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Attended Creighton Prep High School in Omaha, Nebraska Studied Spanish Philology at the University of Salamanca (Spain). Of Greek Ancestry. Family name was changed from Papadopoulos. Graduate of Stanford University. Graduated in 1990 from UCLA Filmschool with a MFA in Theater Arts. He grew up down the street from billionaire Warren Buffett. Owns the Winnebago driven by Warren Schmidt (Jack Nicholson) in About Schmidt. Is on the short list of directors who has final cut rights to his films. Studied Spanish and history at Stanford. Did an uncredited polishing-up of the final draft of _Meet the Parents (2000)_ . Is a friend of David O. Russell. One of his motivations to move the title character of _About Schmidt (2002)_ from New York City in the novel to Payne's hometown of Omaha, Nebraska was as a tribute to the great history of "creative" people that hail from that small Midwestern city. The famous people other than Payne who are originally from Omaha include Henry Fonda, Marlon Brando, Fred Astaire, Montgomery Clift and Nick Nolte. Member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Directors Branch) [2005-] Cites Hal Ashby as his primary influence and Ashby's The Landlord as his favorite film. Two of his favorite films are Dolce vita, La and Viridiana.