Biography - Robert Rodriguez

Robert Rodriguez has become a legend for scores of young indie filmmakers, a symbol of the possibility of success in the scary world of American cinema. Rodriguez was fascinated by film as a child, and began making short films with his siblings while growing up in San Antonio, Texas. He went on to attend the University of Texas, where his grades weren’t good enough to earn him a spot in the film program, and towards the end of his studies he won a local film contest for his short “Bedhead”. The attention from that film got him into the aforementioned film department, and after graduating he quickly shot and produced his first feature, the Spanish-language actioner “El Mariachi”.

“El Mariachi” is an important film in many respects, chiefly for being an inspiration for filmmakers in the early stage of the 90s ‘indie boom’. Produced for a meager $7,000, “El Mariachi” became a landmark after it was picked up by Columbia Pictures for theatrical distribution in the U.S. Rodriguez’s book about the turbulent, shoe-string production, “Rebel Without a Crew”, is a classic how-to for guerilla filmmakers. The film itself wasn’t so bad either, introducing the world to Rodriguez’s frantic quick-cutting visual style and sharp, no-fat dialogue. The film eventually formed a trilogy, the other two parts being its big-budget sequel “Desperado” (which helped make Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek Hollywood stars) and 2003’s “Once Upon a Time in Mexico”, which added Eva Mendes and Johnny Depp to the impressive cast.

Rodriguez has crafted an incredible career working in vastly disparate genres. After “Desperado” he made the glossed-up B-movie “From Dusk till Dawn” with George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino, only to follow it with the schlocky, “Scream”-inspired teen horror of “The Faculty”. After a three-year hiatus he unleashed “Spy Kids”, a goofy effects-filled kid’s movie that did enormous box office – as did its two sequels, “Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams” and “Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over”. 2005 proved to be an outstanding year for the still-young filmmaker (he is not yet 40), with the moderately successful “Spy Kids” spin-off “Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D” and his best film to date, the trippy, ultra-violent “Sin City”, which is soon to spawn two back-to-back sequels. Taken from the popular Frank Miller graphic novels, “Sin City” was shot with entirely digital backgrounds and starred Clive Owen, Jessica Alba, Brittany Murphy, Rosario Dawson, and Bruce Willis, among others.Tarantino and Rodriguez have collaborated together frequently (from the disastrous “Four Rooms” to directing ‘cameos’ on each other’s films), and have just completed their B-movie double feature “Grindhouse”, which hits theatres on April 6, 2007. Rodriguez’s segment, “Planet Terror”, is a highly-stylized zombie flick starring Rose McGowan, who is now dating the director after the dissolution of his 16-year marriage to producing partner Elizabeth Avellán.