park III (2001, with Peter Buchman), About Schmidt (2002), Sideways (2004), and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007, with Barry Fanaro and Lew Gallo). His credits as a producer include films such as Cedar Rapids and The Descendants.

Jim Taylor
Born1962 (age 5859)[1]
Seattle, Washington, United States
EducationPomona College ('84)[1]
Alma materNYU (MFA '96)[2]
OccupationScreenwriter, producer
Years active1987-present
Spouse(s)
(m. after 2002)

Early years

I felt like I was too young, and I didn't have anything to make movies about. So very specifically, I went to Pomona to get a liberal arts education and not do filmmaking, even though I knew that was what I ultimately wanted to do.

Taylor, in a 2005 interview for Pomona College Magazine[1]

Taylor was born in Seattle, Washington.[3] He is a graduate of Bellevue High School and a 1984 graduate of Pomona College, a liberal arts school he attended instead of accepting an offer from the USC School of Cinematic Arts.[1]

Career

Taylor began working for Cannon Films in 1987.[4] After visiting China on an Avery Foundation grant, Taylor returned to L.A. and spent three years working with Ivan Passer;[1] he also worked for Devon Foster, a director at HBO, as Foster's assistant.[4]

Taylor met Payne while working temporary jobs in Los Angeles, eventually moving in with him for financial reasons. While roommates the two wrote short films and started writing Citizen Ruth.[4] After winning money on the game show Wheel of Fortune, Taylor entered Tisch School of the Arts at the age of 30.[4] He and Payne did further rewrites on Citizen Ruth while Taylor was a graduate student; the film got made during his third year there.[4] Taylor received an M.F.A. in Filmmaking from New York University in 1996.[2]

Awards and nominations

Taylor has received numerous awards and nominations (including an Oscar win for co-writing Sideways and nominations for co-writing Election and as a producer for The Descendants); those listed below are for his work on Sideways (all shared with Alexander Payne):

Award Category Recipients and nominees Outcome
77th Academy Awards Best Writing (adapted screenplay) (with Alexander Payne) Won
58th British Academy Film Awards Best Adapted Screenplay (with Alexander Payne) Won
Writers Guild of America Awards 2004 Best Adapted Screenplay (with Alexander Payne) Won
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 2004 Best Screenplay (with Alexander Payne) Won
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2004 Best Screenplay (with Alexander Payne) Won
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 2004 Best Adapted Screenplay (with Alexander Payne) Won
Florida Film Critics Circle Awards 2004 Best Screenplay (with Alexander Payne) Won
62nd Golden Globe Awards Best Screenplay (with Alexander Payne) Won
20th Independent Spirit Awards Best Screenplay (with Alexander Payne) Won
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards 2004 Best Adapted Screenplay (with Alexander Payne) Won
London Film Critics Circle Awards 2004 Screenwriter of the Year (with Alexander Payne) Nominated
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards 2004 Best Screenplay (with Alexander Payne) Won
National Board of Review Awards 2004 Best Adapted Screenplay (with Alexander Payne) Won
National Society of Film Critics Awards 2004 Best Screenplay (with Alexander Payne) Won
2004 New York Film Critics Circle Awards Best Screenplay (with Alexander Payne) Won
Online Film Critics Society Awards 2004 Best Adapted Screenplay (with Alexander Payne) Won
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards 2004 Best Adapted Screenplay (with Alexander Payne) Won
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards 2004 Best Adapted Screenplay (with Alexander Payne) Won
Golden Satellite Awards 2004 Best Adapted Screenplay (with Alexander Payne) Nominated
Seattle Film Critics Awards Best Adapted Screenplay (with Alexander Payne) Won
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards 2004 Best Adapted Screenplay (with Alexander Payne) Won

References

  1. "Rite of Passage". Pomona College Magazine (Vol. 41, No. 2). Pomona College. Spring 2005. Archived from the original on 2010-07-31. Retrieved 2010-08-06.
  2. "Kanbar Institute Alumni Awarded Oscars". Tisch School of the Arts. Archived from the original on 2010-06-13. Retrieved 2010-08-06.
  3. "Jim Taylor (Co-screenwriter)". sideways-movie.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2010-08-06.
  4. Christian Divine. "About Schmidt: Uneasy Rider". christiandivine.com. Retrieved 2010-08-06.
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