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Just returned from Hollywood to visit Alexander Payne finish “Nebraska”; Watch for my coming stories about what I observed
Just returned from three days in Hollywood with Alexander Payne to observe the final mix process on his highly anticipated new film “Nebraska.” It was quite the experience to see him and his team putting the finishing touches on the film. Those behind-the-scenes glimpses will inform coming stories I’ll be writing and posting here.
I was privileged to see the film in its entirety at a screening on the Paramount lot. It’s a superb work of cinema. With “Nebraska” Payne has gone ever deeper and richer in exploring the humanism that is his specialty.
The entirely digital film is being satellite beamed to Nice, France this weekend where it will be downloaded for its world premiere screening at the Cannes Film Festival. I fully expect this to be one of the most talked about films of the year and to have all sorts of accolades and nominations and awards come to Payne, screenwriter Bob Nelson, cinematographer Phedon Papamichael, music composer Mark Orton, actors Bruce Dern, Will Forte, Stacy Keach and June Squibb.
It’s hard to imagine there will be a more compelling looking film than this wide-screen black-and-white elegy. Much more to come from me about my Hollywood sojourn and the look behind the curtain that Payne afforded me of his creative process. I will be blogging about it and having stories published about it. All of my “Nebraska” material will end up in a new edition of my book, “Alexander Payne: His Journey in Film.” The new edition should be out around the time his film is released, which is late November. You can order my book on my blog site, leoadambiga.wordpress.com.
Meanwhile, go to the link below to watch a clip from the film.
Related articles
- First Official Look at Alexander Payne’s ‘Nebraska’ (slashfilm.com)
- First Official Image from Alexander Payne’s NEBRASKA Starring Bruce Dern and Will Forte (collider.com)
- ‘Nebraska’ Screenwriter Shares Thoughts On Cannes Film Festival Premiere (nathanvjohnson.wordpress.com)
- Nebraskans Hone in on Hollywood (variety.com)
- Good Time to Get Your Copy of the Alexander Payne Book (leoadambiga.wordpress.com)
Come to My Next Alexander Payne Book Signing: Saturday, May 11 at The Bookworm in Omaha
Come to my 1 pm signing this Saturday, May 11 at The Bookworm in Countryside Village. I’ll be signing my book, “Alexander Payne: His Journey in Film.” I had a great response there the first time and I’m hoping to repeat the magic. This is a great time to get the book because it will be a valuable reference come awards season, when Payne’s new film “Nebraska” is contending for Golden Globes and Academy Awards. The book’s a great source of Payne trivia to impress your fellow film buffs with. It’s sure to be a valuable keepsake as his career continues to flourish and his standing in world cinema grows. The book’s been endorsed by Laura Dern, Leonard Maltin, Kurt Andersen, Dick Cavett, Joan Micklin Silver, and Ron Hull, among others.
Related articles
- Good Time to Get Your Copy of the Alexander Payne Book (leoadambiga.wordpress.com)
- Leonard Maltin: Must-See Indie Films This Month (huffingtonpost.com)
- First Official Look at Alexander Payne’s ‘Nebraska’ (slashfilm.com)
- Paramount Sets Release Dates For Alexander Payne’s ‘Nebraska’ and Platinum Dunes’ ‘Almanac’ (slashfilm.com)
Alexander Payne Book News: Catch me on TV and Come to Signings
On select dates this week and next you can catch an encore presentation of the “Consider This” program that features me talking about Alexander Payne and my new book about him. Producer and host Cathy Wyatt does a great job with the interview and with clips from Payne’s films. The half-hour fairly flys by. The encore Nebraska Educational Television telecasts are:
NET 1
Thur. Feb. 7 at 11 pm
Sun., Feb. 10 at 11:30 am
NET 2
Fri., Feb. 8 at 12:30 pm
Tue., Feb. 12 at 12:30 pm
In other news, I am signing the Payne book at the PS Collective in Benson on Thur. Feb. 7 after my 6 to 6:30 pm talk about freelance writing. I will also be signing copies at the Omaha Public Library Author Fair from 1 to 4 pm on Sat. Feb. 16 at the downtown W. Dale Clark Library.
