Jim Taylor (writer)
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Jim Taylor (writer)
James Taylor (born 1962) 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). Taylor's credits as a producer include films such as ''Cedar Rapids'' and ''The Descendants''. Early years Taylor was born in Seattle, Washington. He graduated from Bellevue High School in neighboring Bellevue, and subsequently from Pomona College, a liberal arts school in California that he attended instead of accepting an offer from the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Career Taylor began working for Cannon Films in 1987. After visiting China on an Avery Foundation grant, ...
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Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the county seat of King County, the most populous county in Washington. The Seattle metropolitan area's population is 4.02 million, making it the 15th-most populous in the United States. Its growth rate of 21.1% between 2010 and 2020 made it one of the country's fastest-growing large cities. Seattle is situated on an isthmus between Puget Sound, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and Lake Washington. It is the northernmost major city in the United States, located about south of the Canadian border. A gateway for trade with East Asia, the Port of Seattle is the fourth-largest port in North America in terms of container handling . The Seattle area has been inhabited by Native Americans (such as the Duwamish, who had at least 17 villages a ...
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Sideways
''Sideways'' is a 2004 American comedy-drama directed by Alexander Payne and written by Jim Taylor and Payne. A film adaptation of Rex Pickett's 2004 novel, ''Sideways'' follows two men in their forties, Miles Raymond ( Paul Giamatti), a depressed teacher and unsuccessful writer, and Jack Cole ( Thomas Haden Church), a past-his-prime actor, who take a week-long road trip to Santa Barbara County wine country to celebrate Jack's upcoming wedding. Sandra Oh and Virginia Madsen also star as women they encounter during their trip. ''Sideways'' premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 13, 2004, and was released in the United States on October 22, 2004. It received widespread acclaim from critics and is regarded as one of the greatest films of the 2000s. At the 77th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Haden Church), Best Supporting Actress (Madsen), and Best Adapted Screenplay, the last of ...
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Ivan Passer
Ivan Passer (10 July 1933 – 9 January 2020) was a Czech film director and screenwriter, best known for his involvement in the Czechoslovak New Wave and for directing American films such as '' Born to Win'' (1971), '' Cutter's Way'' (1981) and ''Stalin'' (1992). Life and career Passer was born in Prague, the son of Marianna (Mandelick) and Alois Passer. Passer attended King George boarding school in Poděbrady with future filmmakers Miloš Forman, Jerzy Skolimowski and Paul Fierlinger and playwright Václav Havel. He then studied at FAMU in Prague, but did not finish the program. He began his career as an assistant director on Ladislav Helge's ''Velká samota''. Later he collaborated with his friend Forman on all of Forman's Czech films, including '' Loves of a Blonde'' (1965) and '' The Firemen's Ball'' (1967), both of which Passer co-wrote and which were nominated for Academy Awards. He introduced Forman to cinematographer Miroslav Ondříček whom he knew from ''Velká ...
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Cannon Films
The Cannon Group, Inc. was an American group of companies, including Cannon Films, which produced films from 1967 to 1994. The extensive group also owned, amongst others, a large international cinema chain and a video film company that invested heavily in the video market, buying the international video rights to several classic film libraries. The Cannon catalogue encompasses a wide range of different genres. On one hand, they are known for their highly successful 1980s action B movies, such as ''Missing in Action'' (1984), '' American Ninja (1985)'', and '' Bloodsport'' (1988). But they also produced the Oscar-nominated films '' Joe'' (1970), '' Runaway Train'' (1985) and '' Street Smart'' (1987). 1967–1979: Friedland/Dewey era Cannon Films was incorporated on October 23, 1967. It was formed by Dennis Friedland and Chris Dewey while they were in their early 20s. They had immediate success producing English-language versions of Swedish soft porn films directed by Joseph ...
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USC School Of Cinematic Arts
The USC School of Cinematic Arts is an academic unit of the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles. With a history that dates to the first years of Sound film, talkies, the school descends from America's first program to confer a college degree in film. Under a name that directly preceded its present one, it became, in the 1980s, an academic unit of its own, within the university. Colloquially "SCA" or "the USC film school," it now has several divisions or programs, which treat artistic or business aspects of the creation of motion pictures and related media. History In 1927, when Douglas Fairbanks became the first president of the nascent Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, one of his recommendations was that the academy have a “training school”. Fairbanks and his enablers reasoned that training in the cinematic arts should be seen as a legitimate academic discipline at major universities and be accorded degree considerations t ...
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California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an international border with the Mexico, Mexican state of Baja California to the south. With almost 40million residents across an area of , it is the List of states and territories of the United States by population, largest state by population and List of U.S. states and territories by area, third-largest by area. Prior to European colonization of the Americas, European colonization, California was one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse areas in pre-Columbian North America. European exploration in the 16th and 17th centuries led to the colonization by the Spanish Empire. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821, following Mexican War of Independence, its successful war for independence, but Mexican Cession, was ceded to the U ...
