Jim Taylor (born 1963[1] in Seattle, Washington[3]) is an American producer and screenwriter, best known as the writing partner of Alexander Payne. They 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).
More recently, Taylor has been working as a producer, being so credited on Cedar Rapids (2011); according to the Internet Movie Database, as of August 2010 he has at least three films in various stages of production, all but one of which also involve Payne:[4] The Descendants (2011), Seven Chinese Brothers (2011), and Fork in the Road (2011).
Early years [edit]
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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. |
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—Taylor, in a 2005 interview for Pomona College Magazine[1]
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Taylor is a graduate of Bellevue High School[citation needed] 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] His career began in 1987, working for Cannon Films.[5] 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.[5] He 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.[5] After winning money on the game show Wheel of Fortune, Taylor entered Tisch School of the Arts at the age of 30.[5] He and Payne did further rewrites on Citizen Ruth while Taylor was a graduate student; the film got made during his third year there.[5] Taylor received an M.F.A. in Filmmaking from New York University in 1996.[2]
References [edit]
- ^ a b c d e f "Rite of Passage". Pomona College Magazine (Vol. 41, No. 2). Pomona College. Spring 2005. Retrieved 2010-08-06.
- ^ a b "Kanbar Institute Alumni Awarded Oscars". Tisch School of the Arts. Retrieved 2010-08-06.
- ^ "Jim Taylor (Co-screenwriter)". sideways-movie.com. Retrieved 2010-08-06.
- ^ Jim Taylor at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ a b c d e Christian Divine. "About Schmidt: Uneasy Rider". christiandivine.com. Retrieved 2010-08-06.
External links [edit]
| Persondata |
| Name |
Taylor, Jim |
| Alternative names |
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| Short description |
American screenwriter |
| Date of birth |
1963 |
| Place of birth |
Seattle, Washington |
| Date of death |
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| Place of death |
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