American screenwriter (born 1962)
| Jim Taylor | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1962 (age 62–63) Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Education | Pomona College ('84) |
| Alma mater | NYU (MFA '96) |
| Occupation(s) | Screenwriter, producer |
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Spouse |
Tamara Jenkins (m. 2002) |
| Children | 1 |
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
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
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, Taylor returned to L.A. and spent three years working with Ivan Passer; he also worked for Devon Foster, a director at HBO, as Foster's assistant.
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. After winning money on the game show Wheel of Fortune, Taylor entered Tisch School of the Arts at the age of 30. He and Payne did further rewrites on Citizen Ruth while Taylor was a graduate student; the film got made during his third year there. Taylor received an M.F.A. in Filmmaking from New York University in 1996.
Awards and nominations
Taylor has received numerous awards and nominations (including an Oscar win for co-writing Sideways, two Golden Globe Award wins for co-writing About Schmidt and Sideways, and additional Oscar nominations for co-writing Election and for producing The Descendants); those listed below are for his work on Sideways (all shared with Alexander Payne):
Personal life
Taylor has been married to fellow screenwriter/director, Tamara Jenkins, since 2002—herself an Academy Award nominee for The Savages (2007). They have one daughter and live in NYC as of 2019. The couple co-wrote the screenplay for the 2018 film, Juliet, Naked (adapted from Nick Hornby's homonymous novel), along with Evgenia Peretz—sister of the film's director, Jesse Peretz.
References
- ^ "Rite of Passage". Pomona College Magazine (Vol. 41, No. 2). Pomona College. Spring 2005. Archived from the original on July 31, 2010. Retrieved August 6, 2010.
- ^ "Kanbar Institute Alumni Awarded Oscars". Tisch School of the Arts. Archived from the original on June 13, 2010. Retrieved August 6, 2010.
- "JAMES TAYLOR". OpenCorporates. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
- "Jim Taylor (Co-screenwriter)". sideways-movie.com. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved August 6, 2010.
- ^ Christian Divine. "About Schmidt: Uneasy Rider". christiandivine.com. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved August 6, 2010.
- Landes, Jennifer (April 3, 2019). "Jenkins and Taylor: Masters of the Cinema Universe". The East Hampton Star. LCCN sn83030960. OCLC 04954053. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
Tamara Jenkins and Jim Taylor, who are married, have a slew of credits to their names individually. The couple also contributed to the adaptation of Nick Hornby's book Juliet, Naked.
- McCracken, Kristin (March 14, 2019). "Screenwriting Explained: Tamara Jenkins + Jim Taylor on April 6". Hamptons International Film Festival. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
Jenkins lives in New York City with her husband—the screenwriter Jim Taylor—and their daughter, Mia.
- Peretz, Evgenia (August 17, 2018). "Juliet, Naked: How Adapting a Famous Novel was Like Solving a Puzzle for Its Screenwriter". NoFilmSchool (Website). Interviewed by Max Winter. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
Evgenia Peretz: 'So, Jim Taylor and Tamara Jenkins are a married couple. They did a first draft of it before I ever got involved, probably two or three years ago.'
External links
- Jim Taylor at IMDb
- American male screenwriters
- Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners
- Best Adapted Screenplay BAFTA Award winners
- Independent Spirit Award winners
- Writers Guild of America Award winners
- Writers from Seattle
- 1963 births
- Living people
- Pomona College alumni
- Tisch School of the Arts alumni
- Best Screenplay Golden Globe winners
- Golden Globe Award–winning producers
- Screenwriters from California