Rex Pickett

Pickett nació en la base aérea de Castle en Merced, California , y creció en San Diego . ^{[ 1 ]} Asistió a la Universidad de California, San Diego, donde se especializó en Proyectos Especiales, con énfasis en crítica literaria y cinematográfica contemporánea y escritura creativa. Se graduó con honores (summa cum laude ) y luego se mudó a Los Ángeles para cursar un programa de posgrado en la Escuela de Artes Cinematográficas de la USC . Abandonó los estudios a principios de la década de 1980 y, junto con su entonces esposa, Barbara Schock, escribió y dirigió dos largometrajes independientes: California Without End y From Hollywood to Deadwood . California Without End se vendió a Bavarian Radio Television, una estación de televisión alemana, y From Hollywood to Deadwood a Island Pictures .

Pickett volvió a escribir, consiguiendo un trabajo como guionista en el primer largometraje de David Fincher , Alien 3. [ ^{3 ] En} 1998 escribió el guion de My Mother Dreams the Satan's Disciples in New York , que ganó el Premio de la Academia al Mejor Cortometraje de Acción Real en 1999. ^{[ 4 ]}

In the 1990s, Pickett began writing novels and his first, a mystery titled La Purisima, didn't sell.^[5] His second was Sideways. Completed in 1999, the novel was submitted to both publishers and film production companies. After 18 rejection letters from publishers, Pickett's agent pulled it from submission. Film production companies also passed. In late 1999, nearly a year after it had been written, one of the submissions by Pickett's agent, Jess Taylor, at Endeavor, went to Alexander Payne's agent, David Lonner at the same agency. Payne's assistant, Brian Beery, read it then passed it to Payne who immediately optioned it. Shortly after Payne optioned Sideways it was greenlit by Artisan Entertainment.^[6] Pickett's agent at Curtis Brown went back out to publishers in a mass submission but it was again rejected. Eventually, Payne would put Sideways on hold and go off to make About Schmidt.

In early 2003, Payne, fresh from the success of About Schmidt, returned his attention to Sideways. The project was greenlit by Fox Searchlight, who gained control of it from Artisan in July 2003 and a start date announced for late September. After more than 100 rejection letters, Pickett's new agent at Trident Media Group went back out with his still unpublished novel and ended up selling it in a fire sale to St. Martin's Press for $5,000. It was published in June 2004, four months before the film was released.

Sideways the film was released on October 22, 2004. It went on to win over 350 awards from various critics and awards organizations, including 6 Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards, 5 New York Film Critics Circle Awards, 5 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, 6 Indie Spirit Awards, 2 Golden Globes, et al. It was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning in the Best Adapted Screenplay category. The film had an impact on the sales of two types of California wine, driving Pinot noir sales and decreasing Merlot, the grape variety the main character, Miles, expressed hatred for.^[7]

In 2011, Pickett released a sequel to Sideways, titled Vertical. That same year it won the gold medal for Popular Fiction from the Independent Publisher Book Awards.

En 2012, Pickett estrenó una versión teatral de su novela Sideways en el Ruskin Group Theater de Santa Mónica, California . La obra se mantuvo en cartelera durante seis meses y posteriormente se presentó una producción en el La Jolla Playhouse bajo la dirección de Des McAnuff .

Pickett pasó un año viajando por Chile , Nueva York y Costa Rica antes de completar Sideways 3 Chile , ambientada en el mundo del vino chileno. ^{[ 8 ]} Fue publicada en 2015.

En 2024 se publicó la cuarta novela de la serie, Sideways New Zealand . ^{[ 9 ]}

• California sin fin (1984) (Radio Televisión Bávara)
• De Hollywood a Deadwood (1989) (estrenada en cines por Island Pictures)

• California sin fin (1984)
• De Hollywood a Deadwood (1989)
• Mi madre sueña con los discípulos de Satanás en Nueva York (1998)
• Reparador (2010) (como guionista/director/productor)

• California sin fin (1984)