My book, “Alexander Payne: His Journey in Film – A Reporter’s Perspective 1998-2012″ is available wherever books are sold, (Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com). It’s available for Kindle, et cetera. You can find it at The Bookworm store in Countryside Village in Omaha.
Related articles
Biga Talks Alexander Payne and Signs Copies of New Book at Omaha Press Club
Biga Talks Alexander Payne and Signs Copies of New Book at Omaha Press Club
As a freelance journalist most readily identified with the alternative, even fringe publications I contribute to, it’s rare to get an establishment media platform of any kind. That all changes this week when I gig as featured speaker for the Omaha Professional Development Series at the Omaha Press Club.
My topic, of course, will be the many years I’ve spent covering Alexander Payne. He’s the subject of my new book: “Alexander Payne: His Journey in Film – A Reporter’s Perspective.”
I promise you’ll come away knowing far more about the Oscar-winner, his methodology, and his place both in world cinema and in the pantheon of Nebraska film greats than you did before. You’ll also get behind-the-scenes observations and insights I’ve gleaned from visiting his sets and interviewing his collaborators, including what I glimpsed on the set of his new film, “Nebraska.”
Join me-
Thur. Jan. 17
5:30 to 7 pm
Omaha Press Club
1620 Dodge St., 22nd floor, old First National Bank Building
A no-host bar with hors d’oeuvres will open at 5:30 p.m. My presentation begins at 6 p.m., followed by open discussion and a book signing at 6:30. The cost is $10 for members and their guests, $15 for nonmembers and $5 for students. RSVP to 402-345-8008.
Whether you’re a fan of my blog or a Facebook friend or a media colleague or you’re just interested in everything about Alexander Payne, I invite you to join me for an evening of socializing and cinema chat. Hope to see you there.
Related articles
Payne’s ‘Nebraska’ a Blend of Old and New as He Brings Indiewood Back to the State and Reconnects with Tried and True Crew on His First Black and White Film
Alexander Payne is at it again. By that I mean he’s in progress on a new road picture, Nebraska, whose principal photography was accomplished October 15 through the end of November. The filmmaker will be editing the project through the spring. Here’s my second cover story about the project, this one based in part on a short visit I made to the set in November. The piece will be appearing soon in The Reader (www.thereader.com) and it features material gleaned from interviews with Payne, screenwriter Robert Nelson, cinematographer Phedon Papamichael, and casting director John Jackson.
The writer-director is the subject of my new book, Alexander Payne: His Journey in Film – A Reporter’s Perspective 1998-2012.
Payne’s ‘Nebraska‘ a Blend of Old and New as He Brings Indiewood Back to the State and Reconnects with Tried and True Crew on His First Black and White Film
©by Leo Adam Biga
Soon to appear in The Reader (www.thereader.com)
Alexander Payne‘s decision to make Nebraska in his home state brought into sharp relief some realities with large implications for his own work and prospects for more studio films getting made here.
The state’s favorite son had not shot a single frame here since About Schmidt in 2002. With Nebraska, whose principal photography went from October 15 through November, he continued a tradition of shooting here and surrounding himself with crew whom he has a long history. Some key locals are part of his creative team, too, including one metro resident he calls “my secret weapon.”
Aesthetically and technically speaking, Payne also stretched himself by lensing for the first time in black and white, wide screen and digital. He says abandoning celluloid marks a concession to the new digital norm and to the fact today’s black and white film stock options are limited.
Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael says digital “allows us to work more with natural light and not have to carry a larger equipment package. We did specific black and white tests to choose the texture and quality in terms of contrast and film grain level we want for the picture. So we went into it knowing exactly where we want to be at.”
Papamichael adds, “Digital means needing less light, so we can do tighter interiors, which is important on this show because we’re entirely a location picture. We don’t have anything built. A lot of these interior spaces are very small and whatever space we can save in terms of lighting and camera equipment is helpful. Rather than having traditional bigger car rigs and following cars with camera cars we’re able to just get in the car hand-held. Also, these newer cameras allow us to do good car work without lighting. It just helps the whole natural feel we’re going for.”
