Alexander Payne

Alexander Payne grew up in Omaha and studied at Stanford before earning an MFA in Film at UCLA. 

He has made eight feature films, including Election (1998), Sideways (2004), The Descendants (2011), and Nebraska (2013).  His movies have been nominated for a total of 24 Oscars, including four times for Best Picture and three times for Best Director.  He has won twice for Best Adapted Screenplay, and his latest, The Holdovers (2023), won Best Supporting Actress.  Alexander also serves on the boards of the Film Foundation and the Telluride Film Festival.