About the Author
Biography
Rex Pickett grew up in San Diego and attended the University of California at San Diego. He graduated summa cum laude with a Special Projects major, specializing in contemporary literary and film criticism, and creative writing.
Rex moved to L.A. and attended USC graduate film school for one year. He went on to write and direct two independent feature films, California Without Endand From Hollywood to Deadwood. The former played numerous festivals and was bought by Bavarian Radio Television. The latter was acquired and commercially released by Island Pictures in 1990.
Rex has written numerous screenplays, some original and some for hire. In ’89 he was commisioned by Sony/Tristar to write an original screenplay for the actor, Kevin Bacon. In ‘90 he was brought on for an uncredited rewrite of Alien III. In ’92 he wrote The Road Back, an original screenplay which was purchased by Silverfilm Productions. In addition, he adapted a novel, Striking it Rich, for the same company. His 2002 script Repairmanhas also been optioned.
In ’96 Rex turned his attention to fiction and wrote a mystery novel, La Purisima, which landed him representation with the prestigious Curtis Brown, LTD. literary agency as his representation. And though that novel ultimately wasn’t placed, it laid the groundwork for his second novel, Sideways.
Sideways became the basis for the critically-acclaimed and commercially successful Alexander Payne/Fox Searchlight release of 2004. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning the Oscar for best adapted screenplay. It also won the prestigious Writers Guild Award for best adapted screenplay, two Golden Globe Awards for best screenplay and best picture (musical or comedy), five New York Film Critics Circle Awards, including best picture and best screenplay, five Los Angeles Film Critics Awards, again including best picture and best screenplay. It swept the Indie Spirit Awards with six wins and won too many other year-end awards to enumerate here. In all it won a total of 350 year-end awards in all categories. Rex’s novel has sold over 150,000 copies and has been translated into twelve languages. In 2008, the Writers Guild of America voted it one of 101 Greatest Screenplays of all time.
In addition to the success of Sideways, Rex’s screenplay for My Mother Dreams the Satan’s Disciples in New Yorkwon best dramatic short film at over 15 festivals, culminating in the winning of the 2000 Academy Award for best live action short. It was directed by his former wife, Barbara Schock, at the American Film Institute.
Rex has just come out with the follow-up to Sideways. The novel had a long gestation, beginning with a book deal with Alfred A. Knopf -- the literary division of Random House. There were serious creative differences when Rex decided he wanted to write the Sideways sequel. So, in frustration, Rex found equity funding from a private investor, Tim Moore, and decided to go the intrepid self-imprint route. The result is Vertical, a tragi-comic epic road novel that saw its realease January 10, 2011.
Rex is also writing the pilot for a comedy series for HBO with Leverage Management (Boardwalk Empire, Entourage).
In addition, Rex will be doing the stage adaptation of Sideways for the Ruskin Group Theater in Santa Monica. It will premiere May 18, 2012 and run for 12 weeks.
He is currently represented by David Saunders and Steve Fisher of Agency for the Performing Arts and managed by Peter Meyer.