At the end of the day, says Payne, digital “doesn’t matter to me because my process stays exactly the same.” His process is all about arriving at the truth. Capturing the windswept plains and fall after-harvest season figured prominently in that this time. Papamichael and Payne sought ways to juxtapose characters with the prairie, the open road and small town life milieu. In a story of taciturn people rooted to the land and whose conversations consist of terse exchanges, context and subtext are everything. Therefore, the filmmakers extracted all the metaphor and atmosphere possible from actual locations, geography and weather.
Payne doesn’t belabor the point but he received pressure from various quarters to shoot the picture elsewhere. The suits pressed going to states with serious film tax credits. Many locales could approximate Nebraska while saving producers money.
He finds himself in the awkward position of having lobbied long and hard to try and convince the governor and state legislators to support film incentives only to see his entreaties largely ignored. As much as he and his projects are embraced, his moviemaking forays in the state seem taken for granted. But the fact is he only ended up shooting here because he had the motivation and clout to do so.
If not for Nebraska there would have been no feature film activity of any significance here during 2012. Minus his Citizen Ruth, Election and Schmidt, the state has precious little feature film activity of any size to show for it. Refusing to cheat the script’s Nebraska settings, Payne brought Indiewood feature filmmaking of scale back home for the first time in a decade. Basing his production in Norfolk provided a boost to the northeast part of the state.
Norfolk director of economic development Courtney Klein-Faust says the total impact the project had on the local economy has yet to be tabulated but that just in lodging alone the production spent more than a half-million dollars accommodating its 100 cast and crew members. She says the film bought local goods and services whenever possible. She feels the experience will serve as “a case study” for elected officials to assess the trickle down effect of mid-major features and will be used by supporters of tax credits to push for more film industry friendly measures.
Like many filmmakers who develop a track record of success Payne’s cultivated around him a stock company of crew he works with from project to project. During a mid-November visit to the Nebraska set it was evident he enjoys the same easy rapport with and loyalty to crew he had before his two Oscar wins. The only time this visitor saw Payne betray even mild upset came after a principal actor was not in place when ready to roll and the filmmaker emphatically tapped his watch as if to say, “Time is money.” He expressed mild frustration when cows drifted out of frame and it took awhile for production assistants to wrangle them back in position.
Payne and some assembled crew, ©Sam Herron
On Nebraska he collaborated for the third consecutive time with Papamichael, the director of photography for The Descendants and Sideways. Their relationship entered a new dimension as they devised a black and white and widescreen visual palette to accentuate Nebraska’s stark characters and settings. That meant fixing on the right tools to capture that look.
“We did a bunch of testing and dialed in a look we’d like for our black and white because there are many different ways to go about black and white,” says Papamichael. Some of the expressive light and shadow images extracted by Papamichael and Payne recall memorable black and white treatments from cinema past, including Shadow of a Doubt, Night of the Hunter, Touch of Evil and It’s a Wonderful Life.
“It’s not really a film noir look, it’s definitely a high con(trast) with natural lighting” Papamichael says. “We were very diligent in selecting our lens package, which is Panavision C Series anamorphic. That’s from the ’70s, so it has a little bit of a less defined, less sharp quality and that helps the look. We’re adding quite a bit of actual film grain to it which will feel like you’re watching a film projection. We’re even talking about possibly adding some projector flicker imposed. So we’re really going for a film look.
“And through a series of tests we’ve been able to achieve that.”
A week into filming, Papamichael was pleased by what he and Payne cultivated.
“There’s an overall excitement the whole crew has. Everybody feels we’re doing something very special and unique and the black and white has a lot to do with it. After you work with it for awhile it becomes the way you see things. In a way we’re learning the power of black and white as we go. We’re really coming to appreciate and love the poetic power of the black and white in combination with these landscapes and, of course, the landscapes are playing a huge role in this story – just scaling the human drama and comedy.
“The black and white is becoming a very powerful character in this film just in terms of setting the mood for this.”