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Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside (King County, Washington), Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area, and the fifth-largest city in Washington (state), Washington. It has variously been characterized as a satellite city, a suburb, a boomburb, or an edge city. The population was 151,854 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city's name is derived from the French term ("beautiful view"). Bellevue is home to some of the world's largest technology companies. Before and after the 2008 recession, its downtown area has been undergoing rapid change with many high-rise projects being constructed. Downtown Bellevue is currently the second-largest city center in Washington state, with 1,300 businesses, 45,000 employees, and 10,200 residents. In a 2018 estimate, the city's median household income was among the top five cities in the state of Wash ...
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Bellevue High School (Bellevue, Washington)
Bellevue High School is a public secondary school located in Bellevue, Washington. Bellevue has 1632 students enrolled in grades 9 through 12. The school principal is Dr. Victor J. Anderson. The school's mascot is the wolverine. Bellevue High School generally serves students in Bellevue School District's West Zone, which includes the towns of Medina, Yarrow Point, Clyde Hill, Hunts Point and Beaux Arts, and the neighborhoods of Enatai, Woodridge, Wilburton and Downtown Bellevue. History Bellevue High School's history can be traced back to 1923, when it first became an accredited four-year high school. Classes were held in a two-room school built in 1892 at the southeast corner of 100th Avenue and Main Street. It was at this location that ''The Beacon'' (the school annual) and ''The Barque'' (the student newspaper) began publication in 1925 and 1926, respectively. From 1930 until 1949, the school was located on 102nd Avenue Northeast between Northeast 1st and 4th Street ...
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The Descendants
''The Descendants'' is a 2011 American tragicomedy film directed by Alexander Payne. The screenplay by Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash is based on the 2007 novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings. The film stars George Clooney in the main role, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller in her film debut, Beau Bridges, Judy Greer, Michael Ontkean, Matthew Lillard, and Robert Forster, and was released by Fox Searchlight Pictures in the United States on November 18, 2011, after premiering at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2011. Tracing the journey of attorney and land baron Matt King, who struggles with unexpected occurrences in his monotonous life, ''The Descendants'' was a critical and financial success, grossing $177 million against a $20 million budget and receiving acclaim for the performances of Clooney and Woodley, Payne's direction and writing, and Kevin Tent's editing. The film was nominated for five Oscars at the 84th Academy Awards, including Best ...
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Cedar Rapids (film)
''Cedar Rapids'' is a 2011 American comedy film directed by Miguel Arteta. The script, written by Phil Johnston, was included on the 2009 Black List, a Hollywood list of the most popular unproduced screenplays of the year. The film stars Ed Helms, John C. Reilly, Anne Heche, Isiah Whitlock Jr., and Sigourney Weaver. Plot Tim Lippe, a naive and idealistic insurance agent from a small town in Wisconsin, attempts to give his former middle school teacher, Mrs. Vanderhei, a promise ring after they have casual sex. She rejects him, citing her recent divorce. A successful agent, Tim is sent to represent his company, Brownstar Insurance, at a regional conference in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, as a replacement for his co-worker, Roger Lemke, who died in an auto-erotic asphyxiation accident. Tim idolized Roger, believing that his death was merely an unfortunate accident, and that he embodied Christian values, the key criterion used to judge the winner of the coveted "Two Diamonds" award, w ...
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Lew Gallo
Lewis D. Gallo (June 12, 1928 – June 11, 2000) was an American character actor and producer, best known for his role as Maj. Joseph Cobb on the 1960s ABC World War II series ''Twelve O'Clock High''. Gallo was born in Mount Kisco, New York, and he served as an Army infantryman during the Korean War. He also made appearances on other TV series including ''Rawhide'', '' Dr. Kildare'', '' Straightway'', ''Lost in Space'', '' The F.B.I.'', ''Gunsmoke'', ''The Twilight Zone'', ''Perry Mason'', ''Tales of Wells Fargo'', ''Combat!'', and ''Get Smart''. He also appeared in the films ''Ocean's 11'', '' PT 109'', and '' Pork Chop Hill''. Gallo appeared on Broadway in ''Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?'' (1955). As a producer he worked on such series as ''That Girl'', ''Love, American Style'', '' The Ghost & Mrs. Muir'' and ''The New Mike Hammer''. Gallo died on June 11, 2000, in Los Angeles, California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lie ...
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Barry Fanaro
Barry Fanaro is an American screenwriter of television and feature films. He has taught screenwriting seminars at USC, University of California, Santa Barbara, UCSB, AFI (band), AFI and Mercer University. Early life Fanaro graduated magna cum laude with a dual major from Mercer University, Macon Georgia. He also has an MFA from NYU's Tisch Graduate School of Film and Television. In the early 80s he was a performing member of The Groundling's Improv Theater Group. Career Fanaro wrote and produced over 250 episodes, pilots and original series for network television. He is best known for serving as writer/executive producer of ''The Golden Girls'' during its first four seasons. He was nominated for four Emmys and won two Emmys for Outstanding Writing and Best Comedy Show, Producer. Fanaro was also nominated for two Writers Guild of America Awards and won for Best Writer in 1987. He has three Golden Globes for Best Comedy/Variety Show. In 1989, both Fanaro, along with partner Mort N ...
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