| Don Payne | |
|---|---|
Payne at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con panel for The Simpsons |
|
| Born | United States |
| Occupation | Writer, producer |
Don Payne is an American writer and producer. He has written several episodes of The Simpsons since 2000, many of which he co-wrote with John Frink who he met while studying at the University of California, Los Angeles. The duo began their careers writing for the short-lived sitcom Hope and Gloria. Recently, Payne has moved into writing feature films. So far he has written My Super Ex-Girlfriend and co-written Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Thor.
Contents |
Payne graduated from University of California, Los Angeles with a master in screenwriting.[1] He began his career as a writer for several sitcoms together with his writing partner at the time, John Frink.[2][1] The two met at UCLA, where Frink was the boss of the Media Laboratory in which Payne worked. Payne has said to the website TheFutonCritic.com that "one day we were both trying to write individually so I said, 'why don't we pool our resources and write together and see what happens?'"[3] In 2006, Payne told the Los Angeles Times that "I hooked up with a writing partner, John Frink, out of college. I wanted to do films. He wanted to do television."[1] The pair reached the agreement that they would pursue a career in the medium that they first got a job offer in—whether it be film or television. They eventually ended up writing for television sitcoms such as Hope and Gloria (1995–1996) and The Brian Benben Show (1998).[1] These sitcoms were short-lived and Payne has deemed them as failures.[2]
Payne and Frink joined the writing staff of the animated sitcom The Simpsons in 2000 with the season twelve episode "Insane Clown Poppy", which they co-wrote.[2] "Treehouse of Horror XI", another 2000 episode they wrote, was broadcast earlier than "Insane Clown Poppy", but was produced after.[2] Payne said in an interview with TV Squad in 2006 that "My partner and I were actually working on one of a long string of failed sitcoms (and most sitcoms are failed sitcoms!) On the day a show is officially cancelled, it's kind of a tradition for the writing staff to go out to a restaurant, eat a nice meal, and drown their sorrows. On the way there, a writer named Jace Richdale (who had also worked on The Simpsons) told my partner and me that The Simpsons was looking for some writers. He wanted to know if we'd be interested in it, because he would recommend us. My jaw literally dropped. So he contacted the show-runner, a guy named Mike Scully, who read our spec script and met with us, then hired us on."[2] After a few years of working on The Simpsons together, Frink and Payne's writing partnership ended.[2][1] They both continued to work on the show, though, and Payne has described their split-up as amicable.[3]
In later years, Payne has moved into writing feature films. So far he has written My Super Ex-Girlfriend, and co-written Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Thor.[4] My Super Ex-Girlfriend was released in 2006 and was his first feature film.[2] He said in an interview with the website Cinematical that "I've always wanted to write features. That's why I moved to Los Angeles in the first place. I started writing with John Frink when I was in college at UCLA. He wanted to do TV, and that's where we got our first break. But my goal was always to write movies. And I've been a comic book geek from way back. So this romantic comedy with a superhero twist was a fitting first feature for me."[5]
| Year | Series | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Hope and Gloria | Writer | Co-wrote the episode "A Fine ROM-ance" |
| 1995 | Pride & Joy | Writer | Co-wrote the episode "Brenda's Secret" |
| 1995–1996 | Can't Hurry Love | Writer | Co-wrote the episodes "Annie Get Your Armoire", "Glove Story", and "Valentine's Day Massacred" |
| 1997 | Men Behaving Badly | Writer | Co-wrote the episodes "Wet Nurse" and "Playing Doctor" |
| 1997 | Veronica's Closet | Co-producer | Co-produced the episode "Veronica's First Thanksgiving" |
| 1998 | The Brian Benben Show | Writer and producer | Co-wrote the episode "House of Blues" |
| 2000–present | The Simpsons | Writer and producer | For a list of episodes written, see below |
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | My Super Ex-Girlfriend | Writer |
| 2007 | Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer | Writer |
| 2011 | Thor | Writer |
| 2013 | Maximum Ride | Writer |
| 2013 | Thor 2 | Writer |