Grizzled Bruce Dern as the gone-to-seed protagonist Woody is a walking emblem of the forlorn but enduring fields and played out towns that form the story’s backdrop. His tangle of white hair resembles shocks of frosted wheat. His drab working man clothes hang on him as if he’s a scarecrow. His gait is halting and he lists to one side. His Woody is as worn and weathered as the abandoned farmhouse of the character’s youth. But just like the artifacts of Woody’s past, this physical-emotional derelict holds on from sheer cussedness.
Papamichael says part of the fun became “discovering Bruce Dern’s great visual qualities – his face, the textures and everything that are emphasized through the black and white.”
The film’s full of Nebraskesque places and faces. There’s that farmhouse a few minutes outside Plainview. There’s the town of Plainview itself standing in for the fictional Hawthorne. There’s an American Legion hall, some bars, farm implement dealerships and mottled fields full of lowing cows. There are earnest farmers, shopkeeps, housewives and barmaids, plain as the day is long.
“Alexander is very diligent about finding the exact right spot for everything,” says Papamichael.
The original screenplay is by Bob Nelson, whose parents grew up in the very northeast environs of the state the film’s set in. He’s also impressed by how rigorous Payne is in location scouting.
“I think he’s done a great job of finding a combination of things around Norfolk,” he says. “I’ve seen the location photos and it’s pretty stunning to see it in black and white. You know it has that The Last Picture Show quality to it. It is funny to see these things that were in your mind, like the abandoned farmhouse, come to life. I don’t know how they found it, it must have been a chore, but they came up with a good one. Almost everything I saw was spot-on perfect.”
The locations are pregnant with memories and incidents, thus Payne and Papamichael chose ones most reflecting the characters and situations and they cast actors and nonactors alike who most represent these places and lifestyles.
“For him it’s not all about trying to capture something truthful and comedically grim about the American landscape but also something archetypal,” says producer Albert Berger.
Whenever Payne works with Papamichael it means inheriting the camera and lighting crew the celebrated DP brings with him, including chief lighting technician Rafael Sanchez and key grip Ray Garcia. Boom operator Jonathan Fuh is a regular on Payne sets as well as costume designer Wendy Chuck.
Then there’s veteran Payne collaborator Jose Antonio Garcia, the sound mixer on the writer-director’s last three films. George Parra goes back as far as Election in capacities ranging from assistant director to co-producer to production manager. He executive produced Nebraska.
Production designer Jane Ann Stewart had been on every Payne show since Citizen Ruth but J. Dennis Washington took over that job on Nebraska. Interestingly, a Hollywood art director who lives in Nebraska, Sandy Veneziano, joined the crew to mark her first Payne production.
Omaha resident Jamie Vesay, a key assistant location manager, crewed along with other locals, including set medic Kevin O’Leary.
Screenwriter Nelson is a Nebraskan by proxy. His folks hailed from Hartington and growing up in the Pacific Northwest he visited relatives back here, several of whom were models for his characters. Woody is closely patterned after his father.
Payne conferred with Nelson as he tweaked the writer’s work.
“Yeah, every time I’d do a pass on the script I’d send it to him and see what he thought, and he seemed to like it,” Payne says. “Sometimes there were certain moments or a certain scene I’d want a little more information about. Like one scene I really like in the script is when the family visits the house where Woody grew up and it’s now an abandoned farmhouse. And there Woody delivers a speech about having found the hail adjuster’s knife in the field, and it’s really the only time Woody speaks in the film, and I just remember asking Bob where that came from.”
Nelson says that American Gothic scene when Woody tells his son David (WIll Forte) “a story about how the hail adjustor tried to screw them out of their insurance is actually a true story based on visiting an uncle near Wausa on his farm. That’s almost verbatim.”
Payne says Nelson also helped inform some creative decisions. “He sent me some old photographs of his actual family from Hartington to serve as something of a reference for casting and costuming.”
The colleague Payne refers to as “my secret weapon,” casting director John Jackson of Council Bluffs, is undoubtedly the most influential local in the filmmaker’s close circle of collaborators.
