2005

SIDEWAYS
Screenplay by Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor
FILM SYNOPSIS
As a wedding gift to his friend Jack, Miles Raymond plans a week-long trip through California's wine country. Divorced and lonely, Miles finds himself drawn to the sympathetic Maya, who works at a local restaurant, while Jack embarks on a pre-marriage fling with her friend, Stephanie. ACADEMY AWARDS HISTORY
Including his nomination this year for Directing for SIDEWAYS, this is the third Academy Award nomination for Alexander Payne. He was previously nominated for:

- ELECTION (1999) -- Nominee, Writing (Adapted)

This is the second Academy Award nomination for Jim Taylor. He was previously nominated for:

- ELECTION (1999) -- Nominee, Writing (Adapted)

ACCEPTANCE SPEECH

Alexander Payne: Hi, good evening. We thank the Academy. We salute our fellow nominees. And we thank Rex Pickett, on whose novel the screen play was based. And our wonderful producer Michael London. Jim?
Jim Taylor: We've been lucky enough to be writing partners for 15 years. Since the beginning we've had a great pair of agents, David Lubliner ...
Alexander: David Lonner.
Jim: And more recently, a great pair of wives. The stunning and talented Tamara Jenkins.
Alexander: The equally talented and lovely, Sandra Oh.
Jim: My mother taught me to write and she died before she could see any of this. This is for you, mom.
Alexander: Also, real quick. We love Fox Searchlight for letting us make a film with complete creative freedom. And last but not least, very quickly, I know I'm going to wrap up, I want to share my side of this award with the cast and crew of the film because we had a lot of fun. See ya later...

2004

ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND - Charlie Kaufman
(Written Directly for the Screen)

ACCEPTANCE SPEECH

Charlie Kaufman: Thanks to the Academy. 29 seconds. 27 seconds. That's really intimidating. I'll try to look somewhere else. There's so many people who worked so creatively on this movie. I feel like this award is for all of them. And most especially I want to thank Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey. And director Michel Gondry. And producers Anthony Bregman and Steve Golin. And I'm supposed to wrap up now. No. I don't want to take my time. I want to get off the stage. So, thank you. Hi, to my daughter, Anna.

SIDEWAYS - Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor
(Based on Material Previously Produced or Published)

2003

LOST IN TRANSLATION - Sofia Coppola
(Written Directly for the Screen)

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING - Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson
(Based on Material Previously Produced or Published)

2002

TALK TO HER - Pedro Almodóvar
(Written Directly for the Screen)

THE PIANIST - Ronald Harwood
(Based on Material Previously Produced or Published)

2001

GOSFORD PARK - Julian Fellowes
(Written Directly for the Screen)

A BEAUTIFUL MIND - Akiva Goldsman
(Based on Material Previously Produced or Published)

2000

ALMOST FAMOUS - Cameron Crowe
(Written Directly for the Screen)

TRAFFIC - Stephen Gaghan
(Based on Material Previously Produced or Published)