“We just have really similar tastes and in honing our working method since 1995 we just have developed a very similar aesthetic of what we want to see in a film, the type of reality we want,” Payne says of Jackson. “And also I think the two of us have developed a pretty good eye for spotting acting talent in nonactors – talent they may not even know they have – and by talent I just mean the ability to be in front of a camera playing some version of themselves and saying dialogue believably and without getting freaked out.”
“People can be cinematic just by being themselves and being appropriately placed where they need to be, people can be brilliant by just doing what they do, listening or talking or moving,” says Jackson, who along with Payne is excited about several of their nonactor discoveries on Nebraska.
“Glendora Stitt, the woman that plays Aunt Betty, what a find. Dennis McCoIg, who plays Uncle Cecil, is like Gary Cooper. Scott Goodman, the barista who served me at the Scooters drive-thru in Norfolk was hilarious without trying and I cast him in a tiny role. John “Jack” Reynolds, who plays Bernie Bowen, an old friend of Woody’s, is right out of a Preston Sturges and Frank Capra movie. He’s the face of the rolling plains and hilariously funny.”
Jackson says he thinks of filling out the people who inhabit any movie, such as Woody’s clan,”in terms of I’ve got to build the family, and then, ‘Who are the next door neighbors? who are his friends? what do they do for a living?’ I always have a back story for them. It’s not like I sit down and make it up, the script tells me what it is by the things they say.”
“Obviously it’s worked well,” says Payne. “Together we cast Chris Klein, Nick D’Agosto going as far back as Election. In the traditional American filmmaking model for casting you have one casting director, typically out of New York or L.A. or Chicago with whom you cast the lead parts, maybe the top five or 10 or 15 speaking parts. And then if you’re shooting on location you have a second casting person, a local casting person. That’s what John Jackson was for me on the first three films. And then you have a third person who’s in charge of extras. And I somehow thought that one person should be in charge of all of the flesh.
There should be one vision guiding all of it. You can’t get anyone in L.A. or New York to do that, so the person I want to do that is John Jackson.”
Jackson says his guide in casting is looking at “what does the script say,” and then conferring with Payne. “We talk a lot about the characters in relationship to the text. I frequently find myself asking him questions like, ‘At this point in the movie what do you want the audience to feel? what do you want them to think? what do you want them to say as they walk out of the theater?’ One of the things I learned from him is to look at a moment in the story and to ask questions like, ‘Who’s funnier doing this? who’s more believable doing that? who breaks my heart more?’
“I remember when we were doing Schmidt and it was between this woman in New York, June Squibb, and a woman in L.A. the studio was pushing and I said to him, ‘Well, it has to be her,’ meaning June Squibb, and he said, ‘Why?’ and I said, ‘Because in that moment when she surprises him with the motor home and she’s seated at the table and says, Isn’t it going to be great? you know he’s hating every minute of it. Somebody needs to break my heart, and June Squibb breaks my heart. At that moment I feel for her. I feel pain for him, but I really feel for her, so when she dies I’m going to hurt, whereas this other woman I don’t feel anything.’”
Squibb plays Woody’s wife Kate in Nebraska.
“Those are the kinds of conversations we have,” Jackson says of he and Payne. “We never talk about, as other producers do, ‘Well, you know, this person’s presence in the film would be great because they’re so huge in terms of DVD sales.’ I never have those conversations with him. I’ve tried in the past and he’ll just look at me like, ‘What the fuck are you talking about? I don’t want to hear it, I don’t want to know.’ So it’s cleansed me.”
Jackson says he’s learned not to try and anticipate what Payne wants. “He constantly surprises me, he constantly challenges me. I wouldn’t want it any other way. What he’s looking for, I don’t know, I don’t know that he even knows, but I know one thing – when it’s there he recognizes it. That’s alchemy.”
No two projects are alike, Jackson says. “Every single one of these films is a completely different organic living thing and the challenge is to honor that and to help that grow and evolve and become whatever it’s going to become and Alexander is the guide to all of that.”
Payne and longtime editor Kevin Tent will be cutting Nebraska through the spring and the film will likely start playing festivals in late summer-early fall in advance of a end of 2013 general release.
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Upcoming Alexander Payne Book Events
A COFFEEHOUSE ALEXANDER PAYNE BOOK EVENT
The Alexander Payne book event tour continues…
Friday, Jan. 11
7-9 pm
…with a laidback gig at 13th Street Coffee & Tea in the Old Market, 519 South 13th St.
It’s the perfect venue for all you Beats and Hipsters. Have a cup of java as I talk about how I came to write about the filmmaker and why attention needs to be paid to him and his work. I’ll take questions and of course I’ll sign copies of “Alexander Payne: His Journey in Film.” The book makes a great gift and should be part of any film lover’s library. The event starts at 7 pm. I’ll do my last signings at 9 pm. Join me for a night of coffee and cinema in the Old Market.
Be there or be square.
AN OMAHA PRESS CLUB ALEXANDER PAYNE BOOK EVENT
Your friendly neighborhood author-journalist-blogger discusses reporting and writing about Alexander Payne…
Thurs., Jan 17
5:30-7 pm
…at the next Omaha Press Club Professional Development Series. The Press Club is at 1620 Dodge St., 22nd flr of the old First National Bank.
I’ve covered Payne from the start of the Oscar-winning filmmaker’s career. My unprecedented access to Payne and his collaborators has resulted in a body of work available online. I’ve compiled the collection into a new book, “Alexander Payne: His Journey in Film – A Reporter’s Perspective 1998-2012.”
The book is generating serious buzz, including an Indiewire exclusive in November. National film critic Leonard Maltin offers this: “Alexander Payne is one of American cinema’s leading lights. How fortunate we are that Leo Biga has chronicled his rise to success so thoroughly.”
Novelist and “Studio 360″ host Kurt Andersen writes: “I’d be an Alexander Payne fan even if we didn’t share a Nebraska upbringing: he is a masterly, menschy, singular storyteller whose movies are both serious and unpretentious, delightfully funny and deeply moving. And he’s fortunate indeed to have such a thoughtful and insightful chronicler as Leo Biga.”
Acclaimed actress Laura Dern, the star of Payne’s first feature, “Citizen Ruth,” offered: “Leo Biga has beautifully captured Alexander’s incredible journey in film for us all to savor.”
Hear more from me on Jan. 17. A no-host bar with hors d’oeuvres will open at 5:30 p.m. My presentation begins at 6 p.m., followed by open discussion and book signing at 6:30. The cost is $10 for members and their guests, $15 for nonmembers and $5 for students. RSVP to 402-345-8008. Hope to see you there.
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New Alexander Payne book events for December and January
New Alexander Payne book events for December and January
My book “Alexander Payne: His Journey in Film” is getting crazy good endorsements (see below).
Come out and support the project at any of the new talks and signings I am doing in December and January. It would mean a lot to me to have you stop by. And for all of you Facebook friends I haven’t met in person, consider this a special invitation to make that happen. I look forward to signing copies of the book for each and every one of you.
The book makes a great gift for the film lover in your life.
UNO Criss Library
60th and Dodge campus
Thur. Dec. 13
6:30-8:30 pm
Greek Islands
3821 Center St.
Thur., Dec. 20
7-9 pm
Rose Blumkin Home
323 So. 132nd St.
Wed., Dec. 26
Noon- 1 pm
13th Street Coffee & Tea
519 So. 13th St.
Fri., Jan. 11
7-9 pm
Omaha Press Club
First National Bank Bldg., 1620 Dodge St., 22nd Flr
Thur., Jan. 17
5:30-7 pm
Here’s what others are saying:
“Alexander Payne richly deserves this astute book about his work by Leo Biga. I say this as a fan of both of theirs; and would be one even if I weren’t from Nebraska.” – Dick Cavett, TV legend
“Alexander is a master. Many say the art of filmmaking comes from experience and grows with age and wisdom but, in truth, he was a master on day one of his first feature. Leo Biga has beautifully captured Alexander’s incredible journey in film for us all to savor.” – Laura Dern, actress, star of “Citizen Ruth”
“Alexander Payne is one of American cinema’s leading lights. How fortunate we are that Leo Biga has chronicled his rise to success so thoroughly.” – Leonard Maltin, film critic and best selling author
“I’d be an Alexander Payne fan even if we didn’t share a Nebraska upbringing: he is a masterly, menschy, singular storyteller whose movies are both serious and unpretentious, delightfully funny and deeply moving. And he’s fortunate indeed to have such a thoughtful and insightful chronicler as Leo Biga.” – Kurt Andersen, novelist (“True Believers”) and “Studio 360″ host
“Leo Biga brings us a fascinating, comprehensive, insightful portrait of the work and artistry of Alexander Payne. Mr. Biga’s collection of essays document the evolution and growth of this significant American filmmaker and he includes relevant historical context of the old Hollywood and the new. His keen reporter’s eye gives the reader an exciting journey into the art of telling stories on film.” – Ron Hull, Nebraska Educational Television legend, University of Nebraska emeritus professor of broadcasting, author of “Backstage”
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Dick Cavett is the latest luminary to endorse my Alexander Payne book
“Alexander Payne richly deserves this astute book about his work by Leo Biga. I say this as a fan of both of theirs; and would be one even if I weren’t from Nebraska.” - Dick Cavett
Dick Cavett is the latest luminary to endorse my new book, Alexander Payne: His Journey in Film – A Reporter’s Perspective 1998-2012.”.
“Alexander Payne richly deserves this astute book about his work by Leo Biga. I say this as a fan of both of theirs; and would be one even if I weren’t from Nebraska.”
Thanks, Dick. Some background: I’ve written extensively about Cavett over the years and those stories can be found on this blog.
His kind words join those of fellow world-class creatives:
“Alexander is a master. Many say the art of filmmaking comes from experience and grows with age and wisdom but, in truth, he was a master on day one of his first feature. Leo Biga has beautifully captured Alexander’s incredible journey in film for us all to savor.” – Laura Dern, actress, star of “Citizen Ruth”
“Alexander Payne is one of American cinema’s leading lights. How fortunate we are that Leo Biga has chronicled his rise to success so thoroughly.” – Leonard Maltin, film critic and best selling author
“I’d be an Alexander Payne fan even if we didn’t share a Nebraska upbringing: he is a masterly, menschy, singular storyteller whose movies are both serious and unpretentious, delightfully funny and deeply moving. And he’s fortunate indeed to have such a thoughtful and insightful chronicler as Leo Biga.” – Kurt Andersen, novelist (“True Believers”) and “Studio 360 host
“Leo Biga brings us a fascinating, comprehensive, insightful portrait of the work and artistry of Alexander Payne. Mr. Biga’s collection of essays document the evolution and growth of this significant American filmmaker and he includes relevant historical context of the old Hollywood and the new. His keen reporter’s eye gives the reader an exciting journey into the art of telling stories on film.” – Ron Hull, Nebraska Educational Television legend, University of Nebraska emeritus professor of broadcasting, author of “Backstage”
The book, released through Concierge Marketing Publishing Services and my own Inside Stories, may be previewed at www.facebook.com/LeoAdamBiga.
Available via Amazon, Barnes and Noble and for Kindle and other e-Readers.
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My Next Alexander Payne Book Event Comes to Florence
Looking for something different to do on your Tuesday night?
Then come to my next Alexander Payne book event:
Tuesday, Nov. 20, 6:15 pm,
Florence Branch Library, 2920 Bondesson St., Omaha
Your favorite Omaha writer talks about “Alexander Payne: His Journey in Film – A Reporter’s Perspective”
I am just returned from the set of Payne’s new film, “Nebraska,” and I will share my impressions of that production. My highly praised book about the filmmaker and his work will be available for purchase. It’s only $19.95. I will personally sign copies.
The book makes a great gift for the movie lover(s) in your life.
Get yourself a copy of the book and find out why it’s receiving such generous praise as this:
“Alexander is a master. Many say the art of filmmaking comes from experience and grows with age and wisdom but, in truth, he was a master on day one of his first feature. Leo Biga has beautifully captured Alexander’s incredible journey in film for us all to savor.” – Laura Dern, actress, star of “Citizen Ruth”
“Leo Biga brings us a fascinating, comprehensive, insightful portrait of the work and artistry of Alexander Payne. Mr. Biga’s collection of essays document the evolution and growth of this significant American filmmaker and he includes relevant historical context of the old Hollywood and the new. His keen reporter’s eye gives the reader an exciting journey into the art of telling stories on film.” – Ron Hull, Nebraska Educational Television legend, University of Nebraska emeritus professor of broadcasting, author of “Backstage”
“Alexander Payne is one of American cinema’s leading lights. How fortunate we are that Leo Biga has chronicled his rise to success so thoroughly.” – Leonard Maltin, film critic and best selling author
“I’d be an Alexander Payne fan even if we didn’t share a Nebraska upbringing: he is a masterly, menschy, singular storyteller whose movies are both serious and unpretentious, delightfully funny and deeply moving. And he’s fortunate indeed to have such a thoughtful and insightful chronicler as Leo Biga.” – Kurt Andersen, novelist (“True Believers”) and “Studio 360 host
I am counting on my Blog followers and Facebook friends to come out and show support.
Hope to see you there.
Media Alerts:
•I will be doing a live appearance on WOWT during the 4 pm news today
•KIOS Radio is airing a segment about me and the book at 7:30 am and 4:30 pm today
•Check out Indiewire’s feature on the book at-
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Laura Dern Endorses My Alexander Payne Book
Acclaimed actress Laura Dern has remained good friends with Alexander Payne since she starred in his first feature, “Citizen Ruth,” and I was lucky enough to interview her a few years ago in advance of a program she did with him in Omaha. Now, I’m privileged to have her endorse my new book about the filmmaker.
Here’s what she says about “Alexander Payne: His Journey in Film – A Reporter’s Perspective 1998-2012″:
“Leo Biga brings us a fascinating, comprehensive, insightful portrait of the work and artistry of Alexander Payne. Mr. Biga’s collection of essays document the evolution and growth of this significant American filmmaker and he includes relevant historical context of the old Hollywood and the new. His keen reporter’s eye gives the reader an exciting journey into the art of telling stories on film.” – Ron Hull, Nebraska Educational Television legend, University of Nebraska emeritus professor of broadcasting, author of “Backstage”
“Alexander Payne is one of American cinema’s leading lights. How fortunate we are that Leo Biga has chronicled his rise to success so thoroughly.” – Leonard Maltin, film critic and best selling author
“I’d be an Alexander Payne fan even if we didn’t share a Nebraska upbringing: he is a masterly, menschy, singular storyteller whose movies are both serious and unpretentious, delightfully funny and deeply moving. And he’s fortunate indeed to have such a thoughtful and insightful chronicler as Leo Biga.” – Kurt Andersen, novelist (“True Believers”) and “Studio 360 host
The book, “Alexander Payne: His Journey in Film – A Reporter’s Perspective 1998-2012,” can be ordered at AlexanderPayneTheBook.com.
The Bookworm in Omaha carries it.
Now available, too, from Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com as well as for Kindle and other e-reader devices.
The book makes a great gift for the film lover in your life.
Preview it at www.facebook.com/LeoAdamBiga.
Book events:
Florence Branch Library, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 6:15 pm
Media Alerts:
Related articles
- More Alexander Payne Book News: WE MADE INDIEWIRE!!! (leoadambiga.wordpress.com)
- Another sweet endorsement for my Alexander Payne book… (leoadambiga.wordpress.com)
- Alexander Payne’s ‘Nebraska’ Comes Home to Roost: The State’s Cinema Prodigal Son is Back Filming Again in his Home State after Long Absence (leoadambiga.wordpress.com)
- Alexander Payne book news (leoadambiga.wordpress.com)
Alexander Payne: His Journey in